Reasons to be optimistic for next season
by Shackleford on Apr 26, 2011 1:27 AM PDT
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PrintWe were just outplayed and outworked by Nashville, but I'm not going to dwell on that right now. There has been enough discussion about why we lost that series. Hopefully the playoff experience serves our young players well. It's time to look forward to the 2011-2012 campaign. In no particular order, here are some reasons why I think the future is bright in Anaheim...
-Unlike the last two years, we don't have to replace a HOF blueliner next season. You could tell our defense was unable to replace Chris Pronger after he was dealt to Philadelphia. We didn't have that mean bastard who made other teams afraid to play us, the guy who punishes opposing forwards for hanging out near the crease. Have we replaced that mean bastard? I don't think so, although at times Beauchemin can be that guy and I think Sbisa might grow into that role (not saying he will be the next Pronger, but he can potentially be the guy who makes the other team's forwards think twice about crashing the net). Losing Niedermayer to retirement still hurt our defense, but not as badly as losing Pronger. Lubo at least has the offensive D-man skills we lost when Nieds retired, and Fowler came in at the perfect time to replace #27. Still, it will be nice not having to watch Murray frantically try to replace a legendary blueliner this offseason.
-We won't start next season with a patchwork defense. We already have five of the six D spots filled for next season (Lubo, Lydman, Beauchemin, Fowler and Sbisa). Starting off the season with a defense that knows Carlye's system and has some chemistry will be huge for avoiding the annual awful start. No more starting out the season with several lopsided ass kickings. I'm looking forward to the season where the Ducks don't have to dig themselves out of a huge hole to get a playoff berth. Who knows who the sixth defender will be. Probably a journeyman system like we did at the end of this season. I wouldn't mind Brookbank being our final D-man, although I'm not sure if we have any talented young defensemen coming up in the minors.
-Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan are all entering their primes. I'm expecting huge things from them these next few seasons. Perry becoming more disciplined in the latter half of this season was great, and I expect that to carry over. Playing Perry and Ryan on the PK for an entire year ought to help our PK rank a little higher. Now if we could just stop Getzlaf from playing like Getzloaf from time to time and shoot the damn puck...
-We have a handful of very talented young players. Fowler and Sbisa are going to replace Lubo/Lydman as Anaheim's top defensive pairing one day. I'm sold on McMillan. He is a solid contributor at even strength and on the PK. I expect him to take over the #2 center spot after Koivu is gone. Until then, I think McMillan can help us establish a legitimate third scoring line so we don't have to roll our top two lines for a combined 45 minutes per game. I really hope Dan Sexton can get a fair shot. He has gamebreaking speed/acceleration and I'd hate to see that go to waste. I'm very excited to see how these guys play now that they have some NHL experience.
-Somewhat going back to my last point, I think Beleskey can help with the creation of a third scoring line. I was very impressed when he was playing with Getzlaf and Perry. Beleskey/Getzlaf/Perry, Blake/Koivu/Selanne (fingers crossed) and Sexton/McMillan/Ryan gives us a much more balanced offense. When the Big Line was on, or when Teemu was victimizing the other team's goalie, we were unstoppable. But when they couldn't produce, we had absolutely nobody to fall back on. Case in point: Nashville series.
-Our PP should be every bit as deadly as it was this season. Even if Teemu does retire, our PP is still going to be pretty damn good.
Are there reasons for Ducks fans to be pessimistic about next season? Of course. Will Hiller recover from vertigo? How do we replace Teemu's production if he retires or if age finally catches up to him? Is Carlyle still going to play musical chairs with the line combinations and defensive pairings every night? Will Carlyle give any young players not named Cam Fowler more than six minutes of ice time per game? Is Andy Sutton going to be on the roster again? However, I believe we have many more reasons to view the glass as half full rather than half empty. Predictions before the start of training camp are premature, so I'm holding off on saying anything more specific than I expect Anaheim to make the postseason next year. Feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments.
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If Hiller recovers I say optimism. If for some reason he does not we are in the same boat as the other years, trying to replace a guy thats really difficult to replace. I know we will not be in the running for big named guys like Richards, but there are some interesting free agent players the Ducks could consider.
I don’t know if that’s feasible. We won’t know how bad Hiller is until he actually tries to play. If that’s the case, I doubt Bryz is just going to air until after the season starts so he can sign with us.
by Daniel AC on Apr 27, 2011 12:04 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
You are absolutely right. The future does look very bright for this team. If we can answer a few questions, the biggest of which are Teemu and Hiller, I think we will be set. Having our D together from day 1 will also help instead of having Lydman out for a while and Beauchemin not coming in until around the trade deadline. It should provide more time for them to gel and really get to know each other.
I feel very optimistic about next year. Here’s why:
Forwards – With or without Selanne I think the team is one scoring line away from greatness. With selanne you roll the current two top lines and we have to find a 3rd line, there is no way the team does well without one. Without selanne I think beleskey rolls up to the top line and ryan plays with blake and koivu and we are still looking for a 3rd line. So the 3rd line is key, just as it was in the Cup run.
Defense – the fivesome are gonna be great if they can all start out together and on the same page. Put Brookbank in there or sign a purely defensive dman and we are good to go, just have to find chemistry in the bottom 2 pairings.
Goal – It’s gonna be Hiller or someone else the Ducks can find that just give the above skaters a chance. That’s all we need someone to give them a chance.
I think a 3rd scoring line is either already in the system or out there and I think a goalie that can give the team a chance is also available. That’s why I’m optimistic.
I think scoring is the least of our worries.
by Daniel AC on Apr 26, 2011 12:53 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
I think balanced scoring isn’t, but I get the point. We need that shut down guy that’s going to make sure back door plays that killed us with NSH are a thing of the past.
