Good Evening Anaheim,
As we draw the end of this calendar year, it felt but fitting to look ahead to the next year. And with a new year comes a new year of aspirations, goals and desires for one to pursue for either the entire year or quit by mid-February. So with the year coming to a close for the Ducks, let’s look at what each player’s hypothetical New Years Resolution could be.
Jackson LaCombe – Stay at LD
For people that have been reading my pieces from the beginning, it is truly no surprise that I put Jackson LaCombe first. He’s been one of my favorite defensive prospects the Ducks have had, and during his years in college I have been much higher on him than most others. So the start of the season from him for me was a little off putting. Sure, the beginning of the year where the system was new and the Ducks were rattling off comeback wins like they were nothing, he looked okay playing the right side. But as the season went on, fatigue wore in, the system was able to be studied, and he looked less and less fresh each night. Jackson’s resolution this year needs to be to stay on his natural side, and play as a left defenseman for the remainder of the schedule. The Fowler – LaCombe line did not work well, and has been hurting both player’s production. Pairing him up with Drysdale has certainly helped his game, and has allowed Fowler to put up 5 points in his last 5 games. Seems like an easy win-win. LaCombe has had multiple flashes of brilliance and clearly has what it takes to be a consistent defenseman in the NHL. Take the two on one he broke up singlehandedly against Vegas on the 27th. Let the kid develop with his strong side first, then once he has the confidence and experience, you can try to flex him over to the right side.
Adam Henrique – Go Travel More
Before anything is read from this, I want the record to show that I do like Adam Henrique as a player and understand the value he brings to the team as a veteran winger. That being said, Adam Henrique is in a weird middle ground of his career with himself and the Ducks. On one hand you have Rico, who has had a relatively okay season, nothing spectacular points wise. Beyond that, he has been useful defensively in the penalty kill and leading a third line unit for the Ducks. However, he is 33 and his best hockey is most likely behind him. Now take the Ducks side of this equation. 33 year old forward, on the last year of his deal. The two sides don’t correlate for success. Rico is not a piece in the long term success of this team. With the wealth of wingers that are currently in the AHL (Perreault, Nesterenko, Tracey, and Regenda) it may be worth it to let those players have some time in the league for their development. I think Adam Henrique should be moved at the deadline and he should be allowed to choose whatever team he thinks he would be the best fit on. Let him chase the cup, he’s more than earned it with his time in Anaheim.
Pavel Mintyukov – Get PP2 Time
Jamie Drysdale is having an excellent showing, now healthy, so far this season. He’s showing more than just glimpses as to why he was considered the best defenseman in that 2020 NHL draft class. So yes, Jamie on PP1 makes the most sense and it has looked like the correct choice. What doesn’t make sense, is Cam Fowler getting the nod at PP2 over arguably the best or second best rookie defenseman in the league. Pavel is a prototypical power play quarterback and thrives in offensive zone play, anchoring the blue line. He’s already shown that with his goals on the season coming from finding soft holes in defensive zones and utilizing the man advantage. So I don’t understand why Cam Fowler is getting those minutes over him. While yes, Cam has bumped up production recently, his game is not as fast as you’d like it to be with a high volume shooting power play unit. Is this simply a deal with him being the veteran on the team and having earned his minutes on PP2? Most likely, but Pavel is having a historically great rookie season, and the best way for the team to see who the true offensive defenseman of the future can be is by letting Pavel have these opportunities.
John Gibson – Get Frank Seravalli Out of His Life
The bounce back season John Gibson has been having has been great to watch. With his recent performances vs the Knights after an unexpected break in his play, he hasn’t lost a step from that night against the Devils. Is Gibson benefiting from a new system that actually prioritizes team defense? Yes. Is Gibson benefiting from having a legit goalie tandem with Lukas Dostal allowing him to not have to play every single game? Also yes. Well, what can he aim for with the new year? I think getting his name out of every single trade rumor mill would be great for him. Every season dating back to 2021 there has been chatter on trading Gibson at the deadline, then 6 months later trading him in the off-season. I cannot imagine how exhausting that must be on him personally, and I know a good majority of Ducks fans are tired of seeing false reports of “this is his last season” or “he will never play another game in Anaheim”. Let Gibby do his job, get his name out of your mouth, and if he gets moved, so what, he’s earned the right to try and win a cup. Let the man get a clear head and not have to worry about false reports from the media.
