Speculation: 2024-25 Coaching/Management/Ownership

[Hey234]

“The guy that makes Anaheim tough is Jeff Solomon," another added. "He does all their contracts. Something as simple as doing entry-level deals … there’s always something they nickel you.”



I know this sounds like a nothing burger but I don't think it is. ELCs are practically dictated verbatim by the CBA. About the only thing there is to negotiate is whether the team will offer the kid the Schedule A and/or Schedule B bonuses in the contract.

Bonus money is relatively minimal by NHL standards and it too is specified verbatim in the CBA. Practically every one of them requires a player to be in the league full time to achieve. Some players get them in their ELC contract some don't.

So, when you have a team as bad as the Ducks, how do you get into a pissing contest over something like this with an 18 Y/O as a way to make a good first impression? The time to be a hard ass is down the road when we are talking guaranteed millions over multiple years.

Throw in Verbeek's reputation as apparently being a dick to work with (and a one man show) as well as an owner who stays totally out of everything and it's easy to see how ANA isn't a place good players are beating down the door to sign with.

I don't think you can just blow all this off with saying it came from agents so none of it matters. It still matters how you treat people if you want to be successful.

Entry Level Performance Bonuses | Puckpedia

Entry Level Contracts are eligible for Performance Bonuses. There are two categories of Performance Bonuses: "A" Level Bonuses "A" Bonuses are worth $212,500 each, to a maximum of $850,000 (maximum 4 achieved). For players signed starting in 2022, "A" bonuses are worth $250,000 each, to a...

puckpedia.com

Some of this is assumption. How do we know they are having a pissing contest with 18 year olds? It was one agents comment about entry level deals and that could have been a sour agent. We don't know. Plenty of agents have worked with Solomon and Verbeek and it's been fine.

If the Ducks were a winning team, they would be praised for being meticulous and not wasteful. Players would view it as necessary to win. They are losing right now, and it looks like they are cheap. Winning habits are good habits, and I would rather have a team that fights for good contracts then gives them away. This is a non issue.

Edit: can't spell

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Some of this is assumption. How do we know they are having a pissing contest with 18 year olds? It was one agents comment about entry level deals and that could have been a sour agent. We don't know. Plenty of agents have worked with Solomon and Verbeek and it's been fine.

If the Ducks were a winning team, they would be praised for being meticulous and not wasteful. Players would view it as necessary to win. They are losing right now, and it looks like they are cheap. Winning habits are good habits, and I would rather have a team that fights for good contracts then gives them away. This is a non issue.

Edit: can't spell

None of what came out in that article is a surprise to any of us. It just got compiled all in one place. But if you want to believe we have top notch management I won't argue with you. I'll just agree to disagree with you.

 

[JAHV]

Kind of a non issue here. Lamoriello is known as one of the toughest GMs in the league to deal with and it hasn't affected anything for him. Verbeek is still getting deals done. If the Ducks are hard negotiators, isn't that a good thing? There are so many factors that play into FA decisions that equating the two is nonsensical. Vatrano just signed a unique contract with the Ducks which shows there willingness and ability to work with agents. This is nothing.

The Samueli's trust their employees. They have invested millions in community outreach, OC Vibe, youth hockey programs, etc... They have shown willingness to spend to the cap if there's a chance to win. That should be enough to make them at least neutral owners. They are definitely not bad owners.

Lamoriello has certainly had a ton of success in his career, but he hasn't presided over a winner in a long time either, and I have to wonder if his schtick has gotten old. The Islanders haven't exactly done well in the free agent market in his tenure, although I don't know how much that has to do with Lamoriello vs ownership.

I don't think the Samuelis are bad owners. I prefer hands off to hands on, as long as they hire the right people to run the organization. They clearly stuck with Bob Murray for far too long. The jury is still out on Verbeek, but stuff like this doesn't get me excited.

 

[Daz28]

There's a difference between being a tough negotiator and an irrational one that's unpleasant to deal with. Tough to say with certainty, from those quotes, where we fall in.

