Speculation: 2024-25 Roster thread

[Hockey Duckie]

What I am hoping to find this season is an inkling of a top line and growth of potential top-pairing D's. It is clear that our prospects are the only ones who can help us out of the cellar.

For a top line, Anaheim has an extraordinary amount of talent to mix and match. The problem is most of that talent is still young and still trying to find their way. LW/C Cutter will be a rookie in the NHL this season, C/LW Carlsson is heading into his 2nd season as a 19-year old, C/LWMac is heading into his 3rd season, and LW/C Zegras into his 4th "full" season. Then we have the young vet in RW Terry. That is potentially 5 out 6 top-6 players there. Hopefully, we can see some combination that might work as a top line. We do have some vets that might cycle up, but I think Verbeek wants Cutter with Carlsson. Verbeek did gift Carlsson the 1C position last year.

Projected top line to start the season
Cutter-Carlsson-Terry

As for a potential top-pairing d-men, I don't know if we see a youth that could establish themselves as one this season. OFD's like Minty, Zell, and Luneau take years to develop their defense. I'll take Minty improving his defense this year b/c he struggled once put into top-4 minutes. I don't see Zellweger as a top pairing D at the NHL level. LaCombe is a 2-way D that is reluctant to play aggressive offensively and dissuades him as a top-pairing guy, but ahead defensively out of all of our youths. Luneau's potential is probably the next highest after Minty, but Luneau hasn't played a season in the NHL.

 

[Kalv]

I’d like to see some baby shower reports.

Is Zegras girlfriend avoiding Troy terrys baby shower? Why?!

Has anybody even seen Zegras and Verbeek pee together? No! They obviously avoid each other. Zegras for Montreal's 4th + expiring contract of Shea Weber

 

[Hockey Duckie]

NHL.com put out a fantasy point projection article:

1. Frankie with 62 pts
2. Mac with 56 pts
3. Cutter with 46 pts
4. Carlsson with 45 pts
5. Terry with 59 pts

They also listed bounce-back candidates and breakout candidates in the article.

Anaheim Ducks fantasy projections for 2024-25 | NHL.com

McTavish, Gauthier, Carlsson worth prioritizing in long-term leagues

www.nhl.com

Cutter with 46 points kinda helps with the loss of Rico, but Frankie with the only 60 or more points production isn't sounding great overall for our offense.

 

[HanSolo]

He is physical he looks to throw hits (yes he's slow but skates well for a heavyweight) goes to the net and battles and fights. Fits all the criteria for a physical forward. Because he's an enforcer of course you will go out of your way to discredit him.

Because he's an enforcer, you'll go out of your way to pump his tires.

 

[HanSolo]

NHL.com put out a fantasy point projection article:

1. Frankie with 62 pts
2. Mac with 56 pts
3. Cutter with 46 pts
4. Carlsson with 45 pts
5. Terry with 59 pts

They also listed bounce-back candidates and breakout candidates in the article.

Anaheim Ducks fantasy projections for 2024-25 | NHL.com

McTavish, Gauthier, Carlsson worth prioritizing in long-term leagues

www.nhl.com

Cutter with 46 points kinda helps with the loss of Rico, but Frankie with the only 60 or more points production isn't sounding great overall for our offense.

These projections are meaningless.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

These projections are meaningless.

Would you like to come up with something new to talk about b/c this board is running on fumes.

 

[HanSolo]

Would you like to come up with something new to talk about b/c this board is running on fumes.

We can talk about it and talk about where our predictions might differ, but you said Cutter's projection would help replace Rico. Fine. But the way you phrased your sentence about Frankie's projected total is like it's almost a certainty he'll be around 60 points give or take 5.

These projections are pure speculation. For example, if Leo is currently working out like crazy every day and studying NHL game tape and comes in bigger and with more confidence he should easily lapse that 45 point projection since that was just over (43) his production pace this year prorated to an 82 game season.

