Can Fowler is unappreciated. If you are objective with what he has to deal as far as partners and team I don’t think he is the problem.
His last good partner was Manson and I thought they were amazing together. I have hopes for luneau and him. They just need to be sheltered to start the season. Not 3rd pairing minutes but more pair 2b.
Let gudas and lacombe take the tough. Minutes and minty dump the offensive ones. Can and lineup should take the easy ones.
We should really thinking long term solutions for gudas and dumo. Zelwegger will eventually replace Fowler but who replaces them? We need a rhd badly.
Anaheim has several options in replacing RD Gudas and LD Dumo. Gudas has two more seasons. Dumo has at least until this TDL. Finding a replacement for Dumo is not a problem as we are stacked at LD. RD is only a problem if our GM wants natural RD's.
LD only: Minty, Vaak, Dionicio, Solberg (could be a year or two away and plays physical like Gudas), Tarin Smith (a couple years away)
LD who have played RD exclusively before going pro: LaCombe, Zell, and Hinds
RD only: Luneau
RD's with question marks: Helleson, Warren, and Moore (who's at Harvard and possibility of becoming a FA at the end of this season). Moore might be the best natural RD prospect out of this bunch.
We have two seasons to find natural RD solutions. We could draft one in the 2025 draft in the first round, but who knows how fast that prospect can get to the NHL and acclimate. Another option is trading for a natural RD already in the NHL, which is the reason we've been stockpiling prospects - and it looks like we're hitting on a lot of LD's.