Speculation: 2024-25 Coaching/Management/Ownership

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

I'm fine with hard ass, but Cronin doesn't even seem like he's that either.

He seems just completely out of touch.

There's nothing about professional athletes that strikes me as wanting to sit around for 40 mins listening to stories that are completely unrelated to the job itself. Then you watch video? it sounds exhausting and they haven't even hit the ice lol.

 

[Mr Rogers]

He’s a hardass but at least he doesn’t know how to coach forwards

 

[Ducks DVM]

As an aside - I work for bosses like that at my job: complete micromanagers that interject their personal lives as some sort of motivation practice. Completely toxic.

Just don't see how anyone here can continue to push/want Cronin. I questioned the hire right off the bat when Verbeek went with someone completely new to the position over others (at the time) that were proven.

We have the potential and the talent here, but he has not come across as someone who can push the team towards any type of relevancy. Finishing one point above Eakins is supposed to be some sort of 'victory' with certain posters - even though they were both awful coaches. He seems to lack any type of line-matching, game awareness or tactical ability.

I know that we are in a rebuild and there are growing pains, but man this is starting to become frustrating. Cronin even admitting he let the group 'coach themselves' with the last while of the season basically tells me even he himself gave up on trying.



Never looked like an NHL coach. 10+ years of assisting coaching and not once was he thought of HC material until now. This clown show can't end soon enough!

If Hollywood has taught me anything, it’s that you should get hypnotized

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

If Hollywood has taught me anything, it’s that you should get hypnotized

We need Bruce back asap

 

[Rasp]

If the team doesnt improve this year we need to sack Cronin

 

[Hockey Duckie]

If the team doesnt improve this year we need to sack Cronin

Three head coaches in Verbeek's short tenure, four seasons, isn't a great look either.

 

[dracom]

Three head coaches in Verbeek's short tenure, four seasons, isn't a great look either.

maybe he should go too...

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

maybe he should go too...

I've been thinking this for a while now.. If he can Cronin.. than maybe he needs to go to

 

[Gliff]

Three head coaches in Verbeek's short tenure, four seasons, isn't a great look either.

He inherited one. Hard to put that on him.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

If Hollywood has taught me anything, it’s that you should get hypnotized

Classic response coming from you

I've been thinking this for a while now.. If he can Cronin.. than maybe he needs to go to

Besides drafting (which is subjective) what else has Verbeek done? Half filled promises, sort of hasty with the media, no real outline/plan, extending the rebuild, no real roster upgrades, list goes on.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

If the team doesnt improve this year we need to sack Cronin

There was no significant improvement to address the top-9 or top-4 defenseman. Even overpaying someone for a year or two to flip them at the deadline was too much apparently

 

[Ducks DVM]

Classic response coming from you



Besides drafting (which is subjective) what else has Verbeek done? Half filled promises, sort of hasty with the media, no real outline/plan, extending the rebuild, no real roster upgrades, list goes on.

It’s an Office Space reference…

 

[Gliff]

There was no significant improvement to address the top-9 or top-4 defenseman. Even overpaying someone for a year or two to flip them at the deadline was too much apparently

Who was the option to do this?

Did I miss where a top 6/top 4 signed for a year or two overpayment? They all got overpayment with term.
Stamkos is not a 8 mil player anymore, let alone for 4 years until age 38.

Zadorov is a bottom pairing defensemen that plays under 18 minutes a game and got 5 mil for 6 years until age 36.

There were guys that would have been good fits, like Roy, March, or Pesce, but they had to want to come here.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

He inherited one. Hard to put that on him.

Verbeek picked up Eakins' option year. Verbeek didn't have to pick up that option. I think most of us were thinking we were getting a new coach after 2021-22 because that's what new GMs usually do, bring in their own coach into the new org.

From the Athletic:

Another thing Verbeek did after last season was pick up Dallas Eakin’s option year. Verbeek resisted the temptation that I think a lot of new GMs have, to bring in his own coach immediately.​

​

Now, who knows where this goes after this season? Eakins’ deal will be up. But at the very least, Verbeek wanted to take the time to further get to know his coach before making any decisions.​

​

“It’s not fair … me coming in two, three months and then going with a new guy,” Verbeek said. “And in the sense that I just blew up the team (at the trade deadline). So I wanted to give him a chance. And it gave us an opportunity to get to know one another over the course of the offseason.​

​

“So that’s kind of how the decision was made.”​

On a tangent, McIlvane was supposed to come over two seasons ago, but he got held up in Germany. Verbeek got one of McIlvane's former assistant in Kris Sparre in at San Diego two years ago and the fact we hired Sommer at the last minute are pieces of evidence McIlvane was supposed to come over. Since McIlvane's arrival was delayed, that probably put everything out of whack for Verbeek overarching plan.

 

[Deuce22]

Verbeek picked up Eakins' option year. Verbeek didn't have to pick up that option. I think most of us were thinking we were getting a new coach after 2021-22 because that's what new GMs usually do, bring in their own coach into the new org.

From the Athletic:

Another thing Verbeek did after last season was pick up Dallas Eakin’s option year. Verbeek resisted the temptation that I think a lot of new GMs have, to bring in his own coach immediately.​

​

Now, who knows where this goes after this season? Eakins’ deal will be up. But at the very least, Verbeek wanted to take the time to further get to know his coach before making any decisions.​

​

“It’s not fair … me coming in two, three months and then going with a new guy,” Verbeek said. “And in the sense that I just blew up the team (at the trade deadline). So I wanted to give him a chance. And it gave us an opportunity to get to know one another over the course of the offseason.​

​

“So that’s kind of how the decision was made.”​

On a tangent, McIlvane was supposed to come over two seasons ago, but he got held up in Germany. Verbeek got one of McIlvane's former assistant in Kris Sparre in at San Diego two years ago and the fact we hired Sommer at the last minute are pieces of evidence McIlvane was supposed to come over. Since McIlvane's arrival was delayed, that probably put everything out of whack for Verbeek overarching plan.

