The Official 2023-2024 Anaheim Ducks Thread

[deepdrive]

New AHL coach announced on Ducks website. He looks good on paper.

[gotbeer]

4 hours ago, deepdrive said:

New AHL coach announced on Ducks website. He looks good on paper.

https://www.nhl.com/ducks/news/ducks-name-mcilvane-head-coach-of-ahls-san-diego-gulls/c-343856392

Interesting.  Really young.  37 YO.   And a Euro.  But he's been a winner wherever he goes.  

Wonder what this means for a coach for the Ducks?  My wish might be in the running now.  As maybe a Euro style game is going to be introduced.

[eaterfan]

18 hours ago, gotbeer said:

https://www.nhl.com/ducks/news/ducks-name-mcilvane-head-coach-of-ahls-san-diego-gulls/c-343856392

Interesting.  Really young.  37 YO.   And a Euro.  But he's been a winner wherever he goes.  

Wonder what this means for a coach for the Ducks?  My wish might be in the running now.  As maybe a Euro style game is going to be introduced.

I mean, his last two coaching stops have been in Europe, but I don't know if that makes him a Euro. He's from Illinois originally and started coaching in the US. I presume he grew up with the North American game.

[gotbeer]

Ducks Prospects Earn Several CHL Season Awards

The light at the end of a very dark defensive tunnel.

[gotbeer]

Matt McIlvane isn’t the Ducks’ next coach — but the new AHL boss might have an NHL future

Sounds good.

[deepdrive]

10 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Matt McIlvane isn’t the Ducks’ next coach — but the new AHL boss might have an NHL future

Sounds good.

Yeah, it kind of looks like he may be our guy in the future.

[deepdrive]

11 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Ducks Prospects Earn Several CHL Season Awards

The light at the end of a very dark defensive tunnel.

Too many d prospects doing well. Someone’s going to get traded. We need another middle six 30 goal scorer.

[gotbeer]

37 minutes ago, deepdrive said:

Too many d prospects doing well. Someone’s going to get traded. We need another middle six 30 goal scorer.

I don't know.  Do we?

Rico/Terry/McTavish

#1,2 or 3/Strome/Z

Lundestrom/Vatrano/Nesterenko

I know, Strome.  But he is a veteran presence.  He doesn't complain.  Goes about his business.  Can teach the youngsters a thing or two with Rico.  And he is signed for 4 more seasons.  He did end up with 41 points last season.  And if he is consistently with Z and #1, 2, 3 it might make a world of difference, instead of stuck with Vatrano.  

[deepdrive]

14 hours ago, gotbeer said:

I don't know.  Do we?

Rico/Terry/McTavish

#1,2 or 3/Strome/Z

Lundestrom/Vatrano/Nesterenko

I know, Strome.  But he is a veteran presence.  He doesn't complain.  Goes about his business.  Can teach the youngsters a thing or two with Rico.  And he is signed for 4 more seasons.  He did end up with 41 points last season.  And if he is consistently with Z and #1, 2, 3 it might make a world of difference, instead of stuck with Vatrano.  

Okay, first of all, the guy I'm talking about is for a couple seasons from now, going forward.

But let's look at our guys. A championship team needs two high quality lines, a very respectable 3rd line and a 4th line that can out play/out score other playoff quality bottom six and bottom two d pairings. So realistically, only Terry, McTavish, Z, and (1,2,3) are top 6. Sounds good if they all develop to their uppermost potential and don't succumb to injuries. Plus, Verbeek is able to find two guys who's play compliments and covers their short comings. Can't say much more until we know who (1,2,3) is. Also, what we get for a first next year will be huge.

So, the rest:

Henrique - Two years from now is probably gone. Otherwise he's third line or forth (if the salary fits).

Vatrano - Same

Strome - Same, but emphasis on being gone in 3 years.

Lundestrom - Hey, I could see this guy playing as a center with two of the four top six we have (second line). But, the Ducks will have to change their vision of him. He's not our future shutdown center - Goucher is (if he continues to develop).

Nesterenko - He's nobody until he's somebody.

Which leaves us with the need for a guy that plays middle six and consistently scores 30+ goals.

We also need at least one of the two guys to go with the four we have for our top six.

I think, anyway you look at it we're short at least two high quality offensive guys after (1,2,3). And that's before factoring in changes Verbeek feels he needs to make to balance his team/lines and add the size he caveats.

[deepdrive]

You know, another thing to keep in mind is Verbeek is not going forward with Fowler and 5 prospects as his defense. He will at some point have to bring in at least two high quality veterans. You have to get them somehow. Maybe FA, but probably at least one will have to be traded for. A team is probably going to want a good defensive prospect in return.

I only see room for maybe three of our defensive prospects going forward. And how many do we have, five or six? If they develop properly, they have to go somewhere. Trades are coming.

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, deepdrive said:

You know, another thing to keep in mind is Verbeek is not going forward with Fowler and 5 prospects as his defense. He will at some point have to bring in at least two high quality veterans. You have to get them somehow. Maybe FA, but probably at least one will have to be traded for. A team is probably going to want a good defensive prospect in return.

I only see room for maybe three of our defensive prospects going forward. And how many do we have, five or six? If they develop properly, they have to go somewhere. Trades are coming.

Well, Benoit is another D man.  He better be back, because he's the only guy that's physical out there.  Drysdale is technically not a prospect anymore since his entry level deal is over.  But really the book is still out on him.  So that leaves 3 open slots.  Personally, going the vet route last season kind of blew up spectacularly.  As worse case scenario's go, we underestimated the worse case scenario.  I'd rather go with giving the rooks a shot.  LaCombe looked pretty good in his few games with us.  But more importantly, hopefully we get a coach that knows something about Defense.  Just that would go a really long ways.

