Speculation: 2024-25 Roster thread

[MMC]

Basically the way I see it is that next year's team has a similar floor to last year's team (no real proven needle-movers were added) but a higher ceiling (kids are +1 year of experience with an additional elite talent added in Gauthier). I think last year's team due to various reasons was basically at the floor of what they could accomplish. Obviously adding top tier free agents would've raised this team's floor but regardless the ceiling is going to remain low until the kids break out. But I also see it as rather unlikely that for 2 years in a row pretty much everything that can go wrong ends up going wrong to where they only reach the floor of what they are capable of

 

[Kalv]

Genuine question - what gave any indication that we would be better? Acquiring a depth piece like Dumoulin and an injury-prone bottom six scorer isn’t pushing the needle. Asking the ‘kids’ to handle it all on their own a bit much IMO.

Maybe changing the coaching staff will help a bit, but if they can’t put these players in a position to succeed then they are part of the blame too.

When? I don't think anybody had time or reason to do it before the draft and first weeks of free agency happens.

As for before that, it was obviously only hope. Hope for progress, hope for better health, hope for better players, hope for better coaching. Somr of that seems limited improvements if ones at all. So I just now realized (gave it a thought) that getting out of bottom 5 is already a tall task.
All that being said, I cannot wait for the next season, I think there is a lot to look forward to. Well, mainly to see how our young guys perform.

 

[Kalv]

I’m pretty sure Evans was the one who played on the right side, not Dumoulin. Here are two example lineups:

That:s interesting then, it might be they write it on opposite sides, but most likely I guess this is how they play. Well, will see. I did saw a highlight where Dumo scored a goal coming in from the right side

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I still think Dumo and Fabbri are upgrades to what we have in the bottom pairing and lines. Talking to Detroit fans and if Fabbri can play at least 50 games will be a win for the Ducks. With the Ducks medical staff which I really do question that may be a challenge. But if he stays healthy can potentially get 20 goals from him. Jones or Groulx were not doing anything close to that.

Plus have Gauthier being added who I think could have hit the NHL last year but staying in college and getting physically ready was the best thing for him, and I think he can make an immediate impact similar to what Zegras did in his rookie season. What would save me from another disappointing season is Gauthier finishing Top 3 in Calder voting.

Then there is the improvement from our young players if most of them can take a step forward will improve from within the organization.

My bar is very low. I just don’t want another bottom 5 finish. It will really question a lot of things. It’s been embarrassing enough. Time to at least show they can be a decent team with hopes of being playoff competitive in a couple of years.

They’re upgrades, they’re just ho-hum upgrades. Not too exciting.

 

[AngelDuck]

The ducks are 1 top 6 forward and some natural progression from high end talent away from having a very solid 4 line team

The defense is still unclear and a bit of a mess in my opinion. Likely will be messy the entire year back there

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Good stuff. As I said before. If we stayed mostly healthy last year I don’t think we finish that badly. We had a lot of one goal games. A lot depends how the kids progress, and also how the vets do obviously.

I think this is where I diverge in thought with health. We got hit with mass injuries two seasons ago as well, but the roster talent was far worse. The PK Eff % stayed at 31st OA, but due to increased penalties it also increased PK goals against. Then the PP Eff % did slightly improve this past season, but still awful. The biggest difference is between the ES play.

Ducks	ES Production
Season	Game Set	ES GF	ES GA	ES GD
2022-23	Season	169​	250​	-81​
2023-24	Season	148​	197​	-49​
		-21​	-53​	32​

We greatly improved on defensive play, but simultaneously dried up on offense. We played a total of four rookie defensemen throughout the season (Minty, LaCombe, Luneau, and Zell) along with a couple of waiver pickups (Lindstrom, Lagesson). At forward, we actually had more top-6 forward play and production this past season than the previous season despite the many injuries; which prompted Verbeek to say he needed more production in the bottom-6.

