GDT: 2024 Rookie Faceoff. Yay Hockey is back! Rookie Camp starts Sept 12th

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Leonardo87

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The Ducks announced today that the club will participate in the seven-team Rookie Faceoff tournament hosted by the Los Angeles Kings from Sept. 13-16. The tournament will coincide with Anaheim Ducks Rookie Camp, beginning Thursday, Sept. 12 at Great Park Ice (camp schedule and roster to be announced at a later date).



Friday, Sept. 13
Game 1 - San Jose vs. UHC, 1:00 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)
Game 2 - Colorado vs. Anaheim, 3:30 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 2)
Game 3 - Vegas vs. Los Angeles, 7:00 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)

Saturday, Sept. 14
Game 1 - Seattle vs. Colorado, 3:00 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)
Game 2 - UHC vs. Los Angeles, 7:00 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)

Sunday, Sept. 15
Game 1 - Vegas vs. Seattle, 1:00 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)
Game 2 - Anaheim vs. San Jose, 4:30 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)

Monday, Sept. 16

Game 1 - Colorado vs. San Jose, 11:30 a.m. PT (NHL Rink 1)
Game 2 - UHC vs. Vegas, 12:30 p.m. PT (NHL Rink 2)
Game 3 - Anaheim vs. Los Angeles, 3:30 p.m. PT (NHL Rink
 
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ZegrassyKnoll

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Dear god I thought pre-season overreactions were dramatic.

Folks, this is a team of kids who have played together one time and who have worked with our coach for like two weeks, probably mostly on individual skills.

It's fun to celebrate individual performances but please do not waste any time on negativity for this. It could not possibly mean less.
 

DavidBL

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Dear god I thought pre-season overreactions were dramatic.

Folks, this is a team of kids who have played together one time and who have worked with our coach for like two weeks, probably mostly on individual skills.

It's fun to celebrate individual performances but please do not waste any time on negativity for this. It could not possibly mean less.
The same argument can be made for the other team too though. I'm not going to take much from this tournament but when do we stop making excuses? Both games the common thread has been that we looked like we didnt have any structure and frankly it seems to weave all the way to the NHL club.
 

Dr Johnny Fever

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The same argument can be made for the other team too though. I'm not going to take much from this tournament but when do we stop making excuses? Both games the common thread has been that we looked like we didnt have any structure and frankly it seems to weave all the way to the NHL club.
Sometime after the games start counting and we're dressing our 20 best NHL players?
 

Hockey Duckie

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The same argument can be made for the other team too though. I'm not going to take much from this tournament but when do we stop making excuses? Both games the common thread has been that we looked like we didnt have any structure and frankly it seems to weave all the way to the NHL club.

The rookie tourney is an exhibition, not necessarily an actual tournament. The invites are new to our program with a day or two of seeing the org.

Usually, it is AHL coaches for the rookie tourney exhibition. And often it's the top guys that end up shining the most and the rest of the time it's just okay. I remember when we had Zegras, Drysdale, and Mac in the rookie tourney. Once Mac was held out, the tourney wasn't as much fun even though I think we dominated the tourney. At least we felt great about Z, Drysdale, and Mac.

 
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Masch78

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Have to say, the Sharks really nailed it with the last drafts. Musty and Chernyshov are such gems where they were picked, especially Musty.

And I still do not really understand the Myatovic pick.

But honestly, all that counts at the moment is Luneau looking good, Cutter not out of place and everything else is a plus. Those two players are the ones that count right now.
 

Hinterland

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The same argument can be made for the other team too though. I'm not going to take much from this tournament but when do we stop making excuses? Both games the common thread has been that we looked like we didnt have any structure and frankly it seems to weave all the way to the NHL club.
I mean the stream was of brutal quality but overall I saw a pretty even Steven game. SJ was just more efficient, had a bit more individual quality thanks to players like Halttunen, Smith or Musty.

No reason to overreact here. This was just an exhibition with everybody still getting up to speed after offseason. It's still preseason for all of them.
 
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WhatTheDuck

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Our big Dman smith, he fought in last years rookie face off . He’s a beast. Anyone know where we have him playing this upcoming season? And I assume, we’re hoping he becomes a stay at home bottom pair dman in the future?

He was traded in the OHL at last year's deadline, from Peterborough to Owen Sound. He was listed on OS training camp roster, and doesn't currently have a contract with the Ducks, so the safe assumption would be that he's returning to the OHL for an overage season. His overall game is still fairly raw, plenty to work on at the junior level despite his physical advantage.