There's no way an agent even listens to the Vatrano deal if the Ducks are known as cranky nit-pickers. They'd call that as BS from minute one. They listened and happily accepted.

 

[Ducks DVM]

This is pretty stupid for many of the categories. It needs to be a weighted number 1-19. Saying that 4 of 19 guys don’t care for something doesn’t provide an idea of what the average actually is. It seems like an exceptionally small number of agents as well.

Half of them not liking Verbeek and Solomon is a bit more telling though.

 

[70sSanO]

This is much to do about nothing, or at least nothing anybody here can do about it.

It is good we have an owner who is investing and not looking to dump the team. Want to see what a bad owner looks like?… go research Meruelo.

The Ducks have always had an internal cap. I don’t think that is going to change no matter how high the cap goes.

I don’t think Verbeek is going anywhere. At least he isn’t throwing out NMC’s to vets. As far not getting top FAs, Stamkos is 35 and has 33 points. Maybe reduce that total by 25% if he were a Duck with a bigger contract.

The big issue with PV for me is Cronin. It will be interesting to see what happens after this year.

John

 

[Hockey Duckie]

“The guy that makes Anaheim tough is Jeff Solomon," another added. "He does all their contracts. Something as simple as doing entry-level deals … there’s always something they nickel you.”



I know this sounds like a nothing burger but I don't think it is. ELCs are practically dictated verbatim by the CBA. About the only thing there is to negotiate is whether the team will offer the kid the Schedule A and/or Schedule B bonuses in the contract.

Bonus money is relatively minimal by NHL standards and it too is specified verbatim in the CBA. Practically every one of them requires a player to be in the league full time to achieve. Some players get them in their ELC contract some don't.

So, when you have a team as bad as the Ducks, how do you get into a pissing contest over something like this with an 18 Y/O as a way to make a good first impression? The time to be a hard ass is down the road when we are talking guaranteed millions over multiple years.

Throw in Verbeek's reputation as apparently being a dick to work with (and a one man show) as well as an owner who stays totally out of everything and it's easy to see how ANA isn't a place good players are beating down the door to sign with.

I don't think you can just blow all this off with saying it came from agents so none of it matters. It still matters how you treat people if you want to be successful.

Entry Level Performance Bonuses | Puckpedia

Entry Level Contracts are eligible for Performance Bonuses. There are two categories of Performance Bonuses: "A" Level Bonuses "A" Bonuses are worth $212,500 each, to a maximum of $850,000 (maximum 4 achieved). For players signed starting in 2022, "A" bonuses are worth $250,000 each, to a...

puckpedia.com

The Sam Colangelo signing ordeal was definitely a very odd way to sign him to an ELC. He had to audition on a PTO with the Gulls before he got offered an ELC. That's crazy from an agent's perspective b/c signing a PTO leaves your client exposed to injury without a guaranteed contract. I'm surprised that Colangelo didn't just take the FA route b/c there would have been some suitors willing to burn a year off of an ELC to get him into their system for free!

Why would the Ducks play hard ball with Colangelo? Maybe to try to get him to sign a two-year contract that started the following season and not burn an ELC season for a few NHL games.

Hmmm... now I'm reminded of how GM Verbeek stated that Nesterenko signed an ELC that started the following season only to find out days later that it was supposed to start that same season and burns a year off of his ELC.

 

[70sSanO]

As much as I hate even bringing up this name, part of me wonders if PV will try to get Quenneville.

John

 

[Hey234]

None of what came out in that article is a surprise to any of us. It just got compiled all in one place. But if you want to believe we have top notch management I won't argue with you. I'll just agree to disagree with you.

I certainly am not implying top notch management just that this information is a non issue. Agents saying that Verbeek is tough and yet many still work deals with him seems unimportant. If Verbeek wants to communicate to the league that early on in his career that when he sets a value he doesn't budge, I'm fine with that. I would also say that how people communicate to agents may not be similar to how they communicate to players, coaches, etc...

