Prospect Info: Stian Solberg

[WhatTheDuck]

The best part about that team is when they would lose or get blown out they would "goon it up" to make the other team pay a price and show that type of identity to the rest of the league. Never took losing like this current crop

I remember a couple years ago, an opposing player made a comment to the effect of " no one is afraid to go into Anaheim anymore" which implied that they definitely were for a time. Bringing in Gudas was a big step in the right direction, but this team needs to continue adding more guys who are difficult to play against. So that even on those nights where your group is a bit disjointed, you have guys going out there and disjointing the other team. Pumped to get this throwback Dman in the system and soon in the lineup

 

[Dirk316]

I remember a couple years ago, an opposing player made a comment to the effect of " no one is afraid to go into Anaheim anymore" which implied that they definitely were for a time. Bringing in Gudas was a big step in the right direction, but this team needs to continue adding more guys who are difficult to play against. So that even on those nights where your group is a bit disjointed, you have guys going out there and disjointing the other team. Pumped to get this throwback Dman in the system and soon in the lineup

That's my issue with Verbeek he created this culture. Even when he trades a tough player he replaced them with Meyer types ie Carrick

 

[AngelDuck]

That's my issue with Verbeek he created this culture. Even when he trades a tough player he replaced them with Meyer types ie Carrick

It’s interesting that you correlate us being soft for a year or two into Verbeek wanting a soft team permanently.

It looks like a take that’s going to age poorly based on who they are drafting and acquiring recently

Seems to me that Verbeek wants a big, skilled, hard to play against team

Verbeek inherited a mess. The ducks were bad, lacked depth, had almost zero elite young talent when he took over. You weren’t pleased with Murray’s last 3-4 years (no one was) so it’s weird to berate Verbeek over not immediately having the identity in tact in his first 2 years as GM. Those things take time

 

[forever1922]

It looks like a take that’s going to age poorly based on who they are drafting and acquiring recently

Seems to me that Verbeek wants a big, skilled, hard to play against team

Agree, Ducks have drafted the biggest and meanest average of prospects bar none.

Despite them having close to 20 picks in 2 years, there's no easy to play against guys, zero. Dionicio (100PIMs), Port, Blais and Sidorov (66 PIMs) are the model citizens and while they aren't going to scare anyone, they compete. Blais is also the only sub 6 footer.

Not the most physical but big guys, who actually all use their size, and they hit and compete to agitating lengths: Carlsson, Myatovic, Masse, Sennecke

The downright mean guys: Solberg, Konnor Smith, Procyszyn

And the ultimate competitors, will finish hits and play in their opponents face: Terrance, Pettersson, Pitre, Tarin Smith

 

[Arthuros]

It’s interesting that you correlate us being soft for a year or two into Verbeek wanting a soft team permanently.

It looks like a take that’s going to age poorly based on who they are drafting and acquiring recently

Seems to me that Verbeek wants a big, skilled, hard to play against team

Verbeek inherited a mess. The ducks were bad, lacked depth, had almost zero elite young talent when he took over. You weren’t pleased with Murray’s last 3-4 years (no one was) so it’s weird to berate Verbeek over not immediately having the identity in tact in his first 2 years as GM. Those things take time

I'm sure his preference would be for us to be big bad bruisers languishing in the basement of the league rather than being small and skilled while winning a Cup.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Dummy noone said Madden is the final say but it's possible he laid a convincing case to draft him to Verbeek given later he was fist pumping after the pick. Like I said it points to a Madden pick.

Keep creating these hilarious narratives, that have no basis in reality, that you think somehow make better your previous hilarious takes. If you're trying to convince yourself hopefully it's working, because you're not convincing almost anyone else.

 

[SirKillalot]

I read some places that he was compared to Gudas, I would rather put him in the area between Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart, where he is closer to Stuart now, but can move closer towards Kronwall type quality, and wouldn't be surprised if the Ducks fans would be able to chant you got Solberg'd in the same way Detroit-fans chanted you got Kronwalled.

 

[BringBackTheIceman]

He screams fan favorite and alternate captain in 5 years

 

[forever1922]

I read some places that he was compared to Gudas, I would rather put him in the area between Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart, where he is closer to Stuart now, but can move closer towards Kronwall type quality, and wouldn't be surprised if the Ducks fans would be able to chant you got Solberg'd in the same way Detroit-fans chanted you got Kronwalled.

Kronwall is exactly who I thought of as well, because I think Solberg is quite a bit better than Gudas.

