g20topdogg
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Posts posted by g20topdogg
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Don't want to high jack another thread.
This is what I feel is missing from the ducks. We almost never see a whole line stand up physically to other teams and defend each other. Doesn't matter what the reason is, if one of your guys gets jumped you come in to defend him. Even if the reason is because he shot the puck after the whistle. Hopefully we get back to this kind of game because I'd like to see teammates stand up for each other and don't give the opposing team any free passes when they do something. I'm not specifically calling out players because it's just not their game. But I hope PV is able to get more guys in the lineup willing to mix it up.
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5 hours ago, Aksun said:
They might make it to the WCF this year, I can't see the Queens doing it.
I hope they meet in the playoffs. Having quick shut them out would be perfection!
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6 hours ago, dtsdlaw said:
I don't see any reason to re-sign Comtois. He's completely redundant on this current roster. He hasn't looked good on his off wing, and we already have too many guys that appropriately slot in as 2nd, 3rd, and 4th line LWs, including Henrique, Vatrano, McGinn, and Jones, with a bevy of mid- and lower-level prospects like Nesterenko, Pastujov, Regenda, and Tracey still developing. Fantilli, Carlsson, Benson, Cristall, and Moore are all left-shot forwards as well, and given how this organization seems to prefer to start young centers on the wing, we might need to keep a spot over there open for our upcoming top-5 pick in the near future. I also think Verbeek should be looking to acquire a 1st line LW to play with Zegras this summer, since I can't imagine that Rico is a Duck beyond next season (and he's becoming more and more injury prone as he ages).
Grant also turns 33 next month, so I'm not really interested in re-signing him. He seems to be popular among his teammates, but its probably time to turn over more of the roster to let the younger guys take ownership of the room. Bring in the new coach, give Terry the "C", and move on from the older players who just aren't able to play significant minutes for this team anymore. It's time.
Comtois most likely isn't a duck next year. He's shown very little to bring him back. Jones besides the one year remaining on his contract isn't that bad. He's quite fast and plays with a lot of energy. I think the last few games (before the past two) he's been fine. I'm interested to see him in a different system. I think we should bring Grant back honestly. But only on a cheap one year deal. When he came back the bottom lines seemed better. I still think he's somewhat of a playmaker though but the guys he plays with just (I don't know how else to put it) aren't skilled enough. Like Grant makes some nice passes but no one is there to receive them or they're not expecting it. Grant isn't highly skilled either but I think he's one of our better bottom 6 forwards. So I'd keep him with the intention of replacing him at some point either in the season, tdl, or after the one year is up. Also, this HAS to be Jones last attempt to stick. He's really gotta show something next year proving he belongs otherwise he's going to follow Comtois out the door.
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13 minutes ago, Gorbachav55 said:
I don't think Verbeek is immune from criticism; the Klingberg debacle, for example, is on him. It didn't set the franchise back, but it also was a waste of money and time. It remains to be seen whether keeping Eakins around this year does any long-term damage. I just don't think we have nearly enough information to say he's a bad GM.
Bob Murray, on the other hand, ran this franchise into the ground. He spent years tinkering with a good roster, failing to get it to the promised land. But that's not what angers me about Murray - he completely failed to see the signs that a rebuild needed to happen, and instead he doubled down on veterans while failing to trade players when they could have fetched value. It's nice that he continued to employ Martin Madden to run the amateur scouting department. But he also did nothing to improve a barely functioning analytics department or player development department, ensuring that those nice amateur players wasted away once they turned pro. Bob Murray was a fine GM who became an awful GM and is the primary reason (if not the sole reason) the team is in the mess it is now.
I agree. Bob wasn't the greatest but he wasn't a bad gm up until we needed to get into a rebuild. As mvp mentioned above he helped draft a possible good future defense. When drafting defensemen we've generally had a pretty good track record and with goalies as well. In fact during Bob's tenure as gm the defense and goaltending were our areas of strength. Now the forwards were the issue especially drafting them. But we've also had a few gems: Rakell, Palmieri, Zegras, McT and Terry are some that come to mind as good/ looking like good nhl players. But the misses were pretty hard misses so he was criticized (rightly so) for it. Now what we'll look like under the tenure of Verbeek is far to early to tell. Thinking on some of the moves that he made/ didn't make he might have just taken a more cautious approach. We don't know anything for sure yet. At the beginning of next season I think we might be able to come up with some kind of conclusions on how good or bad he may be but not earlier than that.
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7 hours ago, Gorbachav55 said:
Thanks for the backup on that one. You're absolutely correct.