Overall, I'm fine with Verbeek. My main issue has been Cronin. It is a clear mistake and that's on Verbeek for not fixing his mistake.

 

[JAHV]

This would be a non-issue for me if it were the only indication that management might not be up to snuff. But it's another drop in the bucket and the bucket is filling up.

I think it's also tough after that awful game last night. I'm less willing to hand wave it away.

 

[Boo Boo]

Might mcilvane be ready to step in as head coach in the nearish future? For a while it kind of felt Cronin was keeping the coaching seat warm for him until he was ready but his ahl results had been mixed at best until recently

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

As much as I hate even bringing up this name, part of me wonders if PV will try to get Quenneville.

John

Not to worry on that account. PV’s ego won’t allow him to hire somebody who he can’t tell how to do their job.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Might mcilvane be ready to step in as head coach in the nearish future? For a while it kind of felt Cronin was keeping the coaching seat warm for him until he was ready but his ahl results had been mixed at best until recently

I'm not sold on McIlvane, and I was hyped up about him when it was leaked he was supposed to come over 2022-23. McIlvane still feels like he's a rookie coach in the AHL, but in his second season. Although, I think this year's roster wasn't great to begin with. Getting vets F Bailey and then G Husso recently has helped the team.

No more rookie head coaches for a bit for the NHL club for me. We don't need to waste a couple more years of a rookie head coach trying to figure out the NHL level.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

There's no way an agent even listens to the Vatrano deal if the Ducks are known as cranky nit-pickers. They'd call that as BS from minute one. They listened and happily accepted.

It could also be that the deal was done despite them being "cranky nit-pickers".

The somewhat frequent bad press regarding management and coaching, coupled with sub-par product on ice, certainly does not inspire confidence.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

Might mcilvane be ready to step in as head coach in the nearish future? For a while it kind of felt Cronin was keeping the coaching seat warm for him until he was ready but his ahl results had been mixed at best until recently

It would be the third straight head coach for the Ducks that has basically won nothing in any top tier level of N/A hockey.

Surely there's better out there.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

It would be the third straight head coach for the Ducks that has basically won nothing in any top tier level of N/A hockey.

Surely there's better out there.

Do you think Woodcroft helps?

 

[Gliff]

It would be the third straight head coach for the Ducks that has basically won nothing in any top tier level of N/A hockey.

Surely there's better out there.

Ya I love the idea of having the young trailblazer come in and be the coach for 20 years, but it probably isn't a good idea to take such a risk.

There are coaches that have won at the NHL level that would be a good fit, just have to get them.

I think BB would be amazing for this group, especially after having Cronin. I doubt PV would ever do it though.
Woodcroft seems like a good option.
Gallant isn't a good fit. He is a "win now" coach.
f*** Quenneville.
Todd Nelson has 3 Calder Cups in the last 8 years. It's actually wild he hasn't gotten a shot as an NHL head coach. He got 51 games coaching the Oilers after Eakins got fired. SInce then has been head coach in the AHL for 5 years and won the Calder in 3 of them.

Out of those options I think Woodcroft is the best option. Bonus is he worked with Jim Johnson in the past.

 

[LuGBuG]

The team is in the playoff race for the first time in years and people are upset over an agent poll. Seems like some just enjoy being miserable

 

[Reveille1984]

We're in the playoff race because of insanely elite goaltending, not because the team overall has made any significant strides forward. I commend people for finding the positives and being optimistic, but it has nothing to do with wanting to be miserable: this is objectively still a very bad hockey team. We're bottom three to bottom five in almost every offensive, defensive, and special teams category you can find.

 

[Boo Boo]

We're in the playoff race because of insanely elite goaltending, not because the team overall has made any significant strides forward. I commend people for finding the positives and being optimistic, but it has nothing to do with wanting to be miserable: this is objectively still a very bad hockey team. We're bottom three to bottom five in almost every offensive, defensive, and special teams category you can find.

What’s actually going to be miserable is if next year our goalies take a step back and our coaching continues to throttle the development of our players resulting in us being back down at the bottom of the pile with the sharks and hawks