Bob Murray stepped in as the General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks on November 12th, 2008 after spending the previous few seasons as the club’s Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. Since then, he has taken ownership in revamping the Ducks roster and finding bright-eyed talent for the club’s prospect pool. He won the NHL General Manager of the Year last season and is once again up for the honor for the 2014-2015 season. And just this week, he was named to Hockey Canada’s Management Group for 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
He has made some important trades during his time, but just as equally notable is his work in drafting new prospects. Because the 2015 NHL Draft is just around the corner (this Friday 6/27 to Saturday 6/28), we here at AC wanted consider the possible draftees that Bob may have on his radar based on the patterns gleaned from past draft years.
2008 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2008 Entry | 1 | 17 | Jake Gardiner | D | Minnetonka H.S. (Minn.) | US | Offensive defenseman who can skate well |
| 2008 Entry | 2 | 35 | Nicolas Deschamps | C | Chicoutimi Sagueneens [QMJHL] | Canada | Speedy with good hands |
| 2008 Entry | 2 | 39 | Eric O’Dell | C | Sudbury Wolves [OHL] | Canada | Smooth puck-mover with good hands a great vision |
| 2008 Entry | 2 | 43 | Justin Schultz | D | Westside Warriors [BCHL] | Canada | Offensive puck-carrying defenseman |
| 2008 Entry | 3 | 71 | Josh Brittain | L | Kingston Frontenacs [OHL] | Canada | Big-bodied, gritty power forward |
| 2008 Entry | 3 | 83 | Marco Cousineau | G | Baie-Comeau Drakkar [QMJHL] | Canada | Butterfly-goalie with solid poise |
| 2008 Entry | 3 | 85 | Brandon McMillan | L | Kelowna Rockets [WHL] | Canada | Smaller forward with a two-way game, who can skate well |
| 2008 Entry | 4 | 113 | Ryan Hegarty | D | US National Under 18 Team | US | Small stay-at-home defenseman |
| 2008 Entry | 5 | 143 | Stefan Warg | D | Vasteras Jrs. (Sweden) | Sweden | Big-bodied stay-at-home defenseman |
| 2008 Entry | 7 | 208 | Nick Pryor | D | US National Under 18 Team | US | Two-way puck-mover |
2009 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2009 Entry | 1 | 15 | Peter Holland | C | Guelph Storm [OHL] | Canada | Tall and strong center, who skates well and has a quick, heavy shot |
| 2009 Entry | 1 | 26 | Kyle Palmieri | R | U.S. National Under-18 Team [Ind] | US | Very fast offensive and gritty player with quick stick and hands |
| 2009 Entry | 2 | 37 | Mat Clark | D | Brampton Battalion [OHL] | Canada | Potential to be a physical offensive defenseman |
| 2009 Entry | 3 | 76 | Igor Bobkov | G | Magnitogorsk Jr. (Russia) | Russia | Big-bodied goaltender with solid athletic ability and flexibility |
| 2009 Entry | 4 | 106 | Sami Vatanen | D | Jyp Jr. (Finland) | Finland | Very speedy but small puck-carrying, puck-moving offensive-minded defenseman |
| 2009 Entry | 5 | 136 | Radoslav Illo | C | Tri-City Storm [USHL] | Slovakia | Goal scorer with quick release, accurate shot, and the ability to find space |
| 2009 Entry | 6 | 166 | Scott Valentine | D | Oshawa Generals [OHL] | Canada | Physical offensive defenseman |
2010 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2010 Entry | 1 | 12 | Cam Fowler | D | Windsor Spitfires [OHL] | US | Elite skating, savvy puck carrying, two-way blueliner |
| 2010 Entry | 1 | 29 | Emerson Etem | R | Medicine Hat Tigers [WHL] | US | Unorthodox skating style but very speedy with quick and accurate shot |
| 2010 Entry | 2 | 42 | Devante Smith-Pelly | R | Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors [OHL] | Canada | Big-bodied, strong player |
| 2010 Entry | 5 | 122 | Chris Wagner | C | South Shore Kings [EJHL] | US | Versatile and physical two-way center who is an excellent faceoff man and executes defensively and offensively |
| 2010 Entry | 5 | 132 | Tim Heed | D | Sodertalje SK [SEL] | Sweden | Offensive-minded defenseman |
| 2010 Entry | 6 | 161 | Andreas Dahlstrom | C | AIK [Swe-1] | Sweden | Smallish, shifty, imaginative player with solid hockey sense and a well-rounded game |
| 2010 Entry | 6 | 177 | Kevin Lind | D | Chicago Steel [USHL] | US | Big shutdown defender whose game is predicated on strong man-on-man play |
| 2010 Entry | 7 | 192 | Brett Perlini | F | Michigan State University [CCHA] | Canada | Quick player with above-average skills |
2011 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2011 Entry | 1 | 30 | Rickard Rakell | C | Plymouth Whalers [OHL] | Sweden | Plays big and aggressive, a quick skater with good hockey sense |
| 2011 Entry | 2 | 39 | John Gibson | G | U.S. National Development Team [USHL] | US | Big, strong, calm and controlled goaltender with great net coverage sound technically moving very well laterally |
| 2011 Entry | 2 | 53 | William Karlsson | C | Vasteras IK [Swe-1] | Sweden | A speedy and skilled two-way player with good passing skills |
| 2011 Entry | 3 | 65 | Joseph Cramarossa | C | Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors [OHL] | Canada | Crash-and-bang lower line player with solid puck-moving skills |
| 2011 Entry | 3 | 83 | Andrew Welinski | D | Green Bay Gamblers [USHL] | US | Fluid skater with a hard, dangerous shot and a bit of a nasty edge to his defensive game |
