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Speculation: 2024-25 - Free Agency/Trade Thread

DavidBL said:
It's not that I don't believe in his tools or upside. I'm not sure he'll have much in the way of opportunity to showcase and develop them and if he doesn't can he really increase his value much? It's not really an ideal situation for imo.
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Agreed. If Luneau makes the roster (and Verbeek seems to expect him to), then there isn’t much room for him. One of Fowler, Gudas, Dumoulin, Zellweger, Mintyukov, LaCombe, or Luneau would have to sit each night. Later in the season, Dumoulin could be that guy, but since Verbeek paid an asset to acquire him, I would assume that he will be in the lineup at the start of the year. Fowler and Gudas aren’t sitting. Zellweger, Mintyukov, and Luneau all seem to be ahead of LaCombe in terms of potential, so they will likely get priority, and they are also unlikely to get traded.

LaCombe’s best chances to play right now are if there is an injury, or if Luneau doesn’t seem ready quite yet. Both of those scenarios are very possible, but not really something to count on at the moment. And if LaCombe is in the lineup, it’s pretty likely he has to play on the right side, where he wasn’t as good last year (he was best with Gudas and Lindstrom last season). He can probably handle the right side on a lower pairing (he did OK next to Mintyukov), but it will likely limit his offensive contributions as he seemed much more comfortable rushing the puck on his strong side. It’s absolutely possible for LaCombe to perform well for us next year, but there are quite a few things stacked against him at the moment.
 
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DavidBL said:
I've very clearly irritated you and that was not my intention, so I apologize for that. I was just looking for but more in depth discussion given that our opinions of the situation seemed so fat apart. I actually agree with your assessment of Lacombe for the most part. Obviously we disagree quite substantially on Laine so I guess we'll just leave it at that.
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You're a ridiculously courteous poster, you're all good.
 
tomd said:
For 24-25 anyway, it is more likely that Zellweger gets more sheltered minutes than LaCombe IMO. I tend to doubt that Zellweger is ready for 82 NHL games in a top 4 role. But either way, I suspect there will be a fair degree of experimentation putting some of these LHD on the right side. LaCombe actually finished the year pretty well and I'm not as anxious as others are to dump him...especially for a semi-rental.
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How each rookie finished in the NHL.

DucksRookie DLast 22/23Gamesin NHL
PlayerGame setGamesGAPts+/-HitsBlocksComments
LaCombe49 to 712317811244From Feb 19 to Apr 18
Minty41 to 6323279-92922from Feb 13 to Mar 30
Zell5 to 2622268-81033From Mar 1 to Apr 18

Zell's call up put him into a top-4 role and played there in 22 games to close out the season. Minty fell to injury on Mar 30, his last game of the season. LaCombe played the last 8 games in a top-4 role at LD due to Minty's injury.
 
Firequacker said:
I don't love the idea of trading LaCombe for a "well, if he doesn't work out it's just money" kind of gamble. IMO he's probably our best trade piece right now ('best' in terms of balancing probable value with how much it would hurt to lose him) and if he's going to be moved, I'd rather it be involved in something with a little less potential to derail spectacularly.

Rather do something with picks, trade a dice roll for a dice roll. But Columbus probably doesn't need to settle for just that.
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MMC said:
Hellllllllll no to Lacombe for Laine. I really don't understand why that's such a popular idea. Yes it would be nice to start getting better but it doesn't mean we need to start just giving away young talent like that
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I think LaCombe is being over valued. In the pecking order of ducks young defensemen/assets, he's clearly below 4-5 other guys (albeit several of those other guys are younger). Right now he projects as a 4/5. He has value, but I think his upside is lower than the other prospects. In any event, he's not a "core" player and you have to consider trading him to upgrade other areas (whether Laine or elsewhere).
 
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duckpuck said:
I think LaCombe is being over valued. In the pecking order of ducks young defensemen/assets, he's clearly below 4-5 other guys (albeit several of those other guys are younger). Right now he projects as a 4/5. He has value, but I think his upside is lower than the other prospects. In any event, he's not a "core" player and you have to consider trading him to upgrade other areas (whether Laine or elsewhere).
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Right now, we just have projections of who should be in future our top-4, but nothing is solidified.

You mean LaCombe is being valued. Out of all of our young defensemen, he's far ahead of all them defensively and was identified as being the most improved since the start of the season by Cronin. He has been a part of the PK unit all year too. It might take a year or two for our OFD's to develop average defense in a top-4 role. LaCombe has spent 4 years in college honing how to play defense as an OFD. Cronin is trying to make LaCombe become more of an aggressive player. He's got a good build at 6'2 and 201 lbs, great speed, and potential offensive upside... just missing that aggressiveness.

