NHL Off-Season Outlook: Anaheim Ducks Aren't Done Tearing Down Yet
thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-off-season-outlook...Posted Jun 15, 2023, 7:34 PM UTC
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thehockeynews.com
Is trading Henrique, Silfverberg, and maybe Gibson really "tearing down"?
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No cause we’ve already been torn down and have some random players whom aren’t those three as place holders for now.
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The problem I'm seeing is, even with Silfv gone, who replaces him at RW? The current UFA list is atrocious.
https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-agents/right-wing/ufa/
Sort by point production, not a lot of good/young options for long-term.
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Doesn't need to be young imo. Veterans who can produce AND mentor the young guys are better than someone like Silf imo who has middling production,and good leadership. Someone like Killorn would be a good option on a 3 yr deal. Someone like Bertuzzi would be good, Domi would be good, maybe see if there's anything left from Monahan who had a hell of a rebound in Montreal, Evan Rodriguez would be solid. Maybe Drouin, I know their relationship soured but it was Steve Yzerman who drafted him, and Verbeek was there at that point. And that's not including guys like Tarasenko or Kane who don't make sense from their end.
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Bertuzzi is a LW isn't he? but yeah his "type" would be good. My point is there are few options specifically on the RW. Domi isn't bad but I don't know if we want more shit disturbers on the team.
If we're getting a vet just for vet presence, Silf is fine. If we want a producing vet to be signed to 7-8 year term to run along side with the upcoming core, those are hard to come by. Kessel and Perry are in the top6 point production for RW UFAs, that's how sparse the options are. This year is just a bit in short supply, see:
https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/1669430651286704144?s=46&t=SzqFR1EbeRO-QHyaJseNBQ
Plenty of LW/Centers available at least (i.e. like Domi, Tatar, Rodrigues etc).
With that said, Jesper Fast or Garnet Hathaway wouldn't look bad on 4-6 year contracts. Idk who else is really viable that won't lock up too much cap space (i.e. Tarasenko).
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Bertuzzis a swiss army knife. He plays where you put him and he does it well lol. Most of the wingers we'd want (and most of the ones I've listed) played multiple wings or wing and center throughout. As far as a pure RW yeah that'll be harder to fill but I don't think it's necessarily a necessity. There's definitely a fair amount of those swiss army players available in free agency and if The Little Ball of Hate wants to get the type of player he seems to be targeting, something like a Domi, Fast, Hathaway, Bunting, Bertuzzis, etc. Embrace the hate, we won a cup off of it lol
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We could trade for Garland. Canucks have to offload him and are sending assets as well. He's not bad Canucks just need to shed salary any way they can.
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Canucks are impending implosion and I'm pretty much expecting us to steal at least one of their players, Garland would fit the bill lol.
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Do we really believe there’s market for these 3? Silf is far past his prime, barely bottom 6 atm. Rico is still good and versatile, but costly for a contender that needs to count every single penny, there are more suitable players available. And Gibby … well, he’s lost the aura of a great goalie on a shitty team. Now he’s just an average goalie on a shitty team. I don’t see a market for him unless we settle with really shitty counter value.
If there’s someone who’s likely to be traded, it’s Comtois. And also Terry. He would be very expensive (2 firsts, prospect and a middle6 player) but he’s expendable. And possess the one thing that is the most important for us at this moment - trade value.
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Lol yeah doubt they trade terry
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Love an article that just repeats the same crap for two paragraphs. No mention of our defensive prospects, no mention of what potential free agents we may sign, no mention of contract extensions, no mention of who’s contracts are expiring, nothing.
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Sounds like an outsider looking in.
My guesses for the next 3 months:
Groulx replaces -> Grant, permanently.
Forward UFAs not resigned. Megna/Grant/Kirkland/Sikura.
We release almost all of our defensive UFAs. We have 8. Shatty is the only one who might get retained as a vet presence (not that I want him to).
That leaves a couple questions.
Comtois, McGinn, Vaakanainen, Benoit.
I think Benoit is a keep, he's basically budget josh manson, not a bad benchwarmer to have around. Comtois is out, or QO minimum @ 2-3yr. Not sure if the two IRs will be healthy. We can sign/trade to backfill whatever roles we need with 1-2 year contracts (till prospects can be called up). Current UFA pool is sorta sad, but I think we might be able to find a solid LW to replace Comtois. (likes Miles Wood tier 30pt depth player)
I have no idea what to make of the goalie situation. Gibby is willing to stay for us but doesn't mind being traded to chase a cup either, so it depends what type of market value he can generate. Dostal/Stolie could end up being a thing, but I think it's like 70/30 we keep Gibby through his entire contract.
obvious resignings for zegras/terry, we have enough of those threads.
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Regarding Gibson - Wouldn't mind if he stayed, wouldn't mind if he goes. Our goalie system has proven to draft and develop quality goaltenders.
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Any the last two cups have shown you just need a reliable goalie and a stellar defense (forwards playing defensively included)
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I have a feeling he stays unless some team loses their primary goalie and gets desperate at the trade deadline.
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Meh. It’s a fair assessment. We’re still a couple of years away from our true potential. Time will tell if Verbeek has the chops to build a consistently contender.
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They haven't really had a tear down... Trading a couple UFA's they didn't want to pay is not tearing down. Moving on from silf and henrique is more of the same. It's just natural change. Nothing about it screams hard tear down and rebuild. Hell none of them were even really difficult decisions. Makes for a catchy title though I suppose.
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I wonder if we could get Blake wheeler for RW
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Listing Comtois among our "future core" at this point is pretty hilarious.
While I definitely agree he’s not part of the core, I am really holding out hope Cronin can get him back on track. If he could get back to how he was playing during the Covid season he could be a really important player in our top 6
Why would he not be unless you’re saying it’s guaranteed we trade him
Not the person you’re replying to but I’d like to think he’s not part of the core because he’s an expendable player given his past couple of seasons. He’s not a top 6 player right now. His only benefit is that he is cost controlled. Bottom 6 players aren’t generally part of your core. Those are the players you most often see moved in and out of rosters.
Part of me wonders if he's just mailing it in cuz the team sucks, and once they get that fire started he'll turn into a 40pt guy.
I'd take him at $1.5M but his QO is almost $2.5M, no longer cost controlled :(
To gamble on his improvement or not?
We have 44 million in cap space. Taking him on at $2.5M for one year isn't going to kill the budget. And if it works, great! If it doesn't then we trade him or cut him loose after the season is up.
Well said! I don’t think he’s quite out of that spot yet but I for sure wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up as a piece of a trade that brings our timeline a bit sooner. I do hope we get to see Comtois get to where we all thought he could be
Generally players have to be good to be considered part of a team's core.