[deepdrive]

2 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Well, Benoit is another D man.  He better be back, because he's the only guy that's physical out there.  Drysdale is technically not a prospect anymore since his entry level deal is over.  But really the book is still out on him.  So that leaves 3 open slots.  Personally, going the vet route last season kind of blew up spectacularly.  As worse case scenario's go, we underestimated the worse case scenario.  I'd rather go with giving the rooks a shot.  LaCombe looked pretty good in his few games with us.  But more importantly, hopefully we get a coach that knows something about Defense.  Just that would go a really long ways.

Yeah, but the vets blew up because we had the wrong guys - two rentals (that didn't work out and we're more offensive orientated) and Shattenkirk. Last years team was never designed to succeed.

Going forward though, we need pieces that will start succeeding in 2-3 years. You can't put a winning defense together with five sub 25 y/o defenders.

Anyway, this isn't my call. I'm just putting out what I believe Verbeek is aiming for. And, I don't believe that includes two sub 6' guys in the top two pairings or 4-5 of our defense positions open to prospects. Regardless of what you or I believe is best, I think Verbeek trades at least two of our D prospects (including one of either Drysdale or Zellweger) in the next two years.

Verbeek can make trades. We have prospects that are super hot right now. I think he's going to deal. We'll see.

[gotbeer]

A Red Wing article.  But I think it really pertains to the Ducks also.  If they make one addition, I think the best addition would be RD.  

Red Wings Will Shop For Right-Shot D Man; Who’s Out There?

 

[arch stanton]

I have a feeling Erik Johnson is going to be available at a pretty reasonable price 

[gotbeer]

One week until draft day.  Do we take Carlsson or Mitzkov with the #3 pick?

 

[deepdrive]

23 hours ago, gotbeer said:

A Red Wing article.  But I think it really pertains to the Ducks also.  If they make one addition, I think the best addition would be RD.  

Red Wings Will Shop For Right-Shot D Man; Who’s Out There?

 

"The plus for Shattenkirk is that he has 891 games of NHL experience"

The negative is that he is no better than he is after 891 NHL games.

[gotbeer]

Just now, deepdrive said:

"The plus for Shattenkirk is that he has 891 games of NHL experience"

The negative is that he is no better than he is after 891 NHL games.

I think the negative is he shouldn't have gotten more than 750 games.

[deepdrive]

15 hours ago, gotbeer said:

One week until draft day.  Do we take Carlsson or Mitzkov with the #3 pick?

 

Nope, I'm still fixated on Bedard or Fantilli for the next week. Plenty of time after to feel bad about what could have been.

[deepdrive]

12 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

I think the negative is he shouldn't have gotten more than 750 games.

But you know, when his career ends, he's more likely to have close to 1200 games than 1000.

He's good at being a guy who fills a spot and is easy as a teammate.

[gotbeer]

2 hours ago, deepdrive said:

Nope, I'm still fixated on Bedard or Fantilli for the next week. Plenty of time after to feel bad about what could have been.

I'm just accepting the obvious.  The Ducks getting screwed once again.  

[gotbeer]

Anaheim Ducks’ next coach? Here are 16 possible candidates

 

[deepdrive]

3 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Anaheim Ducks’ next coach? Here are 16 possible candidates

 

16 huh, that's a lot. Then I read it and saw he got there by adding Bruce and Randy (um, 3.0. Which I guess is a super-duper improved version?). Sorry Eric , but what credibility you had at 14 (not necessarily a lot) was completely lost in the end.

Cheap journalism. Just throw a bunch of guesses at the wall, so you have a better chance of later saying, "I saw that guy as a candidate.."

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, deepdrive said:

16 huh, that's a lot. Then I read it and saw he got there by adding Bruce and Randy (um, 3.0. Which I guess is a super-duper improved version?). Sorry Eric , but what credibility you had at 14 (not necessarily a lot) was completely lost in the end.

Cheap journalism. Just throw a bunch of guesses at the wall, so you have a better chance of later saying, "I saw that guy as a candidate.."

Actually with Randy it was 17.  He just threw that one in for laughs.  

It's a legit list.  Hopefully Beeker knows which one he wants and is looking to secure him.  And hopefully that person can work and mold young players to their greatest potential.

[eaterfan]

18 hours ago, deepdrive said:

16 huh, that's a lot. Then I read it and saw he got there by adding Bruce and Randy (um, 3.0. Which I guess is a super-duper improved version?). Sorry Eric , but what credibility you had at 14 (not necessarily a lot) was completely lost in the end.

Cheap journalism. Just throw a bunch of guesses at the wall, so you have a better chance of later saying, "I saw that guy as a candidate.."

As someone who doesn't know a lot about the coaching pool, I found this incredibly helpful. I don't follow hockey as closely as the other three big sports and don't follow leagues outside the NHL at all. It was nice to see a list of names and a little blurb about them so I could learn a little at least. I'm not even saying they pick someone off this list, but it was interesting to see what kinds of candidates were out there. 

I'm sure the candidate pool will become a lot more clear once we know the lottery results. Getting a Bedard or to a lesser extent, Fantilli, could really change which candidate pool the Ducks are fishing in. They could be a lot more of an attractive destination with some good fortune on Monday.

[gotbeer]

draft lottery ping pong numbers.  

https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2022-23/2023DraftLotteryGuide.pdf

I don't think I see the Ducks listed.  /sarcasm  Third pick here we come.