There is of course a chance he earns an ELC in this camp and gets assigned to the AHL/ECHL but I just don't see it being likely. Too much D depth in front of him.
 
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Dryish

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This is going to sound like a crackpot opinion, but I think I am ready to can Madden and to hire someone who excels at finding offensive prospects instead in his place. If we don't hit our forward picks, the grimmest outlook is essentially looking at a Buffalo future. I don't think it's too far anymore.
 
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Masch78

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This is going to sound like a crackpot opinion, but I think I am ready to can Madden and to hire someone who excels at finding offensive prospects instead in his place. If we don't hit our forward picks, the grimmest outlook is essentially looking at a Buffalo future. I don't think it's too far anymore.
What is this?

I mean everyting else after pick 40 or 50, this is more of luck.

Sennecke - potentially great or good player
Solberg - potentially great
Pettersson - potentially good
The lower round picks could turn out good, we will see

Carlsson - potentially great
Myatovic - not a fan of it
Some dark horeses in this draft

Minty - potentially great
Gaucher - miss imho
Luneau making it up

McT - excellent pick
Zellweger - good pick

Drysdale - now Gauthier - good to great value
Perrault - was a solid choice did not turn out
Colangelo - ok

Madden is doing fine. It is just, that other teams are doing great lately.
 

mightyquack

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This is going to sound like a crackpot opinion, but I think I am ready to can Madden and to hire someone who excels at finding offensive prospects instead in his place. If we don't hit our forward picks, the grimmest outlook is essentially looking at a Buffalo future. I don't think it's too far anymore.
Definitely crackpot given we are top 5 in the league for drafting defensemen and are regarded as a top 5 prospect pool in hockey.

We also have a forward core of Carlsson/McTavish/Zegras/Gauthier/Sennecke which is pretty damn good, if they don't pan out it's not really due to poor drafting.

There are very few, if any teams that are outstanding at drafting all three positions.
 

robbieboy3686

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He was traded in the OHL at last year's deadline, from Peterborough to Owen Sound. He was listed on OS training camp roster, and doesn't currently have a contract with the Ducks, so the safe assumption would be that he's returning to the OHL for an overage season. His overall game is still fairly raw, plenty to work on at the junior level despite his physical advantage.

There is of course a chance he earns an ELC in this camp and gets assigned to the AHL/ECHL but I just don't see it being likely. Too much D depth in front of him.
Ty for that update, much appreciated
 

Kalv

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Warrens pass was kind of decent (has some vision and feel for the game on top of his big body). Hopefully he can put it together eventually
 

Mr Rogers

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I don't think Madden should be replaced but they could improve with drafting in the depth forward ranks. I don't think you can tell much from a rookie tournament but if there's any takeaway for me, it's that after Gauthier, Sidorov and Sennecke, there is not a ton of skill.

Nobody is perfect and Madden shouldn't be immune to criticism
 

Kalv

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Draft philospshy very obviosly changed with Verbeek, so I don't think it is only on Madden. He struggled in the last years under Murray too where we missed on some forwards late in the draft but he's so good with defensemen that he's still very obviously above average.

While I'm not a fan of many of those role player picks and have been vocal about it, I don't think these tournaments is where to draw conclusions. Some of the offensive stars here might end up nothing because they cannot become top 6 players where some role players could find a permanent role in the NHL eventually, at their speciality.

To me what keeps sticking out is potential of a poor systems and special teams coaching throughout our org. This is the year where we cannot have any excuses for that
 

cheesymc

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Have to say, the Sharks really nailed it with the last drafts. Musty and Chernyshov are such gems where they were picked, especially Musty.

And I still do not really understand the Myatovic pick.

But honestly, all that counts at the moment is Luneau looking good, Cutter not out of place and everything else is a plus. Those two players are the ones that count right now.
They made great picks but also did well in the later rounds like Wetsch and Roberts, they've looked good.

Myatovic was a big reach even if I liked him as a mid-round guy. He really doesn't have a skillset and brings nothing exceptional to justify the pick. He is a depth guy who you normally pick later in the draft and hopes he overachieves. We really passed on a lot of talented and safer players. Maybe the scouts were dreaming of someone who is half as good as a glue guy like Hyman.

why are people overreacting so much to one rookie tournament game?
They also didn't look good against a weak Avs team. We aren't showing any signs of having a strong system or identity of play and we see it throughout the organization.
 
