Former Ducks (2024-25 edition)

[zegrassyknoll]

I don't believe Fowler was mailing it in, but rather Fowler's role changed. He went from two-way OFD to babysitting DFD, which isn't his game at all. In St. Louis, he's playing back at his OFD role again. Silf share a similar situation of playing a two-way F who can score 20 goals for a playoff Anaheim to a shutdown guy in the rebuild. Now, he's back on a playoff team in the SHL and his goal scoring and scoring have revived. Just different roles being played.

As a Fowler defender I agree with what you're saying in terms of the last couple of seasons.

But this season the guy was clearly mailing it in. He looked terrible.

 

[All Mighty]

 

[mightyquack]

Fowler is so good

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Since the new year 2025 Henrique has just 10 points. 20 points in 72 games.
Perry is 5 years older than Henrique but has 25 points in 72 games.
Drysdale has 20 in 64 games.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Man has been phenomenal. Truly happy for him.

EDIT: Somehow, I missed @duxfan1101 up top.

 

[dracom]

Fowler doing so well helps cement in my mind how awful coaching has hurt him for years. Hope the blues go on a deep run

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Man has been phenomenal. Truly happy for him.

EDIT: Somehow, I missed @duxfan1101 up top.

It's worth posting twice.

 

[Terry Yake]

Fowler doing so well helps cement in my mind how awful coaching has hurt him for years. Hope the blues go on a deep run

don't forget playing heavy minutes in a role not suited to your strengths on a shitty team

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

It's nice to see Fowler doing well again, but he was pretty damn bad the last 2 years for Anaheim.

I'm not sure there was anything the Ducks / Cronin could do to make him a useful player again. It wasn't just how he was used but he was genuinely avoiding contact and was pretty easy to get around on the defensive side of things.

Sometimes all it takes for a guy to get it going is a change of scenery and I think thats the case here. Fowler always had the tools and for most of his career in Anaheim used them wisely, so it is good to see him back to his old self in St Louis.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

It's nice to see Fowler doing well again, but he was pretty damn bad the last 2 years for Anaheim.

I'm not sure there was anything the Ducks / Cronin could do to make him a useful player again. It wasn't just how he was used but he was genuinely avoiding contact and was pretty easy to get around on the defensive side of things.

Sometimes all it takes for a guy to get it going is a change of scenery and I think thats the case here. Fowler always had the tools and for most of his career in Anaheim used them wisely, so it is good to see him back to his old self in St Louis.

Fowler has often avoided contact b/c he played the OFD role before the reset rebuild. Fowler is best when paired with a DFD like a Manson, Gudbranson, or Hakanpaa. After the 2022 TDL (Verbeekening), Fowler has been playing a babysitting, 2WD role to all the youths (Drysdale, LaCombe, and Zellweger). Similar thing happened to Silf under the Murray rebuild. Silf went from a 20-goal scorer to barely getting to a single two-digit goal production in his last four seasons with the Ducks. Now, Silf moved back to Sweden's top men's league, Byrnas got promoted to the SHL this season (which spells a good and talented team), and he has reverted to a high-end, scoring machine. Silf is a top-4 scorer (47 pts) and goal scorer (23g) in the SHL this season. Currently, Silf is tied for 2nd in playoff goal scoring (4g) and fifth in playoff scoring (7 pts).

In St. Louis, they have put Fowler in his best position to succeed, playing an OFD role. Although, they did try Fowler-Faulk (two OFD's), where Fowler had to play the defensive role, but that failed and the Blues never revisited it again. Fowler is on a team with more talent. Which means he can generate more offense because of it. Combine the two and he's a productive top-4D again. It is like Silf's story in the SHL this season.

 

[JAHV]

It's nice to see Fowler doing well again, but he was pretty damn bad the last 2 years for Anaheim.

I'm not sure there was anything the Ducks / Cronin could do to make him a useful player again. It wasn't just how he was used but he was genuinely avoiding contact and was pretty easy to get around on the defensive side of things.

Sometimes all it takes for a guy to get it going is a change of scenery and I think thats the case here. Fowler always had the tools and for most of his career in Anaheim used them wisely, so it is good to see him back to his old self in St Louis.