I think of it like a picture that gradually comes into focus. After just over a year, our picture of Verbeek is still pretty fuzzy. He's had two trade deadlines, one of which I think he did pretty well and another when he did rather poorly. He's had one offseason, with mixed results, but not a lot of good options, either.
I think we're going to get a much clearer idea of Verbeek's quality (or the quality of his plan) after this offseason. He now has, I think, a fairly clear opportunity to start building in earnest toward a competitive team. That involves drafting, trading, signing, and, most importantly, hiring a coach. If he blows it this offseason, I don't think we can conclude yet that the clear picture is going to be bad, but we'll be a lot closer to doing so. If he succeeds, same thing.
But it's silly to look at a six-year body of work and compare it meaningfully to a one-year body of work. At the end of Rob Blake's second season as GM, the Kings were heading for their worst record in a dozen years. Do you want to compare Blake's moves to that point in his tenure to what Verbeek's done? That would at least be more meaningful, although not entirely since the two teams started from different positions.
I'm frustrated with the team and the lack of good moves by PV at the deadline. But I'm not going to say we need to fire him just yet. I can't say we wasted a year but we certainly didn't do as much as I'd hope. But that said yeah he's still got a lot of cap room to work with and we're not really tied up with any extremely bad contracts that prevent us from getting the players we want. Plus one positive we can all take away from this season is McT solidifying a top 6 position. That's one less player he needs to go out and get. Hopefully we'll get a good draft pick as well. I'm just more excited for a new coach at this point. If we somehow keep Eakins this will be extremely disappointing. But there's a lot to look forward to and I'm just happy we're not signing the Kovalchuks of this world to try to be competitive now rather than be patient and be competitive in the future with a much higher ceiling and better odds at the cup.
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1 hour ago, tommer-1 said:
No real judgements from me, yet.
1. New Coaching Hire
2. Off-season Acquisitions
3. Contract terms for Terry, Zegras, Drysdale, Dostal
4. This year's draft, including the three 2nd round picks (unless they are part of a trade)
That's where, in order of importance, I am going to put a lot of his "grade"
Absolutely. He just HAS to nail that 1st point I think. I'm not saying he needs to find the next Scotty Bowman but he can't get someone we are frustrated with and fire a season or two down the line. It's gotta be someone that works with the team style wise and being in good systems play, not whatever we currently have. And it better not be Randy, who will say he's learned something new... again.
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38 minutes ago, FanSince1993 said:
True, true.....but so far, our new manager hasn't done anything significant to improve this team. Here is a list of who he brought to this team: McGinn, Leason, White, Strome, Vatrano, Harrington, Benoit, a buck of 2nd round picks and drafting Mintukov. Are you impressed?
I hear some statements from Gorbachav and others to wait for 3 more years before we start to judge his work. Do you want to wait for another 3 years?
That was in comparison to your crush on the Kings gm Rob Blake who YOU mentioned by the way. You said he did more than PV. Well duh, we've had Verbeek for just over a year and Blake's been there for what over three years? No one specifically said to wait three years before judging him if he should stay or not.
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8 hours ago, Gorbachav55 said:
This will probably infuriate some (Bombays, notably), but I just wanted to add some context to this whole tanking endeavor. We try to place some sort of justification on why the last place team gets the best chance at the number one overall pick. They're the worst team so they "deserve" it. Not everyone agrees with that philosophy, but at least you understand its merits. It's not good for a fanbase and an organization to experience years of futility; it's healthier for that team and for the league in general if they can improve, and the best way to do that is through high draft picks.
But who is the worst team? The league defines it as the team that finishes with the fewest points. It would not make sense to do it any other way. However, we have statistics now that can tells us, pretty reliably, who played better in a given game. Yes, special teams matter, but except for outlier cases, the teams that play better at even strength (i.e. generate more offensive opportunities from good scoring areas) are the teams that have the most playoff success, they're more fun to watch, they're coached better, they have better players, etc. Again, I know not everyone fully buys into that, but I think it has a lot of merit.
The most frustrating thing about the Ducks is that, by those measures, they are by far the worst team in the league. Not only on aggregate, but in individual games as well. Some context for you:
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The Ducks, according to even strength expected goal percentage (naturalstattrick.com), have outplayed their opponents 10 times this year. TEN FREAKING TIMES! In 68 games.
- Arizona has outplayed their opponents 18 times.
- Chicago has outplayed their opponents 19 times.
- Columbus has outplayed their opponents 24 times.