While Gudas can lay big hits, I think Solberg does it more in a way that helps his team and not because he just wants to be physical. Just a bit smarter, bit more skilled, bit more vision. But for him to inherit the mantle of Butcher, he still has to show the NHL that he's mean and quite a few "big bad guys" fail to do just that.

 

[Dirk316]

I read some places that he was compared to Gudas, I would rather put him in the area between Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart, where he is closer to Stuart now, but can move closer towards Kronwall type quality, and wouldn't be surprised if the Ducks fans would be able to chant you got Solberg'd in the same way Detroit-fans chanted you got Kronwalled.

Hopefully he will be more like Gudas in the sense he will actually drop the gloves when needed like Gudas, Trouba etc
Kronwall was a great player who never answered for his hits nor never dropped the gloves defending a teammate. The Defense definitely needs that element in its physical players especially with the RD being smaller side.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Verbeek inherited a mess. The ducks were bad, lacked depth, had almost zero elite young talent when he took over. You weren’t pleased with Murray’s last 3-4 years (no one was) so it’s weird to berate Verbeek over not immediately having the identity in tact in his first 2 years as GM. Those things take time

I call male cow manure the Ducks under Murray "had almost zero elite young talent".

2021 Farm team ranking U23, Feb (pre-2021 draft) by Wheeler: 7th.
2021 Farm team ranking, July by Dobber Prospects: 7th.

In 2021-22 season, (in the NHL)
- RW Troy Terry broke out for 37g + 30a in 75 games, 1st in team scoring.
- C Zegras' rookie season with 23g + 38a in 75 games, 2nd in team scoring.
- RD Drysdale's rookie season with 4g + 28a in 81 games, 8th in team scoring.
- G Lukas "no name" Dostal posted well at the AHL and NHL levels.

AHL: 40 games, 0.916 Sv%, and 2.60 GAA​

NHL: 4 games, 0.907 Sv%, and 2.98 GAA​

2021 draft picks seasons
- C McTavish: Won OHL championship, Captained Canada to WJC-20 Gold, WJC-20 MVP, WJC-20 Best Forward, WJC-20 Most Points, and WJC-20 All-Star
- LD Zellweger: CHL Defenseman of the Year (DoY), WHL DoY, WJC-20 Gold

Drysdale's talent helped facilitate a trade to acquire LW Cutter Gauthier.

Verbeek inherited a mess. The ducks were bad, lacked depth, had almost zero elite young talent when he took over. You weren’t pleased with Murray’s last 3-4 years (no one was) so it’s weird to berate Verbeek over not immediately having the identity in tact in his first 2 years as GM. Those things take time

Did Verbeek inherit a mess?

When Verbeek took over, the Ducks were 3rd in the Pacific during all-star break. When Mason got traded, they were 6th in the Pacific, but only 4 points away from a playoff spot. That was with Manson missing 12 consecutive games on IR since the all-star break.

Here is a quote by Verbeek after he was hired by the Ducks from Detroit News:

"This team doesn't need to be rebuilt; they're in the middle of their rebuild, so this is a great opportunity to take this team forward and turn them into a contender," Verbeek said during his introductory press conference. "You don't have to come in there and look to take a long time. There's good players in the NHL, good players in the minors and there are players that have been drafted. There's a lot coming to support the growth of this team. That's truly what I'm excited about."​

Verbeek created his own mess with blowing up the team at the TDL.

It’s interesting that you correlate us being soft for a year or two into Verbeek wanting a soft team permanently.

tbf, you're looking at this in hindsight. Verbeek gutted our physicality at the 2021-22 TDL by trading away Lindholm, Manson, and Des. Then Terry got his ass beat down after the TDL. In case you forgot, here's Terry after the beat down.

In the ensuing off-season, Verbeek didn't replace those physical players he traded and said the team needed a "pack mentality". That was Verbeek's response after seeing his top scorer get beaten down to a pulp b/c we had no physical players. Can't blame any fan for losing faith in Verbeek with respect to physical players. Just look at Terry's mug again.

Also, thank goodness that Klingberg didn't accept the multi-year deal Verbeek offered him and betted on himself with a one-year, $7 mil deal. Otherwise, we'd be so much softer on the blue line for a few years.

I'm happy that Verbeek is able to learn from his mistake, albeit a year later, by adding some physicality to the team with Gudas and gentle giant Johnston this past season. We need more Gudas than Johnston, though. Also, I'm still waiting on Mac to channel his WJC, NL-A, and D+1 OHL physicality at the NHL level b/c he's been very tepid in unleashing that type of game so far. Drafting Solberg ensures we have someone who loves the physical game because Gudas has only 2 years left on his contract.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Kronwall is exactly who I thought of as well, because I think Solberg is quite a bit better than Gudas.

