Kind of crazy how different the drafting philosophy has been on these top picks between PV and BM, especially considering how its pretty much the same scouting team. Verbeek didn't hastily rid of the previous regimes picks either, he gave them good solid looks.
I don't believe the drafting philosophy are different in the top-10. Outside the top-10 is where you'll see differences.
There are many factors to consider when comparing the two GM's. For example, before the rebuild, the Ducks were in the playoffs eight of out 10 years, including six consecutive playoffs before the rebuild started at the 2019 TDL and five consecutive Pacific Division banners before the 2017-18 season. Which means Murray didn't have a lot of stock pile of top-10 prospects in tow already like Verbeek started off with.
Under Murray, the Ducks dropped down one for three consecutive drafts where as Verbeek only dropped down twice, where one of the drafts would still have landed him a #1 overall talent in previous drafts in the 2023 draft. Imagine how things would be different if the Ducks stayed at 5th overall and selected LD Sanderson, who was drafted higher than on most people's boards, but Murray let us know he was looking at Sanderson and Drysdale with the #6 pick after the draft.
Also Verbeek reset the rebuild, which is how Verbeek crashed into two top-3 draft picks compared to just one top-3 draft pick under Murray. Then factor the quality of the draft. The 2021 draft was quite vanilla. No one above Mac has actually created a huge distance from Mac. The best prospect in that draft was pick 23 in Wyatt Johnston.
We all can say that Zegras would have thrived under coach Q, but Verbeek traded him as a cap dump. But Zegras is a great example of the scouting group willing to take a player who was dropping... you know, like McQueen in the 2025 draft.
In the 2023 draft, we had three players that could have gone #1 overall in previous drafts in C Bedard, C Carlsson, and C Fantilli. It is my belief that Murray would have selected Carlsson. Remember, Verbeek admitted he was not the Carlsson bandwagon and was persuaded to draft Carlsson by the scouting group.
In the 2024 draft, there were a lot of talent to choose from. The scouting group chose a prospect much higher than on most people's charts. This isn't anything new to the org, though. Lindholm and Mac are two examples of the team drafting prospects higher than their mock projections. The Ducks went off the board again with Sennecke.
For the 2025 draft, Anaheim was the only team in the top-10 that could take a chance on McQueen because it has already collected talent since 2019. It parlayed Drysdale for Cutter. Mac was the team's 2nd best scorer and top goal scorer after the 2024-25 season. Carlsson and Cutter were taking their steps to improve. LaCombe looked like a #1D after Fowler was traded. Also, did I mention that the Ducks have drafted a player falling from the top-5 in a previous draft in Zegras?
All three lottery picks under Murray ended up missing training camp and pre-season due to prolong negotiations with Verbeek on their second contracts. All of them had their season affected them terribly after their hold out.
This off-season will be the first off-season where Verbeek will be dealing with his own draft picks that need their 2nd contracts done with Carlsson, Cutter, and Minty. Zell also needs a second contract or be traded.