Speculation: Anaheim Ducks Roster Discussion Part IV

[All Mighty]

Sherwood, Hakanpaa, and Stolarz all sent down. Hakanpaa and Stolarz could have been eventually subjected to waivers if they spent enough time on the roster.

EDIT: Sherwood is the only 1 of the 3 who is on a 2-way contract.

 

[Elvs]

I'm curious, how do people rank our best forwards at this point? This is the 2nd straight year Getzlaf completely tails off during the second half of the season.

I think we can all agree Getzlaf, Henrique, Rakell and Silfverberg are our four best players up front. But in which order?

 

[AngelDuck]

I'm curious, how do people rank our best forwards at this point? This is the 2nd straight year Getzlaf completely tails off during the second half of the season.

I think we can all agree Getzlaf, Henrique, Rakell and Silfverberg are our four best players up front. But in which order?

Getzlaf
Silfververg
Henrique
Rakell


Rakell’s stock has really fallen obviously. At the moment, we have no forwards that are even close to elite. Those 4 are all 2nd liners these days

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Getzlaf
Silfververg
Henrique
Rakell


Rakell’s stock has really fallen obviously. At the moment, we have no forwards that are even close to elite. Those 4 are all 2nd liners these days

none of them were ever elite sans Getzlaf years ago. I think moral has a big part to play in a persons season and the way the par couple seasons have gone I could def see people not trying

 

[AngelDuck]

none of them were ever elite sans Getzlaf years ago. I think moral has a big part to play in a persons season and the way the par couple seasons have gone I could def see people not trying

Getzlaf was elite 2 seasons ago. He had 61 points in 56 games and was BY FAR the best player on a team that was 2 wins from the Cup Finals the year prior . He’s fallen a long way since then, his decline is obvious. But let’s not pretend it’s been 5 years since he was elite.

Rakell was a top line player just 2 years ago as well. He had 34 goals and was playing at a 72 point pace that year. Elite, no, but undoubtedly very good. He has also fallen a long way since then. His decline is more mysterious and annoying than Getzlafs though because he should be in his prime.

Silfverberg and Henrique are now what they always have been. Solid 2nd line hockey players. Neither has really made any noticeable decline to this point

Bob Murray needs to figure out if Rakell is going to rebound or not. If he doesn’t think he will, it’s time to sell him and get some assets back to further help the rebuild.

I would also not mind selling high on Henrique if we think he’s going to be declining in coming seasons.

 

[AngelDuck]

It’s tough to remain a good/great player in your mid 30s. What Teemu did was nothing short of remarkable

 

[Goose of Reason]

It’s tough to remain a good/great player in your mid 30s. What Teemu did was nothing short of remarkable

It's insane that Getzlaf, for all the talk of him declining and whether he is going to keep playing after his contract is up, isn't even as old as Teemu was in 05-06.

 

[Paul4587]

I'm curious, how do people rank our best forwards at this point? This is the 2nd straight year Getzlaf completely tails off during the second half of the season.

I think we can all agree Getzlaf, Henrique, Rakell and Silfverberg are our four best players up front. But in which order?

Getz
Silfverberg


Rakell/Henrique

Getz is still our best all around forward and if he had wingers who could finish a damn would have more points. Rakell and Henrique are a notch below Getz and Silf IMO as neither add anything defensively. Kind of weird to see Henrique with the team lead in points, it didn’t feel like he had that good of a season but he did get a lot of puck luck.

 

[MMC]

Getzlaf
Silfverberg
Henrique
Rakell
Heinen

 

[JabbaJabba]

I just realised that the Ducks have traded away most of their 2014 draft picks in a span of year and a few months. Pettersson was traded in the beginning of December of 2018, Montour in February 2019, Ritchie and Kase last month. Only one that hasn't been traded is Matt Berkovitz who I don't think was signed by the Ducks. So that is a bit weird.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

It's the best of both worlds for us. Got a high pick and didn't have to tank, haha.

We started winning without our top-4. Pretty sure we would have won a few more games and not be 5th overall. So this is a good compromise. LoL

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I just realised that the Ducks have traded away most of their 2014 draft picks in a span of year and a few months. Pettersson was traded in the beginning of December of 2018, Montour in February 2019, Ritchie and Kase last month. Only one that hasn't been traded is Matt Berkovitz who I don't think was signed by the Ducks. So that is a bit weird.

