So, the Anaheim Ducks just got pants’d on live TV with hockey night in Canada 9-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In what can only be seen as the bottoming out of this season so far, we saw the variance between two ends of the hockey spectrum in almost every way.
At one end, the Toronto Maple Leafs. A team between 2007 – 2016 that had been consistently at the bottom of the Northeast/Atlantic Division, now reaping the rewards of their full rebuild. A team with high draft picks demanding high contracts playing at a high rate with high aspirations. Accompanying that, a media market that can only rival the Dallas Cowboys (Sorry Troy 🙁 )
Now look at the Ducks. A team that from 2005 – 2018 only had 1 season with a losing record, went to the playoffs 11 times, won their division 5 straight years, and has a cup to show for it. They’re now a team with high draft picks, developing into high talent, but little to no aspirations. Take that with the media market, Anaheim isn’t exactly a journalism hive. The more exciting team with the more “exciting” story right now is an hour up the 405, as the Ducks sit in the bottom of the Pacific once again.
The team is now in the hard part of the rebuild, building it back up. Any GM and coach can tear down a team, trade for picks and sell off at the deadline. What separates the teams that get out of their rebuilds and back into contention is this part. It’s something that both Pat Verbeek and Greg Cronin haven’t been a part of yet, and quite frankly something this fanbase hasn’t been a part of since the “Mighty” days.
So, what can the Ducks gain from this “dismantling”? Honestly? Not much, other than a swift kick in the groin that is a reality check. The “Ver-Build” as its been dubbed has gone on record to say that this team could make the playoffs in two years time, and that’s still a potential outcome. No team can stop on a dime and alter its trajectory without a generational talent or hitting really well on top line talent all at once. Building back into contention is a slog of a process that requires gradual change, gradual success that culminates in a plateau of competency. From this, you get your window of opportunity. The Ducks are no where near that window right now, and that’s okay. The imperative pieces that are needed are there though, elite talent in the NHL coupled with high talent in the system that needs to get comfortable at the next level to take that next step.
This is a rebuild this franchise has never had to go through. Previously the longest stretch Anaheim has gone without a playoff birth was 3 seasons which matched the longest stretch without a winning record, the first three season of this team’s existence. As we sit in the 6th consecutive year without a playoff birth and without a record over .500, it’s hard to see what happened on Saturday and think that the Ducks are any further out of the tunnel than before. The boys just took their hardest lump insofar this season.
Well, that’s fair. But what’s also fair is looking at this from a rebuilding point of view. The team is 4 wins away from matching their last season’s win total, with 28 games remaining. That’s gradual improvement. This team isn’t going to experience another “fire-sale” like we saw in the ’21 – ’22 season. Now there are players that will be traded off, but there are also players rostered that are part of this long term vision, and players with high ceilings that the team isn’t going to sell off anytime soon, even as sought after they may be. That’s gradual improvement. The on ice talent is vastly improved. The defensive jackpot the Ducks hit in the 2022 draft is seeing NHL development, 2nd round picks of Olen Zellweger and Jackson LaCombe look like they belong in the NHL, and Leo Carlsson has the potential to be the most dynamic and talented Anaheim Duck in franchise history. All of that, is gradual improvement.
So yeah, this team has been tough to watch recently, and yeah the media markets focusing on how downtrodden the team has been is a tough listen. Couple with that the weird Radko Gudas – Maple Leafs rivalry that everyone outside of the (416) stopped caring about in the off-season, it isn’t a fun time to be part of the Ducks fanbase.
But I implore all of you, to see the silver linings this season has brought us already. The corrective balance that comes within the NHL is coming, and know the flock is going to rise soon enough.