I think there is a case to be made that he kept Eakins because he knew Ducks were tanking and didn't care if the coach was lousy. Carlsson was the prize for that year of being caved in.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think there is a case to be made that he kept Eakins because he knew Ducks were tanking and didn't care if the coach was lousy. Carlsson was the prize for that year of being caved in.

I don't completely believe that in Verbeek's psyche because Verbeek was sold on his own prowess on his assessment of the team's roster to want to sell off at the TDL as well as his off-season acquisitions that he thought the team could be a .500 team to start that season. It was a terrible roster makeup across the board from the defense to believing he had a top-6 center in Strome. Remember, Verbeek offered a multi-year deal to Klingberg and Klingberg rejected it like Klingberg rejected a sweet, long term deal with Dallas (he's got a stupid agent or a greedy agent, either way, lost Klingberg easy millions).

Before that season started, I said we were going to be terrible b/c our defensive makeup was horrendous. I didn't drink the kool-aid.

Carlsson was the "consolation prize", not "the prize". I'm still pissed about that.

 

[Dryish]

I honestly think keeping Eakins was the right move to make at the time. We were going to suck, there was literally zero way we wouldn't have with the roster that we iced, and bringing in a new coach when the management overall had just undergone a drastic change and we were clearly facing several development years in a row wasn't necessarily the right move for the locker room that seemingly liked their coach. Especially if Verbeek's coach of choice wasn't available.

Cronin, though? Yeah nah. He had a pedigree from lower levels, sure, but literally nothing suggested he would be a good NHL head coach. Especially when he was always known as a hardass defensive coach. We need someone that can coach a scoring offence. Not whatever this is.

 

[Yemeth]

So if Cronin does not work out, what type of coach would you all prefer?

Does anyone have a realistic name out there?

How about we take an "old boys club" NHL coach and swing for the fences with the assistants? (I don't know if this is realistic at all, to have a stopgap NHL coach and "non-old boys club" assistant(s)?)

 

[Gliff]

Verbeek picked up Eakins' option year. Verbeek didn't have to pick up that option. I think most of us were thinking we were getting a new coach after 2021-22 because that's what new GMs usually do, bring in their own coach into the new org.

From the Athletic:

Another thing Verbeek did after last season was pick up Dallas Eakin’s option year. Verbeek resisted the temptation that I think a lot of new GMs have, to bring in his own coach immediately.​

​

Now, who knows where this goes after this season? Eakins’ deal will be up. But at the very least, Verbeek wanted to take the time to further get to know his coach before making any decisions.​

​

“It’s not fair … me coming in two, three months and then going with a new guy,” Verbeek said. “And in the sense that I just blew up the team (at the trade deadline). So I wanted to give him a chance. And it gave us an opportunity to get to know one another over the course of the offseason.​

​

“So that’s kind of how the decision was made.”​

On a tangent, McIlvane was supposed to come over two seasons ago, but he got held up in Germany. Verbeek got one of McIlvane's former assistant in Kris Sparre in at San Diego two years ago and the fact we hired Sommer at the last minute are pieces of evidence McIlvane was supposed to come over. Since McIlvane's arrival was delayed, that probably put everything out of whack for Verbeek overarching plan.

Retaining someone is different then hiring someone. I have no issue with him wanting to observe things before making changes, especially when they had a 1 year option in place and the Ducks were tearing it down. There was no downside to keeping Eakins.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Cronin’s here for the year barring some Babcock-style meltdown. So it’s going to be a real bummer around here if this is the level of speculation about him all year. I’m far from sympathetic to the guy but we don’t have to make ourselves more miserable than need be.

 

[JAHV]

I hate the stuff from Lyubushkin, but I'm still hopeful that A) it's not quite as bad as the quotes make it seem and B) Cronin is actually good at coaching hockey and the team will be better this season.

If we're consistently playing hockey like we did last night by the time New Year's rolls around, I'll be ready for a change. There's minimal chance that one happens before the offseason, though.

 

[MMC]

I couldn’t care less about those comments from Bush tbh

 

[DaGeneral]

The hard ass Coach mentality works in the minors - where guys HAVE to suffer through that type of coaching if they want a crack at an NHL roster. In the pros, it’s way different. Bunch of examples in football, where a micromanager college football coach has no success in the NFL because that way doesn’t work when guys get paid millions of dollars.

 

[Leonardo87]

Meh, same can be said for Torts. The only difference is Torts knows how to coach and has won. Have yet to see it from Cronin.

If they do not make significant progress this season, Cronin needs to go. Cannot stomach a 3rd year of a bottom 5 finish and mediocre play from the kids.

What’s my opinion of significant progress? Finish like 8-12th last in the league, around .500 and with the kids(24 and under) One or two of them hit between 70-80 points.

 

[ScarTroy]

Meh, same can be said for Torts. The only difference is Torts knows how to coach and has won. Have yet to see it from Cronin.

If they do not make significant progress this season, Cronin needs to go. Cannot stomach a 3rd year of a bottom 5 finish and mediocre play from the kids.

What’s my opinion of significant progress? Finish like 8-12th last in the league, around .500 and with the kids(24 and under) One or two of them hit between 70-80 points.

I agree, sounds like we have Torts without the accomplishments and who isn’t as good at protecting his guys from the media. I give him this season, I agree we need a hard nosed guy to hold the kids accountable, but that shouldn’t be at the cost of stunting development. Hoping he figures it out this season.