I think Berkovitz is still with Army in the NCAA. He may have to do his 4 or 6-year enlistment, though. Unless he's good enough to play as a pro and the Military lets him play on their behalf.

 

[Los Patos de Anaheim]

Getz
Silfverberg


Rakell/Henrique

Getz is still our best all around forward and if he had wingers who could finish a damn would have more points. Rakell and Henrique are a notch below Getz and Silf IMO as neither add anything defensively. Kind of weird to see Henrique with the team lead in points, it didn’t feel like he had that good of a season but he did get a lot of puck luck.

Henrique was completely invisible at points

 

[Los Patos de Anaheim]

I’m still all for trading Rakell, Henrique, Manson, and any other valuable veteran assets. As much as I’d love to see the team compete for a playoff spot next season, which I think is totally achievable with several players, hopefully, having bounce back seasons. But you can not count on bounce backs to happen, and obviously we can’t rely on the young players to be key contributors either. Although Terry may be poised to break through next season.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I’m still all for trading Rakell, Henrique, Manson, and any other valuable veteran assets. As much as I’d love to see the team compete for a playoff spot next season, which I think is totally achievable with several players, hopefully, having bounce back seasons. But you can not count on bounce backs to happen, and obviously we can’t rely on the young players to be key contributors either. Although Terry may be poised to break through next season.

I'm opposed of this pathway as it mimics the Oil's decade of futility. Terry was poised to break through this past season, along with Steel and Comtois.

I like Manson, but I can admit that he looked horrible when he returned from his injury. Yet, his injury was significant and caused him to be out for an extended period of time. I've noticed that for all players who are out an extended period of time often have a difficult time producing at their own high level, and that it will take some time to get back to that level due to fitness, coordination, and timing. Henrique is more useful than Rakell as Rico did notch 26 goals last year (in 71 games). Rakell at $3.875 isn't that bad of a contract and still has that potential to hit 30 goals. A factor about Rakell that I didn't think about before is that the league still sees him as a 30-goal scorer and their main focus to defend against. And while we know Rakell hasn't been as effective, the opposing teams still view him as the Ducks most dangerous scorer.

The "bounce back" hope was partially addressed at the TDL as Bob changed personnel to not bank on hope as a strategy. Bob goes from bounce back to improvement in talent. The trade deadline acquisitions gave the Ducks a significant boost in play as they were able to win without their top-4 defense for a few games. F Heinen and D Djoos, imo, were significant additions for our club - but it was a small sample with our club. Still, their traits, although vanilla like, played out consistently with the Ducks - thus giving me a bit more confidence in their play next season.

We also are taking a flyer on former first rounder, Sonny Milano. He is providing the Ducks some competition for our youths. His acquisition actually allowed the Ducks to send down Terry to work on becoming a driver than a passenger in the AHL.

Bob's gamble to push the youth movement last year failed as it was premature (and I personally was disheartened by it). Terry, Steel, and Larsson all looked good under Bob as interim head coach, but came to realize they looked good only because they were sheltered by the elder corps' good play as the elder corps didn't show up under Eakins the following season. Terry, Steel, Comtois, Larsson, and Guhle all struggled last year. Jones is a player I expect to be a bottom six player - speedy pest who can contribute from time to time like Cogs (but Jones still needs to work on his defense).

Bob is buying time for the youth to continue to mature, but the additions of F Heinen and D Djoos actually improves the team.

I think we're loaded full of youthful potentials already to want to get rid of Rakell, Henrique, and Manson. We're also going to add more youthful prospects in this coming draft.

 

[Deuce22]

I'm opposed of this pathway as it mimics the Oil's decade of futility. Terry was poised to break through this past season, along with Steel and Comtois.

I like Manson, but I can admit that he looked horrible when he returned from his injury. Yet, his injury was significant and caused him to be out for an extended period of time. I've noticed that for all players who are out an extended period of time often have a difficult time producing at their own high level, and that it will take some time to get back to that level due to fitness, coordination, and timing. Henrique is more useful than Rakell as Rico did notch 26 goals last year (in 71 games). Rakell at $3.875 isn't that bad of a contract and still has that potential to hit 30 goals. A factor about Rakell that I didn't think about before is that the league still sees him as a 30-goal scorer and their main focus to defend against. And while we know Rakell hasn't been as effective, the opposing teams still view him as the Ducks most dangerous scorer.