- San Jose has outplayed their opponents 38 times! That's over half their games.
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The Ducks have won 22 games. Only four of those wins have come when outplaying their opponents. That means they've won 18 games when getting outplayed. They got two points in 18 games when they didn't deserve it.
- The Coyotes have done that 17 times.
- Chicago has done it 13
- Columbus has done it 8
- San Jose only has 3
What does this mean? One, I think the two most "deserving" teams of Bedard are Anaheim and Arizona, with Chicago close behind. San Jose, on the other hand, needs to start winning some games. People look at all those OT losses and think that their tank has been unlucky. Actually, they probably deserved to win most of those. They should be sitting at 30 - 35 wins instead of 19.
Two, I think people ragging on John Gibson need to calm down. You might hate him for ruining the tank, but you have to respect that he's stolen upwards of 15 victories for the Ducks that they didn't deserve this season (I didn't check each one to see if he played, but it's likely he played in most of them).
Lastly, the Ducks were absolutely pitiful this year. I look at the roster and I do see a LOT of issues. But I also see a decent amount of talent, and I can't help but think that the coaching hire is critical. Barring a third stint for Randy Carlyle, I don't see any way the coaching can get worse. If Verbeek nails this hire, I think we will see an improvement of 15 - 20 points just from that. Roster upgrades will push it further.
The Ducks aren't going to get Bedard because that sort of thing doesn't happen to teams I root for. But it's clear to me that if the hockey gods were benevolent, merciful gods instead of the cruel, vengeful beings they are, the Ducks would be picking first in June.
100% agree on the coaching hire. The fact that we outplayed other teams only 10 times when Arizona is almost double that is very sad. Eakins is terrible. If PV not only selects a good coach but somehow is able to get a great coach I think we see a massive improvement in the standings, wins, and players having really good bounce back years. If Gibson is single handedly holding our team back that much I hope next year we finally break this mould of terrible hockey and he helps us be in the running for a wild card til the end of the season (I don't see us making the playoffs). I haven't enjoyed ducks hockey very much the past couple of seasons so let's get something going next year.
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The Ducks, according to even strength expected goal percentage (naturalstattrick.com), have outplayed their opponents 10 times this year. TEN FREAKING TIMES! In 68 games.
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46 minutes ago, FanSince1993 said:
The best move PV could do this off season is to find a taker for Ryan Strome. $5 mil could be invested somewhere else.
It's still early to call him a bust for this roster. He should be playing lower in the lineup in more of a shut down role. He was never an offensive juggernaut and he won't become one barring a miracle.
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Sorry to kind of high jack the thread with posts but stumbled across this old grainy tribute video of the RPG line... ah the good old days of glorious ducks hockey with one of the best top lines at the time.
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Awesome.
Here's a few of my favorites!
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1 hour ago, Fisix said:
Starting to feel sorry for him.
Yeah no way he gets that 7x7 now... oh boy
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I think that PV looks to add another top 6 winger, whether through FA or through a trade. Maybe we change part of the bottom 6 as well. I'd like to add someone good on D as well but I guess we'll see if it's going to be too cost prohibitive to get someone that can play the top 4. So maybe we wait until next off season to do that and just roll with the kids. The problem with this ufa market is not a lot of really good players are going to be available and the ones that are will be expensive I think. Obviously Gibson and Dostal will be the tandem.
That leaves the coach. A lot can change between now and the end of the season but does anyone know who the current front runners are? Andrew Brunette? Or do we go with someone like Benoit Groulx or Rikard Gronborg?
This is kind of an older article from the beginning of the season but I'll link it here:
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3 hours ago, Gorbachav55 said:
I didn't say he'd stay for the whole contract. I said a greater than 50% chance he'd be in Anaheim until the last year of his contract, meaning he'd play for them the next three seasons.
That's not 100%; there's definitely a decent chance he's traded. But I think it's more likely than not that he's here for the next season the Ducks are in the playoffs.
Oh sorry, I meant more along the lines of him staying at lower odds. He's definitely gotta come back next year because our goaltending will take too big of a hit for next year. After that I think it just depends on how Dostal does. If he looks legit after next season we could move Gibson and go with Dostal then but not sooner. But becoming a full time NHL goalie is also pretty difficult so perhaps in two years time we might see a 1a and 1b type situation.
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1 hour ago, Gorbachav55 said:
I would take that bet. I think it's better than 50/50 that Gibson is in Anaheim until the last season of his contract.
