Speculation: 2024-25 - Free Agency/Trade Thread

[heynowbababooey]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

 

[KelVarnsen]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

Nope. Not at all.

 

[goonsaredumb]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

Nope, unless the return was a RD who has proven himself as much as Zegras and is around the same age/overall skill level and I think we've got a better chance of pigs flying than that happening.

 

[Frosted Tips]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

Absolutely not.

 

[ohcomeonref]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

I'd rather Zegras be given an A. The team should double down on commitment to him and I think for better or worse he's an emerging leader on the team.

I love having Z.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

It seems to be media manufactured because his name gets clicks when connected to certain teams. Training camp is about 5 or 6 weeks away so the closer we get the more unlikely it seems

I just don't put much stock into last season it's not a coincidence both he and Drysdale had bumpy seasons being late to camp with a new coach and whatnot. That being said I liked how he finished the season, Cronin has clearly made him a project of his and I don't think we will give that away for pennies on the dollar

 

[70sSanO]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

I don’t want to see him traded, especially before this year.

Two 60 point seasons indicate they are not a fluke.

If he has a 30 point season and the rest of the kids are 60+, that opens up the discussion.

If the rest of the kids are 40 point producers, there is a mgmt issue that needs to be fixed before moving on from Zegras.

John

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Zegras sells tickets.. PV would be smart to not move him. Unless he demands a trade.. The Rumor mills need to STFU already.. Let the dude mature.. He will be a star

 

[GermanRocket7]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

I don't want to see Zegras get moved. However, if we got a top-10 caliber RD back, who is still cost-controlled, then I might be intrigued into moving him. However, the only player fitting that mold is Mo Seider, and I am sure Detroit would not move him whatsoever.

 

[anezthes]

However, the only player fitting that mold is Mo Seider, and I am sure Detroit would not move him whatsoever.

I wouldn't move Z for Seider.

 

[Gliff]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

The only way I want to see him moved is if it for a legit young top paring RHD/potential top pairing RHD with size.

Seider
Jiricek Maybe
Dobson

And we all know how likely that is to happen....

I think the best chance is something like Jiricek requesting a trade if there is animosity from last season.

I wouldn't move Z for Seider.

It would honestly be the dumbest shit ever if PV had that opportunity and didn't take it.

 

[HanSolo]

does anyone here actually want to see zegras get moved?

No and definitely not right now when his value is tanked. If it were to happen I would want this team to get something great in return.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I don't want to see Zegras get moved. However, if we got a top-10 caliber RD back, who is still cost-controlled, then I might be intrigued into moving him. However, the only player fitting that mold is Mo Seider, and I am sure Detroit would not move him whatsoever.

I would love it if they got Seider but it'd cost Zegras + other assets to get him.
Verbeek also values Seider more than Zegras cause he scouted him for Detroit when he was assistant GM for GM Yzerman when they picked him. Yzerman would never believe Verbeek if he tried to claim that Zegras is worth Seider without any adds so Verbeek would have to offer more than Zegras to get Seider.

 

[duckpuck]

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.

It is funny how there are certain players/coaches you can't speak objectively about. LaCombe is not far ahead of "all" of our young d defensively. In fact Minty is far ahead of LaCombe to my eye. And arguably Zell too. LaCombe's defensive metrics were pretty bad.

And did it occur to you that being "most improved" can be, to some extent, a reflection of how bad you were to begin with?

I think its fair to say all the young d-men have some work to do. So its a question of upside.
The fact that LaCombe is older and more experienced - yet still not ready for primetime - underscores my point. He has the lowest ceiling of the young d-men and his skill set is a bit redundant with the other higher ceiling guys - which is why he's likely the odd man out EVENTUALLY. So even if LaCombe is a better option than a guy like Leneau TODAY, it doesn't mean LaCombe should not be traded now IF (again "if") there's an option to upgrade. Or stated differently, LaCombe is the best trading chip given that the ducks are still a year or two away from really breaking out.

I like LaCombe and think he will eventually be a solid NHL player. But he's far from irreplaceable or even a huge difference maker on the current ducks team.

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.

I guess you missed the part of my post that said "you have to consider trading [Lacombe] to upgrade other areas (whether Laine or elsewhere)."

I agree Laine's value is low. It is a bit of a flyer. That is why a player like LaCombe can even be in the discussion for a trade for Laine. You only make the trade if you think Laine is likely to recover. But the larger point is LaCombe is far from indispensable And IF (again "if") the ducks feel Laine is likely to rebound to near his peak form, then absolutely LaCombe should be traded for him because the Ducks need scoring and have a surplus of young d-men.