It's also worth mentioning that articles like this don't account for a number of factors. Keeping with the Leo example, he played at a 43 point pace which is more than respectable for an 18 year old top 3 pick. But anyone paying attention knows that aside from his own inexperience, Leo never really meshed with Killorn or Terry, both of whom had down seasons by their own standards. This was not helped by the fact that Leo was getting staggered starts early on and had a few injuries in the back half of the season. If he had been able to find a groove with one or two linemates, his point pace could have been higher. Yet this "projection" has him only beating that point pace by two points after another summer of strength/skills training. If Leo ends up building on that early chemistry he showed with Gauthier, Cutter could (not saying will) beat that point projection too.

So we can obviously talk about it but acting like these blindfolded dart shots are strong predictors or that they have any bearing on the team's outlook in the way we discuss it, I feel is not the way to go about it.

 

[HanSolo]

To make it simpler, using these numbers as a prognosis would be like making a bet on the cup winner based on EA NHL's annual simulation.

 

[AngelDuck]

Carlsson better have way more than that many points. What a disappointment that would be

 

[dracom]

Carlsson better have way more than that many points. What a disappointment that would be

any of those point projections, outside of Frank, would be a disappointment for me.

 

[Ducks DVM]

I think people think that routine Top 3 draft picks do much better in their 2nd years than all but the perennial Hart types actually do.

 

[HanSolo]

I think people think that routine Top 3 draft picks do much better in their 2nd years than all but the perennial Hart types actually do.

I don't think anyone is realistically expecting Leo to hit 90+ points but expecting 55-60 points isn't unreasonable. Again, a 43 point pace for an 18 year old who struggled with injuries, was freshly adapting to North American hockey, still has room to grow into his frame and had linemates he had next to no chemistry with, that's pretty good output given the circumstances.

A sophomore slump isn't out of the question, but I think barring unfortunate circumstances, he should beat that projection.

 

[Ducks DVM]

I don't think anyone is realistically expecting Leo to hit 90+ points but expecting 55-60 points isn't unreasonable. Again, a 43 point pace for an 18 year old who struggled with injuries, was freshly adapting to North American hockey, still has room to grow into his frame and had linemates he had next to no chemistry with, that's pretty good output given the circumstances.

A sophomore slump isn't out of the question, but I think barring unfortunate circumstances, he should beat that projection.

If you look at the 1st overalls, 60-ish games and 40-50 points is pretty common in their 2nd years.

 

[HanSolo]

If you look at the 1st overalls, 60-ish games and 40-50 points is pretty common in their 2nd years.

True. Maybe it's just hopium. But I also feel like the adverse conditions Leo had to deal with were real.

 

[Leonardo87]

Just remember Barkov put up 36 points in 71 games in his sophomore season. Leo is already ahead of him. Didn’t really break out till his 3rd or really even 5th season in the NHL if you want to count actual total production and not just on pace. I use Barkov because he has been one of Leo’s comparisons.

I would like to see Leo hit 60+ next year to mirror what Z did as a 19yo (D+2 year?). Remember, Leo started full time (I mean sorta full time)at 18 yo, a year younger than Zegras did. Even if Leo hits around 45-50 points it’s still not the end of the world and would be progress. But still like to see a breakout next year, but a lot of factors have to go well, and not sure how the coaching will be.

This is why Zegras is so underrated yet he is overrated by other fanbases because he was on the cover of a F’ing video game, lol. Need to keep Zegras, Verbeek would be a fool to trade someone who produces when the team needs more scoring. Those 60+ point seasons are not easy to do on this team. Then people say “What about last year” Well he was injured, but he was roaring back towards the end of the season, looking like his old self but also playing better in his own end.

 

[HanSolo]

Just remember Barkov put up 36 points in 71 games in his sophomore season. Leo is already ahead of him. Didn’t really break out till his 3rd or really even 5th season in the NHL if you want to count actual total production and not just on pace. I use Barkov because he has been one of Leo’s comparisons.

