Spencer_12

The more the draft sinks into my head, the more Sidorov is becoming my favorite pick outside of Carlsson. His attitude is amazing. Some quotes from the video for people who didn’t watch it, and one from a beat writer following the Ducks: ”Feel awesome. Feel awesome. Dream come true. *grabs jersey* Anaheim right here, let’s go!” ”I went last year in Montreal for the draft, I talked with Anaheim and I thought they would pick me in the 7th round but it didn’t happen, but it’s fine. I learn every day. And then this year I was much better and put on the jersey.” ”A cool nugget I was told about Sidorov: When he was handed his jersey, he kissed it and said “This is where I want to be.” Now onto the actual hockey related stuff. This kid is only 3 months older than last years 5th round pick Hvidston, who was the youngest player in the draft and Madden seems high on. Both played the entire D+1 season at age 18. Sidorov put up 40 goals in 53 games and 76 points. 15 of those goals were PP goals so he’s able to use his lethal shot there, but he was also scoring 5on5. He had 19 points in 16 playoff games as well. More hype incoming. Besides his somewhat underwhelming rookie season in the WHL, one of the knocks against him was his size. “NHL Central Scouting had Sidorov at 5-foot-10 in 2022, but this season he measured in at 5-foot-11 and-a-half.” The kid grew 1.5 inches between last draft and this one, which could be huge for his pro prospects. Something to keep in mind is this kid is from Belarus and moved to Canada to play in the WHL at 17. Getting used to a new league and culture probably wasn’t easy, especially at his smaller size that year. He still put up 23 goals that year. Pronman has this to say about him: ”Sidorov is a strong skater who can play with a pace for the game. He creates a lot of controlled entries with his skating and strong puck skills. He has good offensive sense and can make plays, but his main asset is his shot. He finishes opportunities well and can score from range. He sometimes relies on his shot too much and I would like to see him attack the net more, especially for a small winger. If he adds that element, he becomes a lot more intriguing from an NHL perspective as opposed to a projected depth player.” His analytics back up that assessment as well. When you take everything into account - his attitude, his scouting report, his analytics, his D+1 season at 18, his growth spurt, and his offensive upside - I think we would be sitting here excited about his NHL possibility if we had drafted him in the 7th round last year. This could be an absolute home run pick.

Teams in the middle of a rebuild don’t often trade their best looking prospects for current NHL help because they know they can always trade for that later when they are exiting the rebuilding phase. It also gives them more time to make decisions on who they think will be the ones to keep. I’d also argue that the Ducks don’t really have many attractive trade pieces to give up for a young, impactful NHL player (from the Ducks perspective, not the perspective of the team getting our assets). I think they could stand to trade Helleson/LaCombe (LaCombe having a bit more value), but that’s about it. Consider this: the Kings just traded away a young former 1st round pick who’s put up decent AHL numbers and has NHL experience, a very good young player who’s coming off a solid season/playoff performance, and a decent roster player for Dubois. In that entire package, the only thing the Ducks have that is equal to that is probably Vatrano = Iafallo. They do not have a young very good roster player they can afford to part with. They do not have a young former 1st round pick with NHL experience and decent AHL numbers. So now if you want to make a move for impactful young talent, the Ducks are going to have to put their 1st round pick into play along with one of their best prospects. Rebuilding teams don’t do that. Even if you can top 10 protect in 2024, but unprotected in 2025 that’s still a huge gamble that rebuilding teams typically don’t do. I’m more than fine trading a couple 2nd round picks if you can pick up someone young with impact like the Avs did with Toews. That’s about as big as I think the Ducks should be looking at the moment.

They are working on it right now. They are building assets to either be part of that line in 2-3 years, or to be used as trade chips to get someone outside the organization. You don’t go out and sign a free agent to build a playoff line in 2-3 years (not that there are good options there anyway), and there’s no point trading good assets for one now when you don’t even know what you have with your current assets (none of them are even in pro hockey yet). There’s always going to be good players available in a trade. There’s no need to go for that player this offseason. The best thing the Ducks can do now is try to get better on the margins. Bring in a few guys who are a little better than what they currently have at certain positions without spending much money or assets. Cronin will come in and get the Ducks playing a better overall game, establish some good habits/culture. Ducks fans don’t want to hear this, but we aren’t done losing (rebuilding). There would have to be some serious, serious player development between last season and this one to push the peddle down on the rebuild timeline. We shouldn’t be as bad as last season, but it’s also not the time to be making big acquisitions. Hopefully that’s next summer if some key prospects show they are ready.

I don’t think you need to worry about building three playoff lines right now. I would be absolutely shocked if Verbeek tries that this summer given where the Ducks and their prospects are at in their development curve. I think it’s more likely than not that Carlsson doesn’t play most of the season in Anaheim. I think Carlsson would have to storm out of the gates and force the Ducks to keep him because he’s crushing it. That could happen. I see them going more towards the route that they took with McTavish. I fully expect Carlsson to be Sweden’s #1 player at the upcoming WJC. Again, as long as he’s not playing so well right off the bat. Verbeek repeatedly says he’s going to be patient with the rebuild. All that said, assuming Carlsson makes it impossible to take him out of the NHL with his play, then I could see Carlsson/Zegras/McTavish down the middle for this year. Maybe Carlsson gets eased into the center position, maybe Zegras moves between positions. But I don’t see Carlsson, Zegras, and McTavish as being full time centers, practically every shift they take, for years to come. Zegras makes the most sense to move to the wing full time once they do build that playoff caliber 3rd line in the coming years.