IMO, coaching ES offense needs to improve b/c we had talent to not be in the bottom-5 last year. Also, if we reduced our penalties to the same amount as two seasons ago, then we would have saved 13 more goals against. Just matching our ES Offense and Penalties from two seasons ago would have had a +34 goal differential. By improving from abysmal to mediocre at ES Offense and Penalties, who knows how many more wins would could have generated last year. That's all on coaching.

 

[AngelDuck]

So are we just not going to have a captain again? That’d be kind of disappointing IMO. Not sure why they wouldn’t just give it to Gudas in the interim

 

[anezthes]

So are we just not going to have a captain again?

Maybe the real captain is the friends we made along the way.

 

[MMC]

As long as all the players coaches and front office staff remembers this we should be alright this season

 

[Son of Gib]

Yeah, time to lower expectations for next season...

 

[tomd]

I would be happy with a 70 point season as long as they were a generally competitive team and we saw individual player improvement from the under 25 crowd.

 

[AngelDuck]

I would be happy with a 70 point season as long as they were a generally competitive team and we saw individual player improvement from the under 25 crowd.

Don’t disagree but I think we’ll be in the 75-80 range personally

 

[tomd]

Don’t disagree but I think we’ll be in the 75-80 range personally

Very possible with a generally healthy roster for the year. That said, some of our more optimistic posters were thinking that last year as well. Missed it by that much....

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

As long as all the players coaches and front office staff remembers this we should be alright this season

View attachment 894931

 

[ZegrassyKnoll]

As long as all the players coaches and front office staff remembers this we should be alright this season

View attachment 894931

It irritates me that they used initial case for the top section and title case for the the bottom... I'm already not having a great experience

 

[DaGeneral]

I just don’t want us to have another top 10 pick.

 

[Arthuros]

Maybe the real captain is the friends we made along the way.

Maybe we were the captains all along...?

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Maybe the young players want Zegras as captain and Verbeek and the veterans don't like that idea. Better off giving it to Gudas and wait to see if Gauthier emerges as captain material. I've got a good feeling about Gauthier becoming that guy.

 

[Son of Gib]

Maybe the young players want Zegras as captain and Verbeek and the veterans don't like that idea. Better off giving it to Gudas and wait to see if Gauthier emerges as captain material. I've got a good feeling about Gauthier becoming that guy.

Didn't Cronin say something like "over the last 2 years, we've gotten a good read on the guys people listen to in the room."

 

[Shade]

I just don’t want us to have another top 10 pick.

I will give you everything in my bank account if they DONT pick in the top 10.

Running it back and hoping for internal improvement is a terrible idea.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

So are we just not going to have a captain again? That’d be kind of disappointing IMO. Not sure why they wouldn’t just give it to Gudas in the interim

Not just disappointing…it feels disrespectful at this point. This is an NHL team, not somebody’s science project. Now potentially year 3 of not bothering?

I don’t follow other teams that closely but how often in the modern era has it happened that a team has gone multiple years without naming a captain, even an interim one?

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Not just disappointing…it feels disrespectful at this point. This is an NHL team, not somebody’s science project. Now potentially year 3 of not bothering?

I don’t follow other teams that closely but how often in the modern era has it happened that a team has gone multiple years without naming a captain, even an interim one?

Minnesota (the Wild, not North Stars) didn't name a permanent captain for their first eight seasons, so they were without one for nine years as the lockout was included in there. They weirdly rotated the C among a group of veteran players for each of those years.

List of all the Minnesota Wild Captains | Hockey-Reference.com

Get the list of all the Minnesota Wild Captains on Hockey-Reference.com

www.hockey-reference.com

It seems way too kindergarten level for me, like "ok Johnny it's your turn to be captain this month". How about figuring out who is the actual team leader?

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Minnesota (the Wild, not North Stars) didn't name a permanent captain for their first eight seasons, so they were without one for nine years as the lockout was included in there. They weirdly rotated the C among a group of veteran players for each of those years.

