6. Anaheim Ducks
And now we get to the rebuilding team in the Pacific Division that’s not as far along as the Canucks but has some good pieces for sure.
I really wanted to rate the Ducks higher as they held down the second spot in the Pacific Division for a time but then came crashing down to earth when their young talent inevitably felt the pinch of growing pains.
I was impressed by the Ducks’s offseason too, as they acquired some useful veterans in Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, and John Klingberg.
Still, though, the Ducks are building something pretty good here, might win another cup or two eventually.
Their first line consists of Adam Henrique-Trevor Zegras-Frank Vatrano. Zegras is certainly off to a good start, with 12 points in 12 games. Vatrano is doing his thing with five points in 12 games. Henrique is 3-1-4 in 12 games. Not bad.
Their second line consists of Maxime Comtois-Ryan Strome-Troy Terry. Terry currently leads the Ducks in points with 16 in 12. Strome has eight in 12, while Comtois has four goals in those 12 games. That’s a good start for sure.
The third line is centered by 2021 first round pick Mason Mctavish. The second year player already has eclipsed last year’s total of three points with seven points in 12 games. His wingers are Max Jones, 1-1-2 in 12 games, not great. Subbing in for Derek Grant, who is off right now due to conditioning issues right now, is Brett Leason, who has 1-1-2 in six games, not bad.
The fourth line is centered by Isac Lundestrom, who has four assists in 12 games, and at the left side is Colton White, no points three games. The other winger is Jakob Silvferberg, who has 3-1-4 in 11 games. Not bad.
The Ducks are a bit hurting on D right now, as they have three d-men injured at the time of this writing – Sam Carrick, Urho Vaakanainen, and Jamie Drysdale. I’m assuming they’re hurting for the entire season as the Ducks have a number of guys signed to one year contracts.
The Ducks’s first pairing consists of ex-Oiler Dmitry Kulikov and ex-Star John Klingberg. Kulikov has four points in 12 games while Klingberg has six assists in 12 games. On a non-rebuilding team this would be a bad top pair but on this team it’s fine. On the second pairing we have Simon Benoit with no points in eight games and Cam Fowler, with one point in 12 games. The bottom pairing consists of Nathan Beaulieu – two assists in eight games – and Kevin Shattenkirk, four assists in 12 games.
In net we have the shadow of John Gibson, who is somehow still in Anaheim despite trade rumours dogging him for a long time now. He’s fallen off the map a bit, probably ran out of gas due to having to bail his team out on so many occasions. He’s off to about the start you’d expect, .883 sv% and 4.58 GAA. Congratulations Anaheim, you have him for this season and the next four at the hefty price tag of $6.4 million. Enjoy.
Backing up Gibson we have Anthony Stolarz, who was briefly an Oiler. He’s also off to the start you’d expect backstopping a young team lacking defensive experience, .901 sv% and a 3.9 GAA.
This team is bound to get better defensively as their young roster gains experience, but until they do Gibson and Stolarz are going to be mere meatshields for the many pucks flying in their vicinity.
The Ducks remind me of the Oilers from four seasons ago. Might be two or three seasons away from making the Playoffs in this Pacific Division.