While Gudas can lay big hits, I think Solberg does it more in a way that helps his team and not because he just wants to be physical. Just a bit smarter, bit more skilled, bit more vision. But for him to inherit the mantle of Butcher, he still has to show the NHL that he's mean and quite a few "big bad guys" fail to do just that.

Solberg... the Norwegian Nightmare!

 

[Dirk316]

I call male cow manure the Ducks under Murray "had almost zero elite young talent".

2021 Farm team ranking U23, Feb (pre-2021 draft) by Wheeler: 7th.
2021 Farm team ranking, July by Dobber Prospects: 7th.

In 2021-22 season, (in the NHL)
- RW Troy Terry broke out for 37g + 30a in 75 games, 1st in team scoring.
- C Zegras' rookie season with 23g + 38a in 75 games, 2nd in team scoring.
- RD Drysdale's rookie season with 4g + 28a in 81 games, 8th in team scoring.
- G Lukas "no name" Dostal posted well at the AHL and NHL levels.

AHL: 40 games, 0.916 Sv%, and 2.60 GAA​

NHL: 4 games, 0.907 Sv%, and 2.98 GAA​

2021 draft picks seasons
- C McTavish: Won OHL championship, Captained Canada to WJC-20 Gold, WJC-20 MVP, WJC-20 Best Forward, WJC-20 Most Points, and WJC-20 All-Star
- LD Zellweger: CHL Defenseman of the Year (DoY), WHL DoY, WJC-20 Gold

Drysdale's talent helped facilitate a trade to acquire LW Cutter Gauthier.



Did Verbeek inherit a mess?

When Verbeek took over, the Ducks were 3rd in the Pacific during all-star break. When Mason got traded, they were 6th in the Pacific, but only 4 points away from a playoff spot. That was with Manson missing 12 consecutive games on IR since the all-star break.

Here is a quote by Verbeek after he was hired by the Ducks from Detroit News:

"This team doesn't need to be rebuilt; they're in the middle of their rebuild, so this is a great opportunity to take this team forward and turn them into a contender," Verbeek said during his introductory press conference. "You don't have to come in there and look to take a long time. There's good players in the NHL, good players in the minors and there are players that have been drafted. There's a lot coming to support the growth of this team. That's truly what I'm excited about."​

Verbeek created his own mess with blowing up the team at the TDL.



tbf, you're looking at this in hindsight. Verbeek gutted our physicality at the 2021-22 TDL by trading away Lindholm, Manson, and Des. Then Terry got his ass beat down after the TDL. In case you forgot, here's Terry after the beat down.

In the ensuing off-season, Verbeek didn't replace those physical players he traded and said the team needed a "pack mentality". That was Verbeek's response after seeing his top scorer get beaten down to a pulp b/c we had no physical players. Can't blame any fan for losing faith in Verbeek with respect to physical players. Just look at Terry's mug again.

Also, thank goodness that Klingberg didn't accept the multi-year deal Verbeek offered him and betted on himself with a one-year, $7 mil deal. Otherwise, we'd be so much softer on the blue line for a few years.

I'm happy that Verbeek is able to learn from his mistake, albeit a year later, by adding some physicality to the team with Gudas and gentle giant Johnston this past season. We need more Gudas than Johnston, though. Also, I'm still waiting on Mac to channel his WJC, NL-A, and D+1 OHL physicality at the NHL level b/c he's been very tepid in unleashing that type of game so far. Drafting Solberg ensures we have someone who loves the physical game because Gudas has only 2 years left on his contract.

Gudas is aging undersized and has no help in that department. He's expected to do much
Johnston is the only forward with toughness as Carrick got replaced by Ben Meyers. We'll see how this off-season goes but huge holes still there

 

[BringBackTheIceman]

I call male cow manure the Ducks under Murray "had almost zero elite young talent".

2021 Farm team ranking U23, Feb (pre-2021 draft) by Wheeler: 7th.
2021 Farm team ranking, July by Dobber Prospects: 7th.

In 2021-22 season, (in the NHL)
- RW Troy Terry broke out for 37g + 30a in 75 games, 1st in team scoring.
- C Zegras' rookie season with 23g + 38a in 75 games, 2nd in team scoring.
- RD Drysdale's rookie season with 4g + 28a in 81 games, 8th in team scoring.
- G Lukas "no name" Dostal posted well at the AHL and NHL levels.