The "bounce back" hope was partially addressed at the TDL as Bob changed personnel to not bank on hope as a strategy. Bob goes from bounce back to improvement in talent. The trade deadline acquisitions gave the Ducks a significant boost in play as they were able to win without their top-4 defense for a few games. F Heinen and D Djoos, imo, were significant additions for our club - but it was a small sample with our club. Still, their traits, although vanilla like, played out consistently with the Ducks - thus giving me a bit more confidence in their play next season.

We also are taking a flyer on former first rounder, Sonny Milano. He is providing the Ducks some competition for our youths. His acquisition actually allowed the Ducks to send down Terry to work on becoming a driver than a passenger in the AHL.

Bob's gamble to push the youth movement last year failed as it was premature (and I personally was disheartened by it). Terry, Steel, and Larsson all looked good under Bob as interim head coach, but came to realize they looked good only because they were sheltered by the elder corps' good play as the elder corps didn't show up under Eakins the following season. Terry, Steel, Comtois, Larsson, and Guhle all struggled last year. Jones is a player I expect to be a bottom six player - speedy pest who can contribute from time to time like Cogs (but Jones still needs to work on his defense).

Bob is buying time for the youth to continue to mature, but the additions of F Heinen and D Djoos actually improves the team.

I think we're loaded full of youthful potentials already to want to get rid of Rakell, Henrique, and Manson. We're also going to add more youthful prospects in this coming draft.

Good point about Manson, I think it was pretty obvious his play was compromised by his physical condition. I'm beginning to question whether some of the youth is ever going to mature, or if some of them just aren't that good. If Murray isn't sold on all the young players, then selling some vets to acquire more young talent might be the way to go.

 

[Los Patos de Anaheim]

I'm opposed of this pathway as it mimics the Oil's decade of futility. Terry was poised to break through this past season, along with Steel and Comtois.

I like Manson, but I can admit that he looked horrible when he returned from his injury. Yet, his injury was significant and caused him to be out for an extended period of time. I've noticed that for all players who are out an extended period of time often have a difficult time producing at their own high level, and that it will take some time to get back to that level due to fitness, coordination, and timing. Henrique is more useful than Rakell as Rico did notch 26 goals last year (in 71 games). Rakell at $3.875 isn't that bad of a contract and still has that potential to hit 30 goals. A factor about Rakell that I didn't think about before is that the league still sees him as a 30-goal scorer and their main focus to defend against. And while we know Rakell hasn't been as effective, the opposing teams still view him as the Ducks most dangerous scorer.

The "bounce back" hope was partially addressed at the TDL as Bob changed personnel to not bank on hope as a strategy. Bob goes from bounce back to improvement in talent. The trade deadline acquisitions gave the Ducks a significant boost in play as they were able to win without their top-4 defense for a few games. F Heinen and D Djoos, imo, were significant additions for our club - but it was a small sample with our club. Still, their traits, although vanilla like, played out consistently with the Ducks - thus giving me a bit more confidence in their play next season.

We also are taking a flyer on former first rounder, Sonny Milano. He is providing the Ducks some competition for our youths. His acquisition actually allowed the Ducks to send down Terry to work on becoming a driver than a passenger in the AHL.

Bob's gamble to push the youth movement last year failed as it was premature (and I personally was disheartened by it). Terry, Steel, and Larsson all looked good under Bob as interim head coach, but came to realize they looked good only because they were sheltered by the elder corps' good play as the elder corps didn't show up under Eakins the following season. Terry, Steel, Comtois, Larsson, and Guhle all struggled last year. Jones is a player I expect to be a bottom six player - speedy pest who can contribute from time to time like Cogs (but Jones still needs to work on his defense).

Bob is buying time for the youth to continue to mature, but the additions of F Heinen and D Djoos actually improves the team.

I think we're loaded full of youthful potentials already to want to get rid of Rakell, Henrique, and Manson. We're also going to add more youthful prospects in this coming draft.

What is the alternative to a tear down rebuild though? The Ducks may finish 5-6 in the division and 10-14th in the conference, which would be an improvement for sure. But it seems futile to only move up to the 13th pick with the core getting another year older. I think it’s clear that Terry, Steel, and Jones aren’t going to be top 6 players by next season. If ever in their careers. The Ducks will need several more good drafts to restock their team once the core declines. Might as well get the most asset as for the key players now, as opposed to waste their value on a team that MIGHT compete for a playoff spot next year or the year after. Why not go for the best players available and build from there?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Good point about Manson, I think it was pretty obvious his play was compromised by his physical condition. I'm beginning to question whether some of the youth is ever going to mature, or if some of them just aren't that good. If Murray isn't sold on all the young players, then selling some vets to acquire more young talent might be the way to go.