 

[heynowbababooey]

im glad the handful of you who responded are on the same page I am. you guys actually know puck so it proves to me that every idiot i see in ducks social media comments saying "trade zegras!" are casuals.

 

[All Mighty]

One player who seemingly doesn’t have a roster spot on his team is Nashville’s Phillip Tomasino. He’s a 23 year old right-shot winger who has been able to produce some offense in the NHL. He is currently an RFA and will be waiver eligible next season (I think). The Predators don’t seem to have space for him, and he will almost certainly get claimed on waivers if they try to send him down. Assuming Laine isn’t happening, Tomasino could be another interesting buy low candidate.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I guess you missed the part of my post that said "you have to consider trading [Lacombe] to upgrade other areas (whether Laine or elsewhere)."

I agree Laine's value is low. It is a bit of a flyer. That is why a player like LaCombe can even be in the discussion for a trade for Laine. You only make the trade if you think Laine is likely to recover. But the larger point is LaCombe is far from indispensable And IF (again "if") the ducks feel Laine is likely to rebound to near his peak form, then absolutely LaCombe should be traded for him because the Ducks need scoring and have a surplus of young d-men.

The debate has never been about calling LaComb untouchable. You're trying to steer it in a direction I never said I supported. If you want to start a thread on what we can get for LaComb go ahead, it's fair game.

I don't know how much simpler I can say this. I don't think Laine is worth a shit or ever will be, therefore I don't want to trade LaComb for him. If you feel differently that's fine. But stop acting like I said LaCombe is untouchable.

 

[tomd]

im glad the handful of you who responded are on the same page I am. you guys actually know puck so it proves to me that every idiot i see in ducks social media comments saying "trade zegras!" are casuals.

So just to be clear...are you saying zegras is untouchable or only traded in the right kind of deal? I disagree with the former but agree with the latter.

 

[heynowbababooey]

So just to be clear...are you saying zegras is untouchable or only traded in the right kind of deal? I disagree with the former but agree with the latter.

I don't think any player on the roster is untouchable. I think he gets traded if verbeek gets what he feels is fair. Either way I don't want him traded.

 

[91Fedorov]

I wouldn't even trade Zegras for a fair deal. I would keep him barring a massive overpayment. I wouldn't consider Z for Reinbacher for a second. Z has too much upside and has shown that he can be clutch in big games (WJCs). You don't trade that lightly, regardless of whether or not he had a down year.

EDIT: Or, regardless of whether or not his peeing buddy got traded.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

trading Zegras would put us in an even more dire offensive problem.. I don’t believe you can get a two for one with trading him. You either get Zegras for a RHD who can help, or for a different kind of forward.

If you trade Zegras for a defenseman, who is going to make up for the 50-60 maybe even 70 points he could produce in his place?

You keep him no matter what. If this GM trades him, we’re in this rebuild forever

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

The debate has never been about calling LaComb untouchable. You're trying to steer it in a direction I never said I supported. If you want to start a thread on what we can get for LaComb go ahead, it's fair game.

I don't know how much simpler I can say this. I don't think Laine is worth a shit or ever will be, therefore I don't want to trade LaComb for him. If you feel differently that's fine. But stop acting like I said LaCombe is untouchable.

More or less this. Never say never, I guess, but I wouldn’t want Laine on this team for almost any price.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

It is funny how there are certain players/coaches you can't speak objectively about. LaCombe is not far ahead of "all" of our young d defensively. In fact Minty is far ahead of LaCombe to my eye. And arguably Zell too. LaCombe's defensive metrics were pretty bad.

And did it occur to you that being "most improved" can be, to some extent, a reflection of how bad you were to begin with?

I think its fair to say all the young d-men have some work to do. So its a question of upside.
The fact that LaCombe is older and more experienced - yet still not ready for primetime - underscores my point. He has the lowest ceiling of the young d-men and his skill set is a bit redundant with the other higher ceiling guys - which is why he's likely the odd man out EVENTUALLY. So even if LaCombe is a better option than a guy like Leneau TODAY, it doesn't mean LaCombe should not be traded now IF (again "if") there's an option to upgrade. Or stated differently, LaCombe is the best trading chip given that the ducks are still a year or two away from really breaking out.

I like LaCombe and think he will eventually be a solid NHL player. But he's far from irreplaceable or even a huge difference maker on the current ducks team.

LaCombe is ahead defensively among our defensive youths, which is why he was sacrificed to the top line in order to shelter Minty, Luneau, and Vaak. Also the reason why he was a staple on the PK from the start of the season. You easily forgot that Minty started off on the third line to begin the season.