AHL: 40 games, 0.916 Sv%, and 2.60 GAA​

NHL: 4 games, 0.907 Sv%, and 2.98 GAA​

2021 draft picks seasons
- C McTavish: Won OHL championship, Captained Canada to WJC-20 Gold, WJC-20 MVP, WJC-20 Best Forward, WJC-20 Most Points, and WJC-20 All-Star
- LD Zellweger: CHL Defenseman of the Year (DoY), WHL DoY, WJC-20 Gold

Drysdale's talent helped facilitate a trade to acquire LW Cutter Gauthier.



Did Verbeek inherit a mess?

When Verbeek took over, the Ducks were 3rd in the Pacific during all-star break. When Mason got traded, they were 6th in the Pacific, but only 4 points away from a playoff spot. That was with Manson missing 12 consecutive games on IR since the all-star break.

Here is a quote by Verbeek after he was hired by the Ducks from Detroit News:

"This team doesn't need to be rebuilt; they're in the middle of their rebuild, so this is a great opportunity to take this team forward and turn them into a contender," Verbeek said during his introductory press conference. "You don't have to come in there and look to take a long time. There's good players in the NHL, good players in the minors and there are players that have been drafted. There's a lot coming to support the growth of this team. That's truly what I'm excited about."​

Verbeek created his own mess with blowing up the team at the TDL.



tbf, you're looking at this in hindsight. Verbeek gutted our physicality at the 2021-22 TDL by trading away Lindholm, Manson, and Des. Then Terry got his ass beat down after the TDL. In case you forgot, here's Terry after the beat down.

In the ensuing off-season, Verbeek didn't replace those physical players he traded and said the team needed a "pack mentality". That was Verbeek's response after seeing his top scorer get beaten down to a pulp b/c we had no physical players. Can't blame any fan for losing faith in Verbeek with respect to physical players. Just look at Terry's mug again.

Also, thank goodness that Klingberg didn't accept the multi-year deal Verbeek offered him and betted on himself with a one-year, $7 mil deal. Otherwise, we'd be so much softer on the blue line for a few years.

I'm happy that Verbeek is able to learn from his mistake, albeit a year later, by adding some physicality to the team with Gudas and gentle giant Johnston this past season. We need more Gudas than Johnston, though. Also, I'm still waiting on Mac to channel his WJC, NL-A, and D+1 OHL physicality at the NHL level b/c he's been very tepid in unleashing that type of game so far. Drafting Solberg ensures we have someone who loves the physical game because Gudas has only 2 years left on his contract.

Yeah man re-signing Lindholm, Manson, Rakell, and Des would've been super cool and we definitely wouldn't have been in Minnesota Wild purgatory for the next 7 years

 

[Anaheim4ever]

If we're going to be the most penalized team in the league we may as well earn those PIMS

Yep earn the PIMs for being physical instead of those Zegras style PIMs that don't do any damage to the other team. The Refs just hate the Ducks and will call them for a set minimum number of interference/holding penaltys and they might as well have it be for hitting hard lol.

 

[Trojans86]

Nice work on getting Solberg, described by EliteProspects as the most violent man in the draft. I think I need to become a Ducks fan.

Welcome! We have a ridiculous group of young kids. Going to be a fun 10+ years.

The best part about that team is when they would lose or get blown out they would "goon it up" to make the other team pay a price and show that type of identity to the rest of the league. Never took losing like this current crop

Agreed. And we were great at coming from behind in games.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Welcome! We have a ridiculous group of young kids. Going to be a fun 10+ years.

It will be even better once the coaching staff gets figured out.

 

[GreatBear]

Gudas is aging undersized and has no help in that department. He's expected to do much
Johnston is the only forward with toughness as Carrick got replaced by Ben Meyers. We'll see how this off-season goes but huge holes still there

I blame Meyers on Cronin. Cronin had coached him with the Colorado Eagles and probably thought that he could do something at the NHL level. Surprise, and not a good surprise. Paying a 5th round pick, which is worth almost nothing, was still too much. The good news is that Meyers is a group VI free agent, so hopefully we have seen the last of him in a Ducks jersey.

Carrick was useful, but won't we don't know is if Edmonton would have given a first just for Henrique, or if they insisted on Carrick as well. Verbeek wanted that first round pick, so giving up Carrick in addition to Henrique to get it, if that was required, was worth it to Verbeek. Since that pick has eventually turned into Solberg that may make everyone happy with a physical, competent defenseman.

We now wait for the results of both Free Agency and qualifying offers. That will help me evaluate the summer work of Verbeek. I am hoping from Free Agency for a physical defenseman, a top six right wing, and a couple of physical bottom six forwards who can score now and then. I am not certain what I want from qualifying offers, but the decision on who to retain will impact how many free agents that Verbeek brings on board.