I was high on the kids going into this season, provided they wasn't a youth movement. I was just taken aback at how inept they were when not sheltered. The thing about youths are that they have the potential to become more still. Clearly, Terry can dominate at the AHL level, but it's getting him to become the driver there to become a driver here. Comtois heated up at the end. Steel... welp, he's better than Lundestrom, Backes, or Shore at 3C. As for Jones, is it bad that I'm indifferent to what he does as long as he just brings energy? LoL D Larsson looks like he's coming around. D Guhle looks skiddish.

They're all still young and like 22 years old only. We may still have hope, but it may take the longer route. They're all too talented for the AHL (save Guhle and Lundestrom).

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I'm not sold on Steel, Terry and Jones either.

IMO they should do the draft lottery now since the season is over.

 

[dracom]

 

[Hockey Duckie]

What is the alternative to a tear down rebuild though? The Ducks may finish 5-6 in the division and 10-14th in the conference, which would be an improvement for sure. But it seems futile to only move up to the 13th pick with the core getting another year older. I think it’s clear that Terry, Steel, and Jones aren’t going to be top 6 players by next season. If ever in their careers. The Ducks will need several more good drafts to restock their team once the core declines. Might as well get the most asset as for the key players now, as opposed to waste their value on a team that MIGHT compete for a playoff spot next year or the year after. Why not go for the best players available and build from there?

The nuance may seem insignificant, but removing so many veterans could lead us to a decade of futility like the Oil. At the start the season, Steel, Jones, and Comtois were 21 yrs old while Terry was 22 yrs old. They needed sheltering and our veterans corp didn't help. We're too unlucky with our defense getting his so hard with injuries. That's where our TDL acquisition did change things.

At forward, Heinen only notched 4 points in 9 games, but what he brought to the ice isn't seen on the stats pages. He's everywhere like Silf-lite, cutting down on mistakes while playing 16 minutes a game with Getz. Silf patrols the second line with Rico. The fourth line is outstanding on their own. That leaves just the third line. So rather than two lines being sieves, it's just one. That helped tremendously as our defense lost all of its top-4 players at the end of the season.

At defense, we lost all top-4 players for a spell! In 71 games, the defenseman who logged the most games was Larsson with 60 games. That's crazy! And that's how terribly our defense got hit. (*Note: Gudz was acquired near the start of the season and physically counted the games he missed for the Ducks.)

Total games	71
Defenseman	GP	Not Played	% Games missed
Larsson	60	11	15.5%
Fowler	59	12	16.9%
Lindholm	55	16	22.5%
Manson	50	21	29.6%
Del Zotto	49	22	31.0%
Holzer	46	25	35.2%
Gudbranson	44	16	22.8%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

At the beginning season, the Ducks did add RHD Gudbranson because we lost two of our top-3 defensemen to injuries. At the trade deadline, we acquired D Djoos. Djoos turned out to be a great find and he'll be #5 defenseman with a healthy corps! We went from having a top-3 (Lindholm, Manson, and Fowler) to a top-5 (Lindholm-Manson, Fowler-Gudz, and Djoos). We'll probably still be bringing up Larsson to play on the bottom pairing, and Larsson started the season as a 22 yr old; won't turn 23 until April. We can re-sign either MDZ or RHD Irwin. Guhle can remain in the AHL developing. We also get RHD Axel Andersson in the AHL next year.

Our defense is a great example of having some veterans to keep our youth in the AHL for more seasoning. Guds and Djoos pushes young talent back down while we remain competitive, night in and night out. So removing 2C Rico and our 2nd scorer on the team, Rakell, for several unproven youth spells even more disaster.

Although 9 games is a very small sample, the play of the team was different. They went 5-3-1 with 26 GF and 29 GA.

The Ducks will need several more good drafts to restock their team once the core declines. Might as well get the most asset as for the key players now, as opposed to waste their value on a team that MIGHT compete for a playoff spot next year or the year after. Why not go for the best players available and build from there?

This is what I don't comprehend. Bob has been trying to stock our forwards, doubling up in the first round a couple of times already and will be doing so again this upcoming draft.