I'm not so sure. I like Gibson but I'm not so sure he stays for the whole contract length. I'd probably put it at 25% that he stays for that long.
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1 hour ago, FanSince1993 said:
I double checked, and you actually right, both were signed on the first day of free agency, which was July 13th of last year, and while Vatrano is ok, Strome is a bust, given his annual salary and term. Off the topic: William Nylander will be UFA after the next season, a lot of teams will be bidding for him, I will absolutely hate if he'll end up with the Kings.
Vatrano is having a decent year. Strome is kind of whatever. But I suspect that with better coaching we'll see a lot of guys improve their overall play, or at least we can hope.
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1 hour ago, perry_mvp said:
Anaheim actually looked like a pro hockey team in this Calgary game which is scary. Scary if Verbeek thinks Eakins is doing a good job.
I was thinking the same thing. If this recent play brings Eakins back.....🙄
Certain players carrying the team shouldn't mean Eakins is all of a sudden a good coach.
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11 minutes ago, saskduckfan said:
With the year he is havi g playing with a proper structure and system I would put Lindholm in that definition of impact player. He was utilized wrong in Anaheim. And the Ducks never drafted Neidermayer.
So Gibson is not an impact player? How about Troy Terry? What about going back 20 years. Getzlaf and Perry? Both late 1st round picks.
I think Fowler should be in that same conversation. He's probably not as good as Lindholm but if you look at his point totals he's actually having his best year whereas the team is having one of its worst years. I think that Fowler could theoretically have a monster year, not like Lindholm, where he would easily have his best year in a better system with actual good d partners. It's no coincidence that guys leave the team and have better years than under the ducks (obviously not everyone). For whatever reason our utilization of players is below what the better teams in the league employ. The Tampas, Boston's, etc of the league just tend to get more out of their players than we do. The coaching is an issue but it's beyond that where it's across multiple coaches and systems. I hope PV can change that.
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I think Gibson stays this year. The soonest we could possibly see him move is at next years trade deadline. But likely more of an off season move not this one but the next one. I just don't see us going into next season with Dostal and probably signing someone to a short term deal. It doesn't make sense. PV wants to start being competitive next year and Gibson helps him do that. Dostal gets a year to back him up and then depending on if he's ready we move Gibson. It's also easier to move him in a year because his contract would be shorter and more importantly, Gibson would likely raise his value playing on a better team under a better coach and systems. Why sell him now? Only if we plan to tank badly next year which I don't see that happening.
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4 hours ago, Fisix said:
sorry folks, i forgot - what's the deal with a trade after the TDL like this one? player can't play in any playoff games?
Yeah I believe they can't play in the playoffs which really makes no difference because Arizona won't make it anyway. I'm not sure, so they need a player because of injuries? Why do the trade now though?
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PV has already said he doesn't want to tank. So I'm not sure he really cares about the draft pick we get more than how our current crop of young players develops. We'll see how that goes I guess but I'd like to get a top 3 pick. Who knows maybe we'll get lucky.
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A quote from PV from that article above that stood out to me.
I'm not sure where Jackson Lacombe is gonna end up yet, but he's gonna start with Anaheim when his college season is over this year.
So this means we should see Lacombe for the ducks in the last couple of games right? I mean that's what it sounds like. Perhaps doing this made Lacombe decide to sign with the Ducks.
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4 hours ago, FanSince1993 said:
He already got a winger. McGinn.
Well actually he had a winger, his name was Sonny Milano. Zegras needs a guy who's creative like himself. But what he really needs is to put on some muscle, hopefully he can do that this off season.
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4 minutes ago, dtsdlaw said:
I don't believe this for a moment. He likely did not intend to be THIS bad through the first 60 games, but he knew this team wasn't going to be a playoff team from the get-go. It was always meant to be a growth year for the kids and an opportunity to stockpile more picks and prospects for the rebuild. I think his target was likely ~80 points, plus or minus 6 points depending on injuries, luck, etc., with the hope that he'd add another top-10 pick due to their play, as well as another 1st rounder from trading Klingberg. This was never a team that was going to challenge for a playoff spot though.
Agreed. Playoffs were definitely not in the picture but I believe he really did think we could be .500 or at least somewhere in that area. It's definitely frustrating but I'm not ready to light any torches.
Season Expectations
in Anaheim Ducks
Posted
I don't want an enforcer. I just want the team to be tough to play against. It's hurting our guys. Teams can take runs and other stuff and they know there'll be no retaliation. We traded off Manson and Frechy D so we've lost a lot of toughness. I'm hoping we can get some of that back for next season.