 

[Deuce22]

Gudas is aging undersized and has no help in that department. He's expected to do much
Johnston is the only forward with toughness as Carrick got replaced by Ben Meyers. We'll see how this off-season goes but huge holes still there

Not able to draft Solberg unless Verbeek shipped out Henrique and Carrick. Rather have the prospect than a meaningless end of season with those two.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Gudas is aging undersized and has no help in that department. He's expected to do much
Johnston is the only forward with toughness as Carrick got replaced by Ben Meyers. We'll see how this off-season goes but huge holes still there

How much fighting do you think actually happens in todays NHL?

The finals had exactly 0 enforcers in the line ups, carrick was on the oilers... didnt suit up in the finals.

 

[Rooch]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1807508247949283746

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1807508247949283746

Angel staduim starting to look like marlins stadium

 

[ZegrassyKnoll]

He reminds me of Manson

 

[SirKillalot]

Kronwall is exactly who I thought of as well, because I think Solberg is quite a bit better than Gudas.

While Gudas can lay big hits, I think Solberg does it more in a way that helps his team and not because he just wants to be physical. Just a bit smarter, bit more skilled, bit more vision. But for him to inherit the mantle of Butcher, he still has to show the NHL that he's mean and quite a few "big bad guys" fail to do just that.

Solberg is a little bigger than both those guys. Gudas is just a block, while Kronwall had more skillset to the point he was a light 1st pair d-man at his best,, though best utilized as a 3rd defenseman who could play 2nd and ended up playing 1st which was a bit above his quality.

But, yes more physicality included in the gameplay instead of physicality just for physicality's sake.

Hopefully he will be more like Gudas in the sense he will actually drop the gloves when needed like Gudas, Trouba etc
Kronwall was a great player who never answered for his hits nor never dropped the gloves defending a teammate. The Defense definitely needs that element in its physical players especially with the RD being smaller side.

He probably will early on drop them at times.
There was no reason towards why Kronwall should drop the gloves except for a few times. The absolute majority of his hits were clean and no need for it.
Also towards the later half of his mean hits streak he had previous injuries that made it so he couldn't fight even if he'd want to. Just too much of a risk, it shouldn't deter him for playing within the rules. If you have your head down, then tough luck, you knew he was going to be there and lay the hits if you' "cheated".

I believe Solberg might lay a little less absolute killer hits, but more regular solid ones as part of his play.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Elite Prospects

Player type: defensive defenseman, heavy hitter, PK specialist

"What defines Solberg above everything else is his mean streak. He’s not content just repelling opponents. He wants them to be as close as possible, as it’s then easier for him to press his stick in their back. He inflicts pain every chance he gets, immobilizes opponents, and knocks them away from the front of the net."

#24 by consolidated ranking
#20 by Elite Prospects
#20 by TSN/Bob McKenzie
#20 by TSN/Craig Button
#25 by THN/Ferrari
#55 by THN/Kennedy
#23 by McKeen's Hockey
#25 by FloHockey/Chris Peters
#17 by FCHockey
#21 by Daily Faceoff
#20 by NHL Central Scouting (EU Skaters)
#21 by HPR/Malloy
#65 by Draft Prospects Hockey
#23 by Sportsnet/Bukala
#18 by Recruit Scouting
#19 by DobberProspects
#30 by Smaht Scouting


TSN/Craig Button

Projection: no. 2/3 D
Comparable: Brayden McNabb
Skating: 4.5/5
Hockey sense: 4/5
Competitiveness: 4.5/5
Defensive play: 4/5
Puck skills: 3.5/5

"Physical and territorial. Doesn't cede space. Jumps into the play offensively. Very good skater who uses it to his advantage."


Athletic/Pronman

Tier: bubble top and middle of the lineup player
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: high-end
Shot: above NHL average
Comparable: Kaiden Guhle

"Solberg played all-situations minutes for his pro team in Norway this season and was an important part of Norway’s U20 and senior team, ending his year with a great World Championship where he was one of Norway’s best players. He’s a very good defender due to his combination of size, mobility and compete. He is a hyper-physical defenseman who plays with an edge and wins a lot of pucks. He closes on gaps well and breaks up a good number of plays. Offensively he can skate pucks up ice and has decent hands as well. I don’t see top-end puck play, but over the course of the season, I came around on that aspect of his game. He can make a first pass and shows enough touch to go with tremendous defensive work, projecting as a legit top-four NHL defender."

"He inflicts pain every chance he gets"

I hope he develops quickly we need this so bad