Focusing on Forwards in the top two rounds (with draftees beyond the top two rounds)
2010: RW Etem, Rd 1; RW DSP, Rd 2
2011: RW Rakell, Rd 1; C Wild Bill, Rd 2
2012: LW Kerdiles, Rd 2
2013: RW Sorensen, Rd 2
2014: LW Ritchie, Rd 1; RW Kase Rd 7
2015: C Nattinen, Rd 2; C Terry, Rd 5
2016: LW Jones, Rd 1; C Steel, Rd 1
2017: LW Comtois, Rd 2; C Morand, Rd 2
2018: C Lundestrom, Rd 1; C BO Groulx Rd 2
2019: C Zegras, Rd 1; LW Tracey, Rd 1
2020: Rd 1, 5th overall (projected); Rd 1, 31st overall (projected); Rd 2

We swapped Ritchie for Heinen. Kase was traded for 2020 1st round pick and prospect RHD Axel Andersson. Nattinen couldn't hack playing center on NA ice. The 2016 forward youth group is here with Terry. All three are 22 year olds! Comtois looked like a heavy scorer in 2018-19 season at the NHL and his junior team. Lundestrom will start the next season as a 20-year old.

Also traded Shore for the potential of 2014 first rounder LW Sonny Milano.

Anaheim has a plethora of talent stocked and they're simply waiting on them to mature, if ever they mature. And with three picks in the top 2 rounds in 2020, Anaheim will probably be adding yet more forward talent.

Defensively in the top two rounds
2010: Fowler, Rd 1
2011: Manson, Rd 6
2012: Lindholm, Rd 1
2013: Theodore, Rd 1
2014: Pettersson, Rd 2; Montour, Rd 2
2015: Larsson, Rd 1
2016: - none -
2017: - none -
2018: - none -
2019: LaCombe, Rd 2; Thrun, Rd 4
2020: ???

Theodore was essentially lost to the Vegas Expansion Draft. Pettersson was traded for F Sprong and Sprong was just traded for D Djoos at the TDL. Monty was traded for 2015 2nd rounder D Guhle and 2019 first rounder, LW Tracey. In the aforementioned section, 2018 2nd rounder RHD Andersson was acquired in a trade.

For all those people who complain about the Ducks' not having that amazing defensive depth, I hope comparing the Forward v Defense drafting makes it clear why we don't possess the depth anymore because we stopped drafting defensemen in the top-2 rounds for three consecutive years. Look at all those forward draftees from 2016 onward.

I don't comprehend the irrational thought of dumping veterans to stock pile picks when we already possess several picks that need maturation. Not only that, but you're waiting extra years to have those draft picks eventually develop to see if they hit or bust. Do people realize how many young prospects we have today?

In the Ducks' 10th season, they were a middling-to-mediocre team that had an amazing netminder in JS Giguere that carried them to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We already have that caliber netminder in Gibby. Our defense is going to be our strength once they're all healthy and Djoos should help improve our PP. We need to continue to develop while sheltering the youth at the NHL level, and that's going to be the responsibilities of our veterans as well as our bridge players (who could become core players).

Bob can still trade prospects as he's been known to usually pay it forward, recall 2009 first rounder Peter Holland was traded for two draft picks (2nd round and 7th round) which turned out to be D Pettersson and RW Kase. Those two players eventually were traded. It's impressive how Bob does that to continue padding our future. We just haven't figured out how to find forwards who can be mainstays at the NHL level. Bob plays the long game and I appreciate it. He has capital that many GMs do not possess. Could he do better? Every GM could do better. LoL

 

[Hockey Duckie]

What is the alternative to a tear down rebuild though? The Ducks may finish 5-6 in the division and 10-14th in the conference, which would be an improvement for sure. But it seems futile to only move up to the 13th pick with the core getting another year older. I think it’s clear that Terry, Steel, and Jones aren’t going to be top 6 players by next season. If ever in their careers. The Ducks will need several more good drafts to restock their team once the core declines. Might as well get the most asset as for the key players now, as opposed to waste their value on a team that MIGHT compete for a playoff spot next year or the year after. Why not go for the best players available and build from there?

The nuance may seem insignificant, but removing so many veterans could lead us to a decade of futility like the Oil. At the start the season, Steel, Jones, and Comtois were 21 yrs old while Terry was 22 yrs old. They needed sheltering and our veterans corp didn't help. We're too unlucky with our defense getting his so hard with injuries. That's where our TDL acquisition did change things.