I would like to see Leo hit 60+ next year to mirror what Z did as a 19yo (D+2 year?). Remember, Leo started full time (I mean sorta full time)at 18 yo, a year younger than Zegras did. Even if Leo hits around 45-50 points it’s still not the end of the world and would be progress. But still like to see a breakout next year, but a lot of factors have to go well, and not sure how the coaching will be.

This is why Zegras is so underrated yet he is overrated by other fanbases because he was on the cover of a F’ing video game, lol. Need to keep Zegras, Verbeek would be a fool to trade someone who produces when the team needs more scoring. Those 60+ point seasons are not easy to do on this team. Then people say “What about last year” Well he was injured, but he was roaring back towards the end of the season, looking like his old self but also playing better in his own end.

This is what makes me so apprehensive about Cronin getting another shot. I know that feels like veering way off topic but this is such a delicate time for a lot of guys with a lot of talent and potential. This year is a big opportunity for a lot of the youth to make big and lasting strides and I'm praying that Cronin and his staff are able to promote rather than inhibit that.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I don't think anyone is realistically expecting Leo to hit 90+ points but expecting 55-60 points isn't unreasonable. Again, a 43 point pace for an 18 year old who struggled with injuries, was freshly adapting to North American hockey, still has room to grow into his frame and had linemates he had next to no chemistry with, that's pretty good output given the circumstances.

A sophomore slump isn't out of the question, but I think barring unfortunate circumstances, he should beat that projection.

Does having a shitty coach count as unfortunate circumstances? Asking for a friend.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Does having a shitty coach count as unfortunate circumstances? Asking for a friend.

Can’t wait for the ‘deer in the headlights’ look this season!!

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Saw this tidbit of info from the Hockey Writer's article about McTavish:

"McTavish and Vatrano shared the ice for 545 minutes and [Vatrano] recorded 30 goals, but Vatrano’s 505 minutes without McTavish only resulted in 17, according to Natural Stat Trick."

Vatrano best be hoping Mac stays healthy all season so he can replicate scoring over 30 goals again! Which would be great for the team! Question is, "Will Cronin put Vatrano and Mac together for this season?"

 

[AngelDuck]

Vatrano and McTavish could form a great line together IF the RW is a strong 2 way player. Strome isn’t that guy.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of great options there. Terry might be the best bet. Colangelo could be a great option down the road

Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn
Vatrano-McTavish-Terry
Fabbri-Zegras-Strome

That 3rd line would need to be deployed in a lot of offensive zone starts

 

[FiveTacos]

Vatrano and McTavish could form a great line together IF the RW is a strong 2 way player. Strome isn’t that guy.

Well ultimately we need McTavish to develop into a strong 2 way player so we're not looking for a winger to cover for his lapses. If a few years from now he's still taking lazy penalties and missing assignments, then he'd better be putting up crazy offensive numbers.

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Terry is the key.. If terry does not regain his form.. We are in trouble.

 

[Rasp]

Terry is the key.. If terry does not regain his form.. We are in trouble.

I think we are in trouble if we are relying on Terry to carry the team

 

[Kalv]

I think we are in trouble if we are relying on Terry to carry the team

After a further investigation, we're in trouble regardless


PS
Holy smokes, after @Leonardo87 memtioned it in another thread (and IIRC @Hockey Duckie more specifically with a date), we're 4 weeks away from hockey (rookie camp). That's not that far. Which is good because the offseason topics on all the HFB are reaching the bottom of the barrel levels

 

[Son of Gib]

Vatrano and McTavish could form a great line together IF the RW is a strong 2 way player. Strome isn’t that guy.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of great options there. Terry might be the best bet. Colangelo could be a great option down the road

Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn
Vatrano-McTavish-Terry
Fabbri-Zegras-Strome

That 3rd line would need to be deployed in a lot of offensive zone starts

Poor Zegras.