gilligoos

Good to know that he made the world championship roster. Not many watch it, but it's usually a tournament I do follow here and there since it's a bigger deal for European countries. I will def have my eyes on the Canada games then. If the Michigan staff expects him to leave, I would hope we should see him in the NHL next season. Is it common for Canadians to stay at a US college for 2 years?

thats a good point as well. Zegras has incredible vision. I just think it benefits us more in the long run to have bigger size down the middle. If Gaucher can translate his "Selke" abilities to the NHL level, I'm very excited of seeing Fantili-McT-Gaucher develop as our core center group.

If Fantili does in fact become our pick, the next 10 yrs can be set up as Fantili 1C and McTavish 2C, while Zegras becomes a bonafide top line winger with more freedom to use his offensive flair. With that in mind he would become our main franchise winger, and maybe that guarantees him an 8 yr deal with us. We dont have a legit franchise winger in our prospect pool.

I'll buy FanSince1993 a steak dinner for explaining to him that we needed patience with Verbeek over the last 12 months.

#2 Bobby Ryan. in the most rigged lottery in history

I think the draw is only done for the number 1 and number 2 pick. Correct if I'm wrong. #16 can only draw #1 and #2 pick and that's it. Meaning they wouldnt get those picks since they can only move up 10 spots.

correction..."THEY" dominated

From the internal issues I've heard from Kings and Flames players despite the successes he's had, absolutely NO. He's already lost the Flames locker room after a year and based on stories from former Kings players I've heard on podcasts, a lot of players despised him. He is the opposite of what the Ducks need at this point, and he is the opposite of what the "modern" hockey players needs. I would be slightly more inclined if we were talking 5-7 years ago when we had Getz, Perry, Kesler, and handful of old school and veteran players, but we're in a transition in which we are adding bunch of 19-24 year olds into the roster. Sutter is not the guy at this point.

Yea very good point about the cap expected to go up over the next 3-4 years. If the Samuelis are willing to spend max cap then yea it's possible.

I totally understand the perspective, but logistically something needs to give if we end up with the number 1 pick. I just can't see Terry on anything longer than a 3 year deal. I guess my gut hope instinct with Crosby's and McDavid's immediate impact is that Bedard would be that goal scorer you get back this summer. With Fowler, Henrique, Strome (maybe?) totaling $17M off the books by 2026 maybe it is possible to give him a 5 year extension.

If we do end up winning the lottery on May 8th, how do you think this will impact Verbeek's decision to re-sign Terry and Zegras? If Bedard ends up being as succesful the first 3 years during his ELC as we all hope, you as a franchise have to prepare to sign a potential 8 yr $100M in 2026. You have to make a decision of the 5 or so players you want to build around. Bedard, Zegras, and McTavish up front, and deciding who of Drysdale/Minyukov/Luneau/Zellweger (pure projection here) are your core longterm Defensemen? I can't see Verbeek signing Terry to a longterm deal (maybe 3 years max when you then have to deal with Bedard's big contract). If Terry prefers a longer contract I can actually see Terry traded this summer for Verbeek to incorporate Bedard into his longterm plans. I am fine with that decision if we get a decent return (maybe like a 2nd rd pick this summer). With the playoffs starting next week, and having watched a lot of games during the course of the playoff push the last couple months, it's hard to see a line with Zegras AND Terry find success in a long playoff grind. The top 8 in the West can easily contain the two of them together.

I'm looking at his success with both Toronto and San Diego. I wasn't trying to isolate players he developed, moreso that he's a contributing factor to success when he coaches in the minor league and his relationship with young players. The fact he finds success when a young pro is in his "developmental stages" tells me that his mentorship skills and relationship does hold weight (albeit useless in the NHL since he is a horrible bench coach). I was speaking more to the mental development of getting a young player ready to be a pro.

Didnt realize Laviolette's contract was expiring. He would be an excellent hire.

Could be beneficial to fix the Gulls and have him coach there again. He's great with young guys and the developmental aspect of the game.

Why would they be in meetings with other GMs? Verbeek literally started the job in the second half of last season. And understanding the time it takes to come into a whole new organization, getting to know the corporate and management staff, getting to know the people in your new environment, and then analyzing the roster/prospects/depth, he likely got into a rythm less than 12 months ago. I don't understand this concept that managing an actual sports team is like playing a video game (which I feel like many here make it out to be) -- it takes time to put together a plan that works in the longterm. My opinion of Verbeek starts this summer and not the last 15 months whatsoever.

20 min left to give us the best chance of a franchise altering player. DO NOT MESS THIS UP Ducks!!!

Ducks need to go 0-2 while Hawks and Jackets go 1-2 next week. It's a plausible scenario. I've eyed 59 points as the line in the sand for a couple weeks now which may come to fruition for the point total you don't want to hit.

Moose, I always enjoy your optimism, but dang....even that was too optimistic for you!!

First of all, it's a 3 point difference. Also I just can't see Columbus winning more than 3 games in their final 8. they'd essentially have to be a .500 team otherwise which is just hard to imagine. Once the Ducks get past 59 points, they've likely missed their chance of last place. They would need to go 1-6-1 which is still possible, but then you do need to hope for the jackets and hawks to go 3-5 at least. I mean it's not totally impossible so let's cross our fingers.

If I had a guess 58 points would be the line in the sand. If you go beyond that, you're likely not finishing dead last.

It happened on a play where he was attacking the net. He toe picked the ice and you can see his ankle buckle a bit. My guess is an ankle sprain.

That was one hell of a goal by Kent Johnson. Keeping the slim chances of the lottery alive.

Got it, ok. And yes old enough to remember Vishnevski (believe me i still remember the days when Hrkac centered Kariya in the first line when i was still in middle school!!). And yes I agree Blake's turnaround is impressive and he's done an exceptional job putting together a cohesive lineup of the right players that don't have "superstars". His choices of depth players and coaching staff is the key to the Kings turnaround. Keep in mind that Blake was hired as GM early 2017. I understand your frustration with the current state of the Ducks since we've had to deal with Bob's mismanagement leading up to the moment Verbeek was hired, but if we follow the same trajectory (2017 hirign of Blake, 2022 playoff appearance, 2023 high caliber team that can compete in the Western Conf), you would have to give Verbeek some leeway in terms of timing. That means you should give Verbeek maybe one more year of subpar hockey next year before it comes to fruition. Over the course of the first 2 years as GM he dismantled his core roster to get draft picks (Toffoli, Pearson, Kovalchuk (awful signing), Muzzin, etc). I feel like we should wait for this summer to make a strong judgement on Verbeek as he's doing now what Blake did between 2017-2019.

What's the knock on Mintyukov? I'm interested in your take on him. I may not be too familiar with his game as I'm basing his talent by stats only at this point. He seems like he's doing great in the OHL this season and has great size to be an NHL player.

it worked out very well in the 2022 world juniors.