At forward, Heinen only notched 4 points in 9 games, but what he brought to the ice isn't seen on the stats pages. He's everywhere like Silf-lite, cutting down on mistakes while playing 16 minutes a game with Getz. Silf patrols the second line with Rico. The fourth line is outstanding on their own. That leaves just the third line. So rather than two lines being sieves, it's just one. That helped tremendously as our defense lost all of its top-4 players at the end of the season.

At defense, we lost all top-4 players for a spell! In 71 games, the defenseman who logged the most games was Larsson with 60 games. That's crazy! And that's how terribly our defense got hit. (*Note: Gudz was acquired near the start of the season and physically counted the games he missed for the Ducks.)

Total games	71
Defenseman	GP	Not Played	% Games missed
Larsson	60	11	15.5%
Fowler	59	12	16.9%
Lindholm	55	16	22.5%
Manson	50	21	29.6%
Del Zotto	49	22	31.0%
Holzer	46	25	35.2%
Gudbranson	44	16	22.8%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

At the beginning season, the Ducks did add RHD Gudbranson because we lost two of our top-3 defensemen to injuries. At the trade deadline, we acquired D Djoos. Djoos turned out to be a great find and he'll be #5 defenseman with a healthy corps! We went from having a top-3 (Lindholm, Manson, and Fowler) to a top-5 (Lindholm-Manson, Fowler-Gudz, and Djoos). We'll probably still be bringing up Larsson to play on the bottom pairing, and Larsson started the season as a 22 yr old; won't turn 23 until April. We can re-sign either MDZ or RHD Irwin. Guhle can remain in the AHL developing. We also get RHD Axel Andersson in the AHL next year.

Our defense is a great example of having some veterans to keep our youth in the AHL for more seasoning. Guds and Djoos pushes young talent back down while we remain competitive, night in and night out. So removing 2C Rico and our 2nd scorer on the team, Rakell, for several unproven youth spells even more disaster.

Although 9 games is a very small sample, the play of the team was different. They went 5-3-1 with 26 GF and 29 GA.

The Ducks will need several more good drafts to restock their team once the core declines. Might as well get the most asset as for the key players now, as opposed to waste their value on a team that MIGHT compete for a playoff spot next year or the year after. Why not go for the best players available and build from there?

This is what I don't comprehend. Bob has been trying to stock our forwards, doubling up in the first round a couple of times already and will be doing so again this upcoming draft.

Focusing on Forwards in the top two rounds (with draftees beyond the top two rounds)
2010: RW Etem, Rd 1; RW DSP, Rd 2
2011: RW Rakell, Rd 1; C Wild Bill, Rd 2
2012: LW Kerdiles, Rd 2
2013: RW Sorensen, Rd 2
2014: LW Ritchie, Rd 1; RW Kase Rd 7
2015: C Nattinen, Rd 2; C Terry, Rd 5
2016: LW Jones, Rd 1; C Steel, Rd 1
2017: LW Comtois, Rd 2; C Morand, Rd 2
2018: C Lundestrom, Rd 1; C BO Groulx Rd 2
2019: C Zegras, Rd 1; LW Tracey, Rd 1
2020: Rd 1, 5th overall (projected); Rd 1, 31st overall (projected); Rd 2

We swapped Ritchie for Heinen. Kase was traded for 2020 1st round pick and prospect RHD Axel Andersson. Nattinen couldn't hack playing center on NA ice. The 2016 forward youth group is here with Terry. All three are 22 year olds! Comtois looked like a heavy scorer in 2018-19 season at the NHL and his junior team. Lundestrom will start the next season as a 20-year old.

Also traded Shore for the potential of 2014 first rounder LW Sonny Milano.

Anaheim has a plethora of talent stocked and they're simply waiting on them to mature, if ever they mature. And with three picks in the top 2 rounds in 2020, Anaheim will probably be adding yet more forward talent.

Defensively in the top two rounds
2010: Fowler, Rd 1
2011: Manson, Rd 6
2012: Lindholm, Rd 1
2013: Theodore, Rd 1
2014: Pettersson, Rd 2; Montour, Rd 2
2015: Larsson, Rd 1
2016: - none -
2017: - none -
2018: - none -
2019: LaCombe, Rd 2; Thrun, Rd 4
2020: ???

Theodore was essentially lost to the Vegas Expansion Draft. Pettersson was traded for F Sprong and Sprong was just traded for D Djoos at the TDL. Monty was traded for 2015 2nd rounder D Guhle and 2019 first rounder, LW Tracey. In the aforementioned section, 2018 2nd rounder RHD Andersson was acquired in a trade.