Frank Vatrano – Get His Pitbull Back
Frank Vatrano is a goal scoring winger. Frank Vatrano shoots the puck every time it gets to his stick. Frank Vatrano is in a system that wants a heavy output of shots on net. Frank Vatrano went through a 9 game goal-less streak. Would you like to guess who was not on the ice with him for 8 of those 9 games? Mason McTavish is imperative to Frank Vatrano’s success on this team. A perfect bulldog netfront presence with incredible passing talent, he is the perfect compliment to Frank’s game as a high output shooter. So, Frank for this upcoming year better be bubble-wrapping McTavish and be attached to his hip. You get that man his bulldog and make sure he takes it everywhere he goes for 2024.
Troy Terry – Consistency With Others
Much like Frank Vatrano, Troy Terry needs a really good first line center to elevate his game to the all star caliber we all know he has. That being said, Troy isn’t reliant upon just one person, though Zegras makes a counter-argument to that point. Troy needs consistency in the lineup, and that’s been hard to come by for him. Whether it was the start of the year and having Killorn on the IR, then later on with Zegras needing over a month to heal, to the designed development plan for Leo, Troy has not had consistent linemates. Even for a player of Troy’s caliber with incredible hockey IQ, there needs to be a built in learned chemistry amongst each other. When he was later accustomed to the Leo and Killorn line, he was getting back into his game, all for that to now go away. The hope is he can make up for that skid early in the season and mesh right back in with Trevor, and kick up first line production. So far it’s looked good, two points in two games back with Z. Let the man know who he’s gonna be skating with next year, and give him the time to truly style their line play together.
Ryan Strome – Anger Management
If I had a nickel for every time the Ducks went on the powerplay, just to immediately give it up by a frustration tripping call after losing the faceoff, I would have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but odd that its happened twice. The first coming from the game against the Islanders, setting up their shorthanded winning goal, and the other coming against the Rangers. Ryan Strome being the instigator of the second. This may be an unpopular opinion amongst Ducks fans, but I have not been buying into the second season of Ryan Strome. Why is that? Penalty minutes. The Ducks have been no stranger to penalty minutes so far this season, and currently have three players with 45 minutes in the penalty box so far. Those three being Radko Gudas, the big physical body the Ducks brought in to protect the rookies and be a physical presence; Ross Johnston, the last minute waiver claim brought in to protect the rookies and be a physical presence, and Ryan Strome. Ryan Strome is also receiving coveted second line minutes, as his chemistry with Vatrano is clear to see, but it is a valuable spot to share a line with the two Ducks leading the team in points. As well, his 46 PIM to 19 points is just a poor ratio of roughly over 1 minor penalty for every point. Gotta clean it up, gotta be a smarter veteran for the forwards to see.
Trevor Zegras/Jamie Drysdale/Mason McTavish – Team Bonding Classes Together
Ready to hear a fun stat? With the game vs Vegas, the trio of first round draft picks from 2019 – 2021 have played 21 games together. Mason McTavish has played 116 games, the least amongst the three.
That’s 18% of his career games.
Now something else. Let’s take out the first 9 games McTavish had his draft year where the Ducks let him play at the start of the 2021 season.
That now becomes 12 games together, across 107 games total. 11%.
Why do I bring this up? One, because these three have been the face of the team in-before Carlsson was drafted. Two, because they could all potentially learn to play on the ice together, especially on a loaded up PP1 unit. The fact that we are in McTavish’s second full season and there is practically no tape of all three of these boys together is wild to me. Injuries suck, yes I know, but this should shine some optimism for the team. No one knows how these three can be on the ice. We know off the ice they have built in chemistry, but there’s barely been a body of work on display for us to see. For the new year, let these three start coming into their own together. Get them to see the vision of a big three, with a Swedish flair at the top.
Leo Carlsson – Start Up An Art Collection
Leo Carlsson has had so much written about him already. He’s an incredible skater, plays physically when he needs to (despite just turning 19) and is a genius out on the ice. We all know this, and we have been lucky before the injury to have seen all of this. But now the poor Swede is stuck at home, nursing an MCL injury, and can’t do much out on the ice. His resolution could be a number of things; health, a chance to play with Zegras again, or a top winger prospect from this year’s draft. But I see something different for him. Leo is new to this country, let alone just Orange County. Let the kid plant his roots, get accustomed to Anaheim and learn this brave new world he’s traversing. So my resolution for Leo? Start an art collection. And there’s an excellent starting point for him.
via @savnhl on Twitter.com
This incredible piece comes from @savnhl, who has a bountiful history of stunning art pieces in this style of multiple Anaheim Duck players. In the past these pieces of art have found their ways to the players themselves, so I think it would be nice to have Leo pick up some home decor for the New Year. Besides, if he’s anything like a typical 19 year old living alone in an apartment, his wall decor may just be basketball jerseys scattered amongst the drywall.