I don’t see Zegras staying at center. At least full time. It’s possible they do something like the Penguins did with Malkin, Crosby and Staal. Long-term, I definitely see Zegras being the one who moves around the lineup depending on matchups and game situation. If Gaucher hits and becomes the perfect 3rd line center then Zegras’ future is definitely on the wing.

It looks like the Ducks’ strategy was to use #33 to make a safe pick, and then use most of the others on guys with good analytics and skill with decent upside if they hit. I think that’s a decent move, and I like a bunch of the players we ended up taking.

I disagree. I think there’s sound logic in the pick. The Ducks system is nearly completely barren in forward prospects who you can pretty much pencil in to an NHL lineup. Before drafting Carlsson there was pretty much only Gaucher who you can say that about. Pastujov has been a good scorer in junior, but there’s some serious questions on how his game will translate to pro hockey. I like Hvidston too, but he doesn’t have the floor that Gaucher has. Go look at our current forward prospect list before this draft. It’s horrible. If we didn’t already have Zegras, McTavish, and Terry we would be in serious trouble. The Ducks have missed on too many forwards picked in the late 1st round and 2nd round in the past few years. It makes a ton of sense to pick a guy like Myatovic who should at least have a decent chance to make the NHL and contribute, even if he may not have the ceiling to put up huge points. It looks like the Ducks used #33 to make a safe pick, and then went back to their usual M.O. of picking guys with great underlying metrics with upside potential. I don’t mind that at all given our forward prospect depth.

Came across an interesting quote from the Athletic’s Scott Wheeler about Myatovic: ”Nico Myatovic with the first pick of Day 2 wasn’t a surprise, even if I had him ranked as more of a late second than an early second. There were multiple teams prepared to take him in the 30s.” What Madden had to say about him wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring if you were hoping for him to be described as someone with huge scoring upside. But it’s interesting that other teams were equally high on him as the Ducks were. Having him described as having an elite trait to his game for a 2nd round pick is good. If I read between the lines of what Madden said it sounds like he has a high floor with room to get better, and it wouldn’t be shocking if he ends up being a 20G 20A guy in the NHL. That’s pretty good for a 2nd round pick if it happens.

The usual answer from Madden after day 2 of the draft is usually pretty informative on what they were looking at for each pick they made.

Great article here about the new jersey and how it was revealed to fans by Carlsson. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/37927600/the-story-anaheim-ducks-new-30th-anniversary-jersey

Reading up more on Vojtech Port and I’m liking this pick too. Really looking forward to Madden’s interview rounding up today’s picks. I especially wonder if they are thinking Dionicio more as a forward than a defenseman.

Day 2: Favorite pick: Coulson Pitre This guy plays hard and has really good offensive metrics. I like his upside for where we picked him. Honorable mention: Rodwin Dionicio He's an analytics darling with tons of skill. Problem is his skating is terrible. If he can figure that out it can be a home run pick. Most interesting pick: Yegor Sidorov He had a very solid age 18 season in the WHL. Solid skating, skill, and a good shot. Grew 1.5 inches between 2022-2023. There's probably some good upside here. Worst pick: Nico Myatovic I actually don't hate the player, but at #33 it looks like a big reach right now. This pick will be highly scrutinized considering who they passed on and how high of a pick this is. Hopefully the Ducks nailed it. Goalie: Damian Clara I'm only mentioning this because one of NHL Network's prospect analyst who is their analytics guy absolutely loved the pick. He thought he would end up being the best goalie in the draft when it's all said and done. Overall: I don't love our picks today. Maybe that's a good thing. In the past I've liked more of our day 2 forward picks and most of them ended up being forgettable. Maybe the opposite will be true this year. We started rebounding later in the draft with some interesting players with great analytics. Great value picks. Those players are defensemen though and will be very far away if they make it at all. This draft was all about restocking the forward depth in our system for me so that's my focus.

I think you need to take a break from Ducks hockey for a few days lol

Final pick is Vojtech Port. One of the younger players in the draft, strong analytics. Eliteprospects had him at 91.

Rodwin Dionicio is very good value here for the Ducks. His analytics are off the charts for a guy this late.

Konnor Smith is a monster defenseman. 6’6”

I’m looking forward to seeing what Madden has to say about Sidorov. Such an interesting pick.

McKenzie had him at #88. Considering his rankings are a consensus of 10 top NHL scouts, that means most had him around this ranking, or a few scouts really liked him and had him higher, and that cancelled out the ones who had him closer to Pronman or not listed at all.

He just turned 19 so his stats this year were his age 18 season. He’s a really interesting pick. He grew 1.5 inches between last summer and this summer, strong skater with good skill and a great shot.

And he’s gone lol

This would be a good pick at 85.

Ziemmer to the Kings lol. Ok hope all the questions about him are legit now.

Pekarcik is great value at 76 for the Blues.

Ziemmer is still available. If he’s still there at 85 I hope we take the swing on him unless there’s another high upside player I’m forgetting.

I’m still mad my late round hopeful guy got drafted to the team I thought would draft him at the spot I thought they might lol.