For all those people who complain about the Ducks' not having that amazing defensive depth, I hope comparing the Forward v Defense drafting makes it clear why we don't possess the depth anymore because we stopped drafting defensemen in the top-2 rounds for three consecutive years. Look at all those forward draftees from 2016 onward.

I don't comprehend the irrational thought of dumping veterans to stock pile picks when we already possess several picks that need maturation. Not only that, but you're waiting extra years to have those draft picks eventually develop to see if they hit or bust. Do people realize how many young prospects we have today?

In the Ducks' 10th season, they were a middling-to-mediocre team that had an amazing netminder in JS Giguere that carried them to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We already have that caliber netminder in Gibby. Our defense is going to be our strength once they're all healthy and Djoos should help improve our PP. We need to continue to develop while sheltering the youth at the NHL level, and that's going to be the responsibilities of our veterans as well as our bridge players (who could become core players).

Bob can still trade prospects as he's been known to usually pay it forward, recall 2009 first rounder Peter Holland was traded for two draft picks (2nd round and 7th round) which turned out to be D Pettersson and RW Kase. Those two players eventually were traded. It's impressive how Bob does that to continue padding our future. We just haven't figured out how to find forwards who can be mainstays at the NHL level. Bob plays the long game and I appreciate it. He has capital that many GMs do not possess. Could he do better? Every GM could do better. LoL

 

[MMC]

The nuance may seem insignificant, but removing so many veterans could lead us to a decade of futility like the Oil. At the start the season, Steel, Jones, and Comtois were 21 yrs old while Terry was 22 yrs old. They needed sheltering and our veterans corp didn't help. We're too unlucky with our defense getting his so hard with injuries. That's where our TDL acquisition did change things.

At forward, Heinen only notched 4 points in 9 games, but what he brought to the ice isn't seen on the stats pages. He's everywhere like Silf-lite, cutting down on mistakes while playing 16 minutes a game with Getz. Silf patrols the second line with Rico. The fourth line is outstanding on their own. That leaves just the third line. So rather than two lines being sieves, it's just one. That helped tremendously as our defense lost all of its top-4 players at the end of the season.

At defense, we lost all top-4 players for a spell! In 71 games, the defenseman who logged the most games was Larsson with 60 games. That's crazy! And that's how terribly our defense got hit. (*Note: Gudz was acquired near the start of the season and physically counted the games he missed for the Ducks.)

Total games	71
Defenseman	GP	Not Played	% Games missed
Larsson	60	11	15.5%
Fowler	59	12	16.9%
Lindholm	55	16	22.5%
Manson	50	21	29.6%
Del Zotto	49	22	31.0%
Holzer	46	25	35.2%
Gudbranson	44	16	22.8%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

At the beginning season, the Ducks did add RHD Gudbranson because we lost two of our top-3 defensemen to injuries. At the trade deadline, we acquired D Djoos. Djoos turned out to be a great find and he'll be #5 defenseman with a healthy corps! We went from having a top-3 (Lindholm, Manson, and Fowler) to a top-5 (Lindholm-Manson, Fowler-Gudz, and Djoos). We'll probably still be bringing up Larsson to play on the bottom pairing, and Larsson started the season as a 22 yr old; won't turn 23 until April. We can re-sign either MDZ or RHD Irwin. Guhle can remain in the AHL developing. We also get RHD Axel Andersson in the AHL next year.

Our defense is a great example of having some veterans to keep our youth in the AHL for more seasoning. Guds and Djoos pushes young talent back down while we remain competitive, night in and night out. So removing 2C Rico and our 2nd scorer on the team, Rakell, for several unproven youth spells even more disaster.

Although 9 games is a very small sample, the play of the team was different. They went 5-3-1 with 26 GF and 29 GA.



This is what I don't comprehend. Bob has been trying to stock our forwards, doubling up in the first round a couple of times already and will be doing so again this upcoming draft.