Also, a goalie that can get up and down out of the butterfly without looking like he’s struggling would be nice…and post to post for that matter.
I do agree that we need another shut down D, or at least one of our young guys to significantly improve to that, but having a goalie that will be able to move better will help with that. Teams won’t target that specifically when it doesn’t work like it did in this series. They knew they could exploit it, so they did. If you have a goalie that can move, it’s not nearly as big an issue. They aren’t looking for that play constantly.
But I wouldn’t classify him as being as deficient as Emery was for us. And he had a substantially better defensive team in front of him in terms of both the defense and the offense. The likes of Pronger, Niedermayer x 2, Pahlsson, and Moen just to name a few can go a long way in my mind.
But I think Jiggy could get up and move. Ray looked like he was having real trouble getting out of that butterfly. He’d go down and stay down there and when you watched him get up it looked almost like an old man was getting up. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad, but looking at other goalies in the NHL you just don’t see them getting up that slow and with that much difficulty…plus it just didn’t look like he was even trying to push off post to post at all. Very very different from Jiggy imo.
HOpefully Emery finishes up his rehab and is able to fix that one area of his game. If he does I would totally want him back, because if that was how he played at 80% or so we would be unstoppable with him at 100%!
Every goalie comes with risks. Even Hiller wasn’t infallible. He relied too much on his athleticism, and would occasionally let in easy goals that could have been stopped with solid positioning. I suppose, I like Emery’s attitude more than any goalie we’ve had. I agree his post to post moves could use work, but I also think there’s something nice about the goalie who gets in the way and demands that the D move the puck. It fosters an attitude that the goalie will do his job and you should do yours.
Yep no worries…I hear ya and more importantly agree! I feel like some combo of mcmillan, beleskey and sexton possibly BRyan should have worked to at the VERY least even out the ice time. But for whatever reason Carlyle wouldn’t stick with that.
The big boys looked super tired especially at the end of the games in the NSH series. Major miscalculation there on Carlyle’s part.
I know there are some holes, but I’m excited about seeing a deeper scoring team. When we won the cup all 4 lines were rolling and no team could stop all of our lines. We need that third line to be better. In fact, I would like to see an improved 4th line with more consistent fore-checking and big hits.
the 3rd line players we have, guys like belesky, sexton etc. What I want are fourth line players who’s contribution is more than to take someone’s head off. Guys like that end up playing small amounts of minutes and don’t play deeper in the playoffs. Mike Brown was a speedy tough fourth liner who could fore check, play on the p.k. and make a useful contribution. We have the top end talent now we need the depth.
I think I would love to see Patrice Bergeron come to the Ducks as well as a better then average defensive defensemen to play with Fowler. I’m not convince McMillan is the center we want. I think by adding a legit center that can step up and play a top 2 role when Getzlaf or Koivu is out will really help our center depth which IMO has been severely lacking since Pahlsson and McDonald left. Just curious but has anyone given any thought to Koivu centering the third line as a checking center asking him to play a more defensive role? Obviously I don’t see that happening if Selanne stays though.
With Selanne being as vocal he was during the Nash series… I think it was the last we are going to see him… That said.. Drop Koivu to the third with Bonino and McMuffin/Blake.. and put holland through a solid regime in the offseason so he can center the line of Bobby and McMuffin/Blake… I am not worried about the forwards at all… GETZ just needs to F’n Skate and Shoot! I think we need a solid dman that will clear the front of the net that was said earlier and you’ll see the ducks go deeper… Im actually excited for this young team next season…
by ShamuSalami on Apr 26, 2011 11:41 PM PDT up reply actions
I doubt Holland will be ready. Maybe later in the season, but surprising the AHL shouldn’t inspire major confidence. The real problem we are all having offering suggestions is that we don’t know what our lines are supposed to be doing so we don’t know what players to put on them. It’s easy to say that a third line should score, but how should it score? Does it have a primary function beyond scoring?
I’m pretty optimistic with our team next year. We actually have 7 defensemen returning, if you count Sutton and Brookbank, They’ll probably try to trade Sutton, but not sure. I’d think i prefer to keep Ryan in the top line, I feel like Beleskey didn’t do a good job finishing his chances when he was there. I read on ESPN insider, Selanne will be hanging out with Kariya next week, to talk about his injury and how he is feeling and to go surfing. I think we’ll be fine though, I think Fowler and Sbisa will make the biggest improvements, and our young 3rd line will make an improvement.
well guys...
I think it’s simple…..
If and i mean IF Kariya recovers and plays this season….. We will see Teemu and him paired with Koivu…. if not…. we will be forward shopping…
If Selanne/Koivu/Kariya does happen drop them to the third line as a scoring line…. either shop Blake around or put him with Mack and Belesky….
i say our fouth line needs to have some scoring ability too but im ok with it remaining Marchant/ruutu/winchester/parros
Defensively…. I like Beauch/Sbisa Lyd/Lubo and Fowler/Sutton/Brookbank
i think our D will not give us much trouble this year….
As for goal….. Hiller and Emery ar huge ?‘s best possibility is both coming back healthy and strong…. give Emery the weaker starts and keep Hiller fresh as much as possible…
that said…. we may need to shop a goalie this ofseason which is what I’m dreading.
So in summation….
Strength: deep offesive talent pool, what looks to be a solid looking D-Core
Weakness: Goalie injuries and third line scoring
What to Shop: Depends on injuries… i’d like to see possibly a safe but cheap second line forward…
Outlook: Fairly good if a few things go our way
"Off the floor and on the Board!!!!"- Kariya
by Screw the NYBankees on May 5, 2011 10:14 AM PDT reply actions
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