It was similar with Perry. He was tired of the organization and had to leave to get back to effectiveness.

 

[mightyquack]

It's nice to see Fowler doing well again, but he was pretty damn bad the last 2 years for Anaheim.

I'm not sure there was anything the Ducks / Cronin could do to make him a useful player again. It wasn't just how he was used but he was genuinely avoiding contact and was pretty easy to get around on the defensive side of things.

Sometimes all it takes for a guy to get it going is a change of scenery and I think thats the case here. Fowler always had the tools and for most of his career in Anaheim used them wisely, so it is good to see him back to his old self in St Louis.

I bet Fowler with a competent coach would have played very good hockey the last two years.

 

[Terry Yake]

I bet Fowler with a competent coach would have played very good hockey the last two years.

coaching is just one aspect of it

fowler's success in STL is mainly due to not having to shoulder the same 1D load he was being tasked with every night here. combine that with bad coaching and playing for bad teams, and you can see why fowler struggled here at the end

 

[DavidBL]

coaching is just one aspect of it

fowler's success in STL is mainly due to not having to shoulder the same 1D load he was being tasked with every night here. combine that with bad coaching and playing for bad teams, and you can see why fowler struggled here at the end

Is it though? I think he's being asked to do pretty much the same thing over there. He does appear to have reduced PK role.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I bet Fowler with a competent coach would have played very good hockey the last two years.

I think the roster construction and directive wasn't great for Fowler. Fowler had no DFD's in 2022-23. For 2023-24, same thing even though Verbeek grabbed stay-at-home guys Gudas and Lyubushkin. Those guys were for the youths.

Verbeek had a plethora of youth LD's at the NHL level in 2023-24 with LaCombe, Mintyukov, Vaak, and Zellweger. Vaak was the only stay-at-home LD.

The summer of 2024, the Ducks draft LD Solberg in the first round and traded for LD Dumo.

Fowler's role was to be the babysitter for the past two seasons. Difference it this year, it felt like Fowler was put into a defensive role so Zell can be the OFD on the top line.

 

[Terry Yake]

Is it though? I think he's being asked to do pretty much the same thing over there. He does appear to have reduced PK role.

last i checked, broberg-faulk was their top D pairing with fowler-leddy second. he still looks to be playing around the same amount of minutes, but he's no longer in the same role he was with the ducks. having an experienced partner like leddy instead of rookie lacombe or some other young, inexperienced d-man probably helps quite a bit too

 

[Ducks DVM]

I bet Fowler with a competent coach would have played very good hockey the last two years.

That, and not being publicly told you weren’t wanted.

 

[DavidBL]

last i checked, broberg-faulk was their top D pairing with fowler-leddy second. he still looks to be playing around the same amount of minutes, but he's no longer in the same role he was with the ducks. having an experienced partner like leddy instead of rookie lacombe or some other young, inexperienced d-man probably helps quite a bit too

So it seems. Looks like since March broberg gets about 1:30 more ice time at ES and more defensive starts. Doesn't stop Blues fans from calling him their best D.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

That, and not being publicly told you weren’t wanted.

Oh snap! I totally forgot that aspect of the GM telling you that you're no longer wanted around, but here, we got you a watch when we see you next in an opposing uni.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

So it seems. Looks like since March broberg gets about 1:30 more ice time at ES and more defensive starts. Doesn't stop Blues fans from calling him their best D.

Broberg's been in NA pro side for the past four seasons. And by Broberg being the top pair, that means Fowler's role is different such that he can focus on scoring like an OFD. Kinda like when Fowler played LD2 behind Lindholm. Lindholm gets the tougher assignments and Fowler can exploit the weaker ones.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

That, and not being publicly told you weren’t wanted.

Apropos of nothing but my own speculation since he’ll never cop to it publicly, but I absolutely believe that being passed over for the captaincy really hurt him (don’t really blame him for that either)

 

[Mr Rogers]

If I had to choose a 26 or 27 y.o. Cam or Hampus (knowing how their careers have gone up to now) for an expansion roster, I'm taking Cam every time.

 

[Mr Rogers]

This reflects pretty well on Teemu