List of all the Minnesota Wild Captains | Hockey-Reference.com

Get the list of all the Minnesota Wild Captains on Hockey-Reference.com

www.hockey-reference.com

It seems way too kindergarten level for me, like "ok Johnny it's your turn to be captain this month". How about figuring out who is the actual team leader?

I think that sucks too but at least there’s a C! It acknowledges the need for a leader. I understand the desire (and even accept the need) for someone to step into the role but if that hasn’t happened in a reasonable time, you need to go get one. A team needs a leader.

 

[JAHV]

I think that sucks too but at least there’s a C! It acknowledges the need for a leader. I understand the desire (and even accept the need) for someone to step into the role but if that hasn’t happened in a reasonable time, you need to go get one. A team needs a leader.

• The Maple Leafs have gone without a captain for periods. They didn't have one between 2016 (Phaneuf) and 2019 (Tavares). Also between 2008 and 2010 and for a few years in the 80s.
• The Penguins went without a captain between 2001 and 2007.
• The Senators went without one between Karlsson (2018) and Tkachuk (2021).
• The Rangers went without between McDonagh (2018) and Trouba (2022).
• The Wild are weird, as someone mentioned above, with a bunch of temporary guys. I don't think that's any different than just having alternates. Buffalo also did this for a few years in the early 00's, sometimes with multiple players, sometimes just with Danny Briere and Chris Drury alternating.
• The Red Wings went without for a couple seasons between Zetterberg (2018) and Larkin (2021).
• The Blue Jackets went without between Nash (2012) and Foligno (2015).

As you can see, it's hardly unprecedented to go three or more seasons without a named captain. I think having a captain is important, but I think even more important is that it's the right guy. I would rather the Ducks take their time with this decision than name someone just to have a guy with a C on his chest, then have to strip it later or find someone new if that's not the right person.

The next generation of Ducks stars is here. They may not be playing like it quite yet, but these are the guys that will be leading the team for the next half dozen years. One of these guys is captain material, but it may be too early to put that burden on him (Carlsson?) or perhaps they haven't matured into it quite yet (McTavish, Zegras, Mintyukov).

My own personal speculation (based on nothing but my own perspective) is that they want it to be Carlsson but they think it's too much for him right now. I think they'll let this season play out and see if he steps up to be the leader they think he can be. If not, I think it will go to one of the other kids who is now a year older and maybe has shown a bit more.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

• The Maple Leafs have gone without a captain for periods. They didn't have one between 2016 (Phaneuf) and 2019 (Tavares). Also between 2008 and 2010 and for a few years in the 80s.
• The Penguins went without a captain between 2001 and 2007.
• The Senators went without one between Karlsson (2018) and Tkachuk (2021).
• The Rangers went without between McDonagh (2018) and Trouba (2022).
• The Wild are weird, as someone mentioned above, with a bunch of temporary guys. I don't think that's any different than just having alternates. Buffalo also did this for a few years in the early 00's, sometimes with multiple players, sometimes just with Danny Briere and Chris Drury alternating.
• The Red Wings went without for a couple seasons between Zetterberg (2018) and Larkin (2021).
• The Blue Jackets went without between Nash (2012) and Foligno (2015).

As you can see, it's hardly unprecedented to go three or more seasons without a named captain. I think having a captain is important, but I think even more important is that it's the right guy. I would rather the Ducks take their time with this decision than name someone just to have a guy with a C on his chest, then have to strip it later or find someone new if that's not the right person.

I didn’t say it was unprecedented, and it doesn’t change my opinion even if it’s happened a handful of times over the last 20-something years. Although it’s funny that basically Babcock’s entire toronto tenure was without a captain.

Maybe it’s part and parcel of a rebuild, which would make it just another aspect of a rebuild that I don’t like. And I don’t buy that the choice is between having no captain and having to name someone who isn’t captain material. If you don’t have ONE guy on your team who you can put in charge on the premise that he’s the guy while the next generation matures, you’ve mismanaged your team.