Good Morning Anaheim,
As our Ducks sit in the middle of a rather impressive 3-13 stretch of games and the Christmas break coming soon, multiple questions remain on this Ducks team. What changes have been made in the lines to offset the loss of McTavish and Z? What can this losing skid tell us about the coaching staff and the Ver-Build as a whole? And should we all just dig our heads in and rewatch highlights from that two-week span when we were a wildcard team? Well, the answers to those questions remain to be seen, but a new one comes lurching to my mind. With this losing streak, what do the Ducks prioritize going forward for this season? From Verbeek’s own view of this team, we are still 2 years away from being a playoff contender, and have some odd highs and lows right now. So, it seems like there are two paths laid ahead of us. Let’s explore both of those, and how they could fit in the larger plan of the Anaheim Ducks.
It’s Called a Youth Movement for a Reason
“99% of all gamblers quit before they win it all.” – Socrates, or Aristotle, or the third one
Let’s call a spade a spade, Martin Madden is pretty damn good at picking high end talent in the first few picks. And while that’s a relatively easy task to pick the highly touted prospects high off the board, there’s still a method to the madness. Going back to his first picks from 2019, he’s brought in Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov and Leo Carlsson. Players who we can confidently say are some of the best on this roster. So why not give him some more gas station money to go and get lotto tickets? The first (and probably less appealing) path the team could go down is to dust off the tanks, and try and land in the bottom 4/5 of this year’s draft. While yes, this is a completely different team stylistically from last year, the results may still bottom out the same. This team is young and being held together by a new coaching staff trying to get the team to follow their new direction. Everyone is still learning, and a lot of them are still physically healing from this. So, while I’m not saying we need to keep Mason and Z off the team for as long as possible, it may stand to reason to make sure they come back 100% and not rushed with their injuries. As well, looking at the draft rankings for this year, there’s a pretty good top 3 forward core. With prizes like Celebrini, Eiserman and Demidov at the top, then a weird hold with 3 D-Men the Ducks probably don’t need in their system right now, getting into the lottery picks may be pretty beneficial.
Via EliteProspects.com
All I’m saying is, this draft could have three solid wingers at the top and the Ducks could easily fit a top winger prospect into their foreseeable future. There are some obvious moves that Verbeek could pull the trigger on to expedite this process, but I don’t see him wanting to go down this path two years in a row, at least not intentionally.
You Need to Experience Things if You Want Experience
“Act like you’ve been there before, even when you haven’t” – Vince Lombardi or Mike Babcock
The sky isn’t falling chicken little. Welcome to having a young team. They’re streaky, they’re inconsistent, they’re fun, and they’re frustrating. It’s truly like raising a child. No team in the National Hockey League is going to do well being down two of their top 3 forwards on the season. No team with 9 players 23 or younger is going to be polished in their game. This team needs to learn on the ice how to build chemistry and how to work together. And that is going to be part of the growing pain this team is currently floundering in. However, in the same way that this team needs to learn their system, they also need to learn something else vastly important to the team’s long-term success. How to win in the NHL. Sometimes you need to fall before you can walk. With the path I believe Verbeek is taking for this club, you need to let this team ride this out. You need to let them get fed up. You need them to want to win more and more. And to the Ducks credit, the games have not been horrendous like last season. Outside of a few outliers, the team hasn’t been blown out during this skid. Most of the games end with a one to two goal difference, wherein the Ducks may have had a lead, that they squandered away in heart-breaking fashion. Yes, penalties are hurting this team, yes, we have veteran players consistently trying to pull off moves they know they can’t do at this level. But you need to let them ride this out. Hold the fort, man the stations, and get the ship on the right course. Get this team to pull themselves up and get some guys pissed off and stepping up in the locker room. MacKinnon was on that 22-win Colorado team. Leaders develop through hardships, so let the locker room hold themselves accountable and get experience amongst the young players holding themselves to a high standard.
Verdict
I don’t see this team rolling over with this season. Frankly, with how poor last season was, I don’t think the team would allow it. Do I think Verbeek is going to sell at the deadline considering what’s transpired? Absolutely. Do I think there will be a fire-sale a la 2021? Not at all. Let the young guys get back into the fold, let’s see the true temperature of this team and hold off from the overreactions until then. Development of youth is the name of this year’s game. Get the kids some NHL ice time, and see who is going to be a force in this league for the future of Orange County. And if all goes to hell, start counting the ping pong balls.