deepdrive

Wouldn't have thought this would be too difficult to achieve. But, now....

Saw the Nashville/Vancouver game. I hope those two enjoy themselves in their limited run. Whoever comes out on top in the West is in for a very difficult time against what's going to emerge from the Central.

I agree with her. That would be a pretty good name. I don't see the reason behind the other two (Venom, Blizzard). Maybe someone (as in the owner) thought they sounded cool ?

Yeah, they looked like typical Toronto teams of the past. They have players, some very good. But they don't have a team that can compete at a playoff level. They just keep trying to succeed in the playoffs with the same basic personnel makeup and it's not going to happen.

Winner, winner chicken dinner ? Or, still too early to call ?

No, I wouldn't trade a top 5 pick. Next years pick, because of the wide spectrum of outcomes, would also be off the table. In a couple years, we should have some prospects (or guys prospects are taking the place of) that could be traded for needs or future picks. That's the way I would go. Vegas has shown how much undervalued talent is out there and available for a reasonable price. You just have to have the guys making decisions be able to see it. Bob couldn't do it and he didn't have the skills to trade for it if he did. So far, I would say our present group is reasonably good at it. Kind of the same with draft picks. The quality picks are out there. Your operations team has to be able to find them. Some teams are better than others and draft picks are worth more to them. I think we are in the top half in the league in evaluating for the draft. So, we should value having picks and try to accumulate picks in the top 3 rounds. To summarize, I think we should try to acquire players through FA and by trading prospects and existing players. We are better off keeping and acquiring draft picks, I think. Oh, and I don't think the cupboards are full. I do think though, we have enough top end talent to end the lose to rebuild mode. Pick up a goal scorer and high end RHD this draft; resign Vatrano; pickup a skilled veteran and we should be good to move forward the next few years. After that it should be roster maintenance and gaining experience. Put your sunglasses on. The future looks bright. Well, we'll know a lot more a year from now. But presently, there's a lot of promise.

Notice how not a word is being said about our chances to win the upcoming lottery? It's like Ducks fans are resigned to getting a 4th or 5th pick. Don't want to get disappointed again? Believe it is actually rigged? Realize the odds are actually what they are? Or maybe like me, some have looked into the prospects a little and believe our best pick could be at 3-5. I'm not totally sold on Celebrini or Levshunov.

I don't know why the Ducks org would want to throw this in Philly's face. We got the better of the trade. Why piss their management group off. This is someone it could be beneficial to trade with in the future. I wonder how Verbeek feels about this.

My biggest take away from last nights game was that teams might not be able to stop us from entering the zone like they have in the past. Our skating and puck handling skill level has reached a level where we can even move through Vegas's defense regularly. Quite different than in the past when they could just shut us down and force us to dump and chase. The last few games we play showed it's a good day to be a Ducks fan. I think low 80's in points is very feasible for next year.

I think Vatrano is going to be closer to 6M than 5. But we'll see. Either way, we can easily afford him. You know, something that hit me recently was the flawed way we have been looking at future lineups. The Ducks set a good precedent this year with how they handled Leo that could really help them going forward. If they limit the younger guys to say 60 games and have the added games from injuries, there's no reason this team couldn't be playing 14-15 forwards on a regular basis. We're still not there to compete for a playoff spot, so development should be the priority next year. No reason to have guys who are regular healthy scratches. We're not like most other NHL teams where the cap makes this unfeasible.

We should be okay next season if the injury situation can be controlled. A lot of inexperience, so it will still be rocky at times. But, if they continue to improve, moving forward from where we are at now would be a decent season. We do need a better year from Terry and a good, full year from Z. And, Verbeek better extend Vatrano in the offseason.

Do we own Vegas now ? Last three games and dominated them tonight. Well, at least they don't own us anymore.

The first half of the 3rd has been controlled by us.

Ducks are starting to be fun to watch again.

Lol. Like John Candy once said in a movie. When you're good at something, stick with it. Or, was it when something works, stick with it. Whatever.

The guy probably has one more year for sure. After that, it will be a matter of when we can offload him.

Last game you'll have to hear about him.

As good as Dostal has looked recently, it's going be hard for Verbeek to not be pressured into moving Gibson.

The 4th line could be renamed the 'who's not going to be here next year?' line. My guess is obviously Silfverberg, Grouix, Meyers. I think Johnston is here for the duration of his contract. We need him until we can replace him with someone more talented (Jones at some point ?). Leason seems to have a spot until he stops progressing. With Vak, the only thing I can think is maybe he's a little banged up. Don't see why else he wouldn't be playing.

The last harrah. What's wrong with McTavish ? The third guy is probably Lundestrom.

You're buddy Strome is gumming up the Zegras line again.

Verbeek makes the occasional roster mistake. But, keeping Zellweger and moving Drysdale was a big plus move. Slowly but surely, he is weeding through what he inherited and improving the team in most cases. Barring another injury plagued season next year, we should be competitive and fun to watch. Already looking forward to it.

Oh well, Dostal would have probably won that game. That's okay though. We are seeing some of what can be coming in the next couple years.

Gibson just gave up too many goals.

Ducks effort has definitely picked up.