Focusing on Forwards in the top two rounds (with draftees beyond the top two rounds)
2010: RW Etem, Rd 1; RW DSP, Rd 2
2011: RW Rakell, Rd 1; C Wild Bill, Rd 2
2012: LW Kerdiles, Rd 2
2013: RW Sorensen, Rd 2
2014: LW Ritchie, Rd 1; RW Kase Rd 7
2015: C Nattinen, Rd 2; C Terry, Rd 5
2016: LW Jones, Rd 1; C Steel, Rd 1
2017: LW Comtois, Rd 2; C Morand, Rd 2
2018: C Lundestrom, Rd 1; C BO Groulx Rd 2
2019: C Zegras, Rd 1; LW Tracey, Rd 1
2020: Rd 1, 5th overall (projected); Rd 1, 31st overall (projected); Rd 2

We swapped Ritchie for Heinen. Kase was traded for 2020 1st round pick and prospect RHD Axel Andersson. Nattinen couldn't hack playing center on NA ice. The 2016 forward youth group is here with Terry. All three are 22 year olds! Comtois looked like a heavy scorer in 2018-19 season at the NHL and his junior team. Lundestrom will start the next season as a 20-year old.

Also traded Shore for the potential of 2014 first rounder LW Sonny Milano.

Anaheim has a plethora of talent stocked and they're simply waiting on them to mature, if ever they mature. And with three picks in the top 2 rounds in 2020, Anaheim will probably be adding yet more forward talent.

Defensively in the top two rounds
2010: Fowler, Rd 1
2011: Manson, Rd 6
2012: Lindholm, Rd 1
2013: Theodore, Rd 1
2014: Pettersson, Rd 2; Montour, Rd 2
2015: Larsson, Rd 1
2016: - none -
2017: - none -
2018: - none -
2019: LaCombe, Rd 2; Thrun, Rd 4
2020: ???

Theodore was essentially lost to the Vegas Expansion Draft. Pettersson was traded for F Sprong and Sprong was just traded for D Djoos at the TDL. Monty was traded for 2015 2nd rounder D Guhle and 2019 first rounder, LW Tracey. In the aforementioned section, 2018 2nd rounder RHD Andersson was acquired in a trade.

For all those people who complain about the Ducks' not having that amazing defensive depth, I hope comparing the Forward v Defense drafting makes it clear why we don't possess the depth anymore because we stopped drafting defensemen in the top-2 rounds for three consecutive years. Look at all those forward draftees from 2016 onward.

I don't comprehend the irrational thought of dumping veterans to stock pile picks when we already possess several picks that need maturation. Not only that, but you're waiting extra years to have those draft picks eventually develop to see if they hit or bust. Do people realize how many young prospects we have today?

In the Ducks' 10th season, they were a middling-to-mediocre team that had an amazing netminder in JS Giguere that carried them to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We already have that caliber netminder in Gibby. Our defense is going to be our strength once they're all healthy and Djoos should help improve our PP. We need to continue to develop while sheltering the youth at the NHL level, and that's going to be the responsibilities of our veterans as well as our bridge players (who could become core players).

Bob can still trade prospects as he's been known to usually pay it forward, recall 2009 first rounder Peter Holland was traded for two draft picks (2nd round and 7th round) which turned out to be D Pettersson and RW Kase. Those two players eventually were traded. It's impressive how Bob does that to continue padding our future. We just haven't figured out how to find forwards who can be mainstays at the NHL level. Bob plays the long game and I appreciate it. He has capital that many GMs do not possess. Could he do better? Every GM could do better. LoL

Why are you so certain our 2 1sts this year will be spent on Forwards?

 

[MMC]

Ex-GM Burke: Ducks made 'better offer' than Sharks for Thornton in '05

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Why are you so certain our 2 1sts this year will be spent on Forwards?

I'm not certain, but the option is there and the fact he added another 1st rounder. It's possible we get one forward or no forwards. With three pick in the first two rounds, it's probable we get at least one forward, especially if RHD Drysdale gets selected before us. But I do think you're missing the point that we've spent so much on forwards in recent drafts that we have the possibility of using our first round pick(s) or 2nd rounders on more forwards. How many more forward draft picks is enough for people clamoring to accrue more first round draft picks?

With the acquisition of Djoos and prospect RHD Andersson along with the development of LaCombe and Thrun, the Ducks aren't pigeon-holed into drafting defense as a priority. Djoos pushes either Larsson or Guhle down into the AHL and creating that depth at the NHL level along with Andersson' pro debut. While I would like the Ducks to double up with being lucky at grabbing both RHD Drysdale and RHD Grans with our top two picks, I can see the Ducks go BPA because there isn't an emergency at defense as there was at the last draft. BPA could still be a defenseman. Last draft was the need to draft defensemen because we lost Monty and Pettersson. I was hoping for D Broberg at 8th overall as well as D Thrun with our 29th pick, and then 39th pick, last draft, but we went C Zegras, LW Tracey, and D LaCombe instead, respectively. Just giving an anecdotal example.