Our blueline has too many unknowns at the moment. Will Zell improve his defense? Will RD Luneau continue to have bad luck with missing time on the ice? RD Helleson doesn't look ready for the NHL and RD Warren is making his AHL debut. RD Moore is a senior at Harvard and no idea if he will sign with us. LD Hinds is heading into year 2 as a pro in San Diego and he plays both sides like Zell and LaCombe. LD Dionicio is playing overseas (projected to be as of right now) and won't be available to the Ducks next season if he's overseas. Similarly, LD Solberg is in Sweden for next season and won't be available to the Ducks next season.
 
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duckpuck said:
I think LaCombe is being over valued. In the pecking order of ducks young defensemen/assets, he's clearly below 4-5 other guys (albeit several of those other guys are younger). Right now he projects as a 4/5. He has value, but I think his upside is lower than the other prospects. In any event, he's not a "core" player and you have to consider trading him to upgrade other areas (whether Laine or elsewhere).
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He's only being "over valued" to the degree others think Laine is actually worth real value right now. All I keep hearing is that IF we could have the Laine of 5 years ago he would be a great acquisition. No kidding. Well, he has shown nothing yet to indicate that's who he now is. His value now is minimal.

The fact that we have some other young D with high potential does not mean we should over pay for a guy like Laine. At this point in time, it's Laine who is being over valued. If other teams want to over pay for him fine, let them. I don't want the Ducks to.
 
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Dr Johnny Fever said:
He's only being "over valued" to the degree others think Laine is actually worth real value right now. All I keep hearing is that IF we could have the Laine of 5 years ago he would be a great acquisition. No kidding. Well, he has shown nothing yet to indicate that's who he now is. His value now is minimal.

The fact that we have some other young D with high potential does not mean we should over pay for a guy like Laine. At this point in time, it's Laine who is being over valued. If other teams want to over pay for him fine, let them. I don't want the Ducks to.
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I mean, even with last year Laine had 74 pt pace in Columbus. I'd be very happy with that. Obviously he had injuries in there so the "pace" can be misleading to some extent. To me the biggest question is not what player you're getting so much as can he remain healthy.
Edit: should point out, those numbers are based off the last 3 years and don't include the trade year which is still relevant. Bergys numbers are accurate.
 
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DavidBL said:
I mean, even with last year Laine had 74 pt pace in Columbus. I'd be very happy with that. Obviously he had injuries in there so the "pace" can be misleading to some extent. To me the biggest question is not what player you're getting so much as can he remain healthy.
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Not just last year; in his last 4 seasons in Columbus he's scored 64G + 74A = 138 points; in 174 GP he's at .79 PPG. He's getting it done! It is a question of health, and also keeping his head on straight. I'd like to think that being in Anaheim playing with skilled young players who want to start winning could go a long way toward insuring the latter.
 
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Bergey37 said:
Not just last year; in his last 4 seasons in Columbus he's scored 64G + 74A = 138 points; in 174 GP he's at .79 PPG. He's getting it done! It is a question of health, and also keeping his head on straight. I'd like to think that being in Anaheim playing with skilled young players who want to start winning could go a long way toward insuring the latter.
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Yeah the idea that he's not a top 6 forward is not lining up at all. I think the health would be a bigger concern, I think the coastal warm beaches in OC would be perfect for Laine's mental health. When my relatives from Ohio visit they always seem to go to the beach !
 
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Seems like a perfect buy low opportunity on a low risk player. Ducks don't need retention. If they want a NHL player, they can have Strome. If they want picks/prospects, Ducks have that too. A Strome for Laine swap balanced by picks would be solid for the Ducks.

Gauthier-Carlsson-Laine
Vatrano-McTavish-Terry
Fabbri-Zegras-Killorn
Harkins-Lundestrom-Leason
 
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MMC said:
People already complain about the lack of leadership on this team and then want to trade Strome for Laine? Ok
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I wouldn't frame myself as someone who complains about leadership because I think it's impact is way overblown. I would like more actual NHL players to move some other guys down in the lineup. However, I think it's a stretch to say that swapping Laine for Strome would somehow negatively impact the leadership group as he will most likely not wear a letter next year and his role is a 3rd line RW right now. Ducks also added two vets this summer. If it were Gudas, I would agree. But Strome, really not moving the needle much.
 
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Hamilton Bulldogs said:
Not wanting to trade strome for Laine is insane.

There is no leader in this planets history that would make up the difference in value between these two players
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Laine has 2 years left on his deal, Strome has 3 years left.
Sure Laine has higher aav but a year later he could return a 1st + at the deadline if they retain should they choose to move on from Laine. Laine alot younger than Strome too.

Columbus would be stuck with Strome for an extra year of providing 30 to 40 points at best as he gets older. I doubt that in the final year of Stromes contract that Columbus would able to get more than a 3rd with how he's declining
The trade is bad for Columbus imo, sure Strome could score 40 points but he could also decline more and score only 30 for them and become a buyout candidate or put on waivers.
 
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