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JAHV

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Draft philospshy very obviosly changed with Verbeek, so I don't think it is only on Madden. He struggled in the last years under Murray too where we missed on some forwards late in the draft but he's so good with defensemen that he's still very obviously above average.

While I'm not a fan of many of those role player picks and have been vocal about it, I don't think these tournaments is where to draw conclusions. Some of the offensive stars here might end up nothing because they cannot become top 6 players where some role players could find a permanent role in the NHL eventually, at their speciality.

To me what keeps sticking out is potential of a poor systems and special teams coaching throughout our org. This is the year where we cannot have any excuses for that
This is starting to become my worry as well. This was the case under Eakins and I was hoping it would be fixed under the Cronin/McIlvane regimes. I do think Cronin added some solid defensive structure to the NHL team, but the NHL team was incapable of playing it all that well. It certainly helped (just look at the goals against totals between the last two seasons), but not as much as it should have.

I haven't watched much Gulls hockey, but from some of the comments from people here and then watching some of these prospect games, I notice a lot to be desired in terms of structure. Multiple times yesterday I saw guys crowding each other and occupying the same passing/forechecking lanes. I know this isn't a cohesive unit of players - it's a bunch of prospects playing together - but it was remarkable the difference between Anaheim and San Jose in terms of structure. It brought back painful memories of Eakins.

Cronin hasn't lost my optimism yet, but he has significant work to do this season. I'm pretty skeptical of McIlvane at this point.
 
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This is going to sound like a crackpot opinion, but I think I am ready to can Madden and to hire someone who excels at finding offensive prospects instead in his place. If we don't hit our forward picks, the grimmest outlook is essentially looking at a Buffalo future. I don't think it's too far anymore.

You're not the only one. I've said it for quite some time now. There must be a way to find scouts who are great at evaluating forward talent.

Of course, you can look at the whole picture and say maybe it's certain scouts are pushing for 'their' players and boxing other opinions out.

This is an extreme example, but maybe some guys in 2019 loved Tracey so much and didn't want to take Brink who fell in the rankings.
 

Hockey Duckie

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Draft philospshy very obviosly changed with Verbeek, so I don't think it is only on Madden. He struggled in the last years under Murray too where we missed on some forwards late in the draft but he's so good with defensemen that he's still very obviously above average.

The draft philosophy didn't change when it pertains to top-10 forward picks, defensemen, and goalies. Why do people forget about the goalies? Under Madden, we've never utilized a first round pick on a goalie and we have had continually success at finding starters.

  • Top-10 forward picks
    • GM Murray
      • 2019: 9th C Zegras
      • 2021: 3rd C McTavish
    • GM Verbeek
      • 2023: 2nd C Carlsson
      • 2024: 3rd RW Sennecke

The most unknown is Sennecke due to a late half season scoring binge, but the talent he possesses is undeniable. Everyone's happy with the other three forwards, which makes us set at center for quite a long time. We're hitting on our top-10 forward picks.

  • Late first/early 2nd forward picks
    • GM Murray
      • 2016: 24th LW Max Jones, 30th C Sam Steel
      • 2019: 29th LW Tracey
      • 2020: 27th RW Perreault, 36th RW Colangelo
    • GM Verbeek
      • 2022: 22nd C Gaucher
      • 2023: 33rd LW Myatovic
      • 2024: 35th C Pettersson

Under Murray, the Ducks would take offensive swings on prospects in the late first or early second round picks. Things didn't pan out with four out of the five, as Colangelo was just recently signed. Jones and Steel are still kicking around the NHL. They're not a complete bust, but both had to become bottom-6 type players. Easier to transition for Jones than Steel, but Steel has found a niche on the fourth line of playoff teams.

With Verbeek, the 2022 and 2023 picks were defensive forwards. The 2024 pick is an offensive forward pick. Maybe Madden was able to chime in this year to stray away from picking yet another defensive forward in the late first/early second round.
 

ZegrassyKnoll

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The same argument can be made for the other team too though. I'm not going to take much from this tournament but when do we stop making excuses? Both games the common thread has been that we looked like we didnt have any structure and frankly it seems to weave all the way to the NHL club.
You're right - the same argument can be made for the Sharks prospects' performance in that it is a completely meaningless win. It is no indication of having a better system or better coaches or even a better prospect pool.

It is an indication of one player, Musty, having a great night.
 

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