| 2011 Entry | 5 | 143 | Max Friberg | L | Skovde [Sweden] | Sweden | slightly undersized but a strong, physical player, with a combination of speed, skill, and aggressiveness |
| 2011 Entry | 6 | 160 | Josh Manson | D | Salmon Arm Silverbacks [BCHL] | Canada | Big and physical |
2012 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2012 Entry | 1 | 6 | Hampus Lindholm | D | Rogle BK [Swe-1] | Sweden | All-round defenseman with good size and mobility, who skates well and has impressive puck skills |
| 2012 Entry | 2 | 36 | Nicolas Kerdiles | F | U.S. National Development Team [USHL] | US | Good skater and goal scorer with a good shot and overall quite impressive offensive abilities |
| 2012 Entry | 3 | 87 | Frederik Andersen | G | Frolunda HC [SEL] | Denmark | A gigantic modern-style goaltender with terrific reach |
| 2012 Entry | 4 | 97 | Kevin Roy | F | Lincoln Stars [USHL] | Canada | Smaller offensive player with great stick handling and passing skills |
| 2012 Entry | 4 | 108 | Andrew O’Brien | D | Chicoutimi Sagueneens [QMJHL] | Canada | Rugged big-bodied offensive defenseman |
| 2012 Entry | 5 | 127 | Brian Cooper | D | Fargo Force [USHL] | US | Shorter two-way defenseman with good skating, shooting and passing skills |
| 2012 Entry | 7 | 187 | Kenton Helgesen | L | Calgary Hitmen [WHL] | Canada | Big-bodied stay-at-home defenseman defender |
| 2012 Entry | 7 | 210 | Jaycob Megna | D | U. of Nebraska-Omaha [WCHA] | US | Big-bodied defensive defenseman |
2013 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2013 Entry | 1 | 26 | Shea Theodore | D | Seattle Thunderbirds [WHL] | Canada | Skilled two-way defenseman with a fine passing game |
| 2013 Entry | 2 | 45 | Nick Sorensen | R | Quebec Remparts [QMJHL] | Sweden | Offensive player who can forecheck and skate well |
| 2013 Entry | 3 | 87 | Keaton Thompson | D | U.S. National Development Team [USHL] | US | Solid and steady two-way defenseman, rarely out of position |
| 2013 Entry | 5 | 147 | Grant Besse | F | Benilde-St. Margarets (Minn. H.S.) | US | Smaller, highly skilled offensive player and a very good skater |
| 2013 Entry | 6 | 177 | Miro Aaltonen | F | Blues [SM-liiga] | Finland | Small, speedy, goal-scorer with good puck-handling and playmaking ability, who can skate well |
2014 NHL Draft Year
| Draft | Round | Num. | Player | Pos | Drafted From | Country of Origin | Player Notes |
| 2014 Entry | 1 | 10 | Nick Ritchie | L | Peterborough Petes [OHL] | Canada | Big-bodied power forward with blend of size, skill and strength, who also skates well |
| 2014 Entry | 2 | 38 | Marcus Pettersson | D | Skelleftea (Sweden Jrs.) | Sweden | Tall and lanky two-way defender with good mobility, strong positioning and impressive passing ability |
| 2014 Entry | 2 | 55 | Brandon Montour | D | Waterloo Black Hawks [USHL] | Canada | Offensive puck-moving defenseman who skates and passes well |
| 2014 Entry | 5 | 123 | Matthew Berkovitz | D | Ashwaubenon (Wisc. H.S.) | US | Good skating defenseman who pushes the puck up ice and defends intelligently |
| 2014 Entry | 7 | 205 | Ondrej Kase | F | Chomutov Pirati [Czech] | Czech Republic | Smaller speedy playmaking winger who handles the puck well |
Daniel wrote a great update HERE on how last year’s draft class is currently faring one year after being selected by the Anaheim Ducks organization.
We can easily peg what position Bob has a preference for strictly from a numbers count…. Defensemen. Out of the 50 prospects that were drafted by the Anaheim Ducks, Bob has gone with drafting defensemen 22 of those 50 spots. That’s nearly half, and in four of the first round draft year picks of the past total seven drafts he has chosen a defenseman. From this brief history it’s pretty clear that he prefers OFFENSIVE-minded, puck-carrying, SKATING defensemen. The current young blue line made up of recently drafted boys (Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen) is good evidence of this. We still have a lot to look forward to in the likes of Shea Theodore, Marcus Pettersson and possibly Josh Manson and Brandon Montour. In SBN’s NHL mock draft 2015, taking the Ducks GM’s mindset, Chris selected Jacob Larsson (you can read all about him here).
It is evident that Bob has done a pretty good job in stocking up on blue line talent. That is not to say that he will not take his chances on choosing forwards. He has drafted two centers (Peter Holland and Rickard Rakell) first, and just last year he used the first round pick to select power forward Nick Ritchie at #10 overall. Looking at his history of drafting forwards/centers, it is clear that Bob values: 1) Skating skills, 2) Size, 3) Offensive skill. Most of the forwards that were selected early in their draft years were good skaters with skill and speed. Size is important to this club which boasts the heaviest club in the NHL. Size and grit has become a characteristic Bob likes to see on his team, but at the same time Bob does not sacrifice size for offensive skill. He clearly values puck-movers and puck-carriers in both his defensemen and forwards.
After charting it out, it should be extremely interesting how GM Bob Murray will proceed in selecting in this year’s 2015 NHL draft. Will it once again be the year of defensemen? Or has the time come for Anaheim to cultivate a center/forward? What are your thoughts?