Here's our youth finished their last 23/22 games of the season.

Ducks	Youth D	Last 23/22	Games
Player	Game set	Games	G	A	Pts		+/-	Hits	Blocks	Comments
LaCombe	49 to 71	23	1	7	8		1	12	44	From Feb 19 to Apr 18
Minty	41 to 63	23	2	7	9		-9	29	22	from Feb 13 to Mar 30
Zell	5 to 26	22	2	6	8		-8	10	33	From Mar 1 to Apr 18

When Minty and Zell were pushed into top-4 roles, their defense became exposed. LaCombe was playing in many top-4 situations to close out the season, especially when Minty fell to injury near the end of the season.

I guess your feeling that LaCombe improved throughout the season is because he suck at the start of the season belies the info shared above: sheltered the other youths and better as the season went.

Anyhow, we don't know how our top-4 will shape out. OFD's will take time to develop their defense. Until then LaCombe serves a useful purpose as he did this season, which was one of the factors that allowed Verbeek to trade away Drysdale for Cutter. Conflate that will the fact we didn't draft any RD's this past draft in the top-3 round, then it means we're going to rely on our youth LD's to play RD (LaCombe, Zellweger, and Hinds) or we trade for a young RD. RD's Warren and Moore maybe years away. RD Luneau is an unknown factor due to being load mgmt and infection to his knee.

If Luneau is to be brought along slowly and be in the AHL, then LaCombe serves a very useful purpose in allowing Luneau to develop properly.

I'm not advocating to keeping LaCombe full time, but to keeping LaCombe until we see the dust settles. And if LaCombe's offense begins to rise along with aggressive play, then we have more options. I like having lots of options. Why don't you?

 

[Deuce22]

LaCombe is ahead defensively among our defensive youths, which is why he was sacrificed to the top line in order to shelter Minty, Luneau, and Vaak. Also the reason why he was a staple on the PK from the start of the season. You easily forgot that Minty started off on the third line to begin the season.

Here's our youth finished their last 23/22 games of the season.

Ducks	Youth D	Last 23/22	Games
Player	Game set	Games	G	A	Pts		+/-	Hits	Blocks	Comments
LaCombe	49 to 71	23	1	7	8		1	12	44	From Feb 19 to Apr 18
Minty	41 to 63	23	2	7	9		-9	29	22	from Feb 13 to Mar 30
Zell	5 to 26	22	2	6	8		-8	10	33	From Mar 1 to Apr 18

When Minty and Zell were pushed into top-4 roles, their defense became exposed. LaCombe was playing in many top-4 situations to close out the season, especially when Minty fell to injury near the end of the season.

I guess your feeling that LaCombe improved throughout the season is because he suck at the start of the season belies the info shared above: sheltered the other youths and better as the season went.

Anyhow, we don't know how our top-4 will shape out. OFD's will take time to develop their defense. Until then LaCombe serves a useful purpose as he did this season, which was one of the factors that allowed Verbeek to trade away Drysdale for Cutter. Conflate that will the fact we didn't draft any RD's this past draft in the top-3 round, then it means we're going to rely on our youth LD's to play RD (LaCombe, Zellweger, and Hinds) or we trade for a young RD. RD's Warren and Moore maybe years away. RD Luneau is an unknown factor due to being load mgmt and infection to his knee.

If Luneau is to be brought along slowly and be in the AHL, then LaCombe serves a very useful purpose in allowing Luneau to develop properly.

I'm not advocating to keeping LaCombe full time, but to keeping LaCombe until we see the dust settles. And if LaCombe's offense begins to rise along with aggressive play, then we have more options. I like having lots of options. Why don't you?

He was "sacrificed" not because he was better defensively, but because he was 3 years older the Mintyukov and Zellweger. The Fowler/LaCombe pair was brutal. I like LaCombe as an underrated puck mover, but a defensive stalwart he isn't.

 

[Ducks DVM]

He was "sacrificed" not because he was better defensively, but because he was 3 years older the Mintyukov and Zellweger. The Fowler/LaCombe pair was brutal. I like LaCombe as an underrated puck mover, but a defensive stalwart he isn't.

I think any of the rookies being thrown on the top pairing on the wrong side at the start of the season have been similar train wrecks. Lacombe was much better when he was used appropriately, but many feel that he’s no good because of what happened at the start of the year.

Sorta but not necessarily correlated, I want to see how Vaakanainen does on his own, as far as did he really figure it out or to what extent was his success due to being paired with Gudas.