g20topdogg

I think it's fair to put some of our current issues on ther vets. This whole season is a giant mess with injuries, our overall play, still a young team, and coaching. I'm not of the opinion that we're going to magically become a playoff team if coaching changes but I think it would definitely help. Especially the assistant coaches. We also don't have much of a team identity right now. Are we a speed team? A tight checking team? A run and gun type? Who are we? GMBM probably doesn't even know. He keeps saying we need speed yet traded Cogs for whatever reason who wasn't slow by any means. We're picking up players who seem to almost be fringe nhlers. That's on Bob. But we're trying to fit square pegs into round holes when coaching takes this bunch and jumbles everything and tries to get players to almost be what they're not. Why are we utilizing Grant and Del in the ways that we do? I understand our current circumstances and that our vets are being asked to do things they normally wouldn't. Our vets are also on limited time, they're not getting any younger. Why would they deliberately toss a full season away because they don't like the systems? Seems like it goes both ways. The current system isn't working, players are frustrated and we're going on long losing streaks and quite frankly they seem like yeah maybe they've had enough. Coaching is refusing to change and adapt so we're seeing a vicious cycle. I remember BB was in the hot seat and we weren't scoring, so he could have continued to try to get everyone back but instead we saw a change in the way we approached games. We became a defensive team and were grinding out games 2-1 for example. To me, that's what's missing. Coaching can't adapt and is trying to do the same things over and over, it's not working. Even just in game adjustments, they're not there. We just toss everyone in a blender and hope it works. Yeah I think our vets have probably given up at this point. We're getting a losing culture in the room. I think if you probably ask guys maybe they would secretly like to be moved. It's concerning, this might affect our young guys. We're in serious trouble. I think what needs to happen is coaching needs to change and probably some of our vets need to go. This off season we should definitely make some serious changes.

I'm still not agreeing with what you're saying. Special teams are garbage, lines are a jumbled mess, players are strangely deployed, defensive structure has tanked since Yawney left. Yes, I think Yawney brought out the best in our defense, he's a perfect example of why I don't agree that it's not a coaching issue. The players are obviously to blame here as well. If you're suggesting the vets are the problem, do we trade them all? Do we strip Getzy of the C like the sharks with Thornton? We had some good playoff runs where I think we really had a chance to win the cup. Did we choke in game 7s? Yes. It could go both ways though, BB or the players? Both should share the blame and I think the players understood that. But to say that it's the vets who quit on the team isn't right as it was pointed out that Silf was praised by GMBM for his leadership ability and got an extension. Besides, if the players were solely to blame we'd see more of them traded off as GMBM was also HCBM for a short time and could see who was doing what. He did say that he had concerns, but besides Perry being bought out who actually left? Kesler is injured. We probably lost some veteran leadership if anything from the loss of those players. To me it seems that coaching is the bigger issue currently. I thought we should have gotten rid of the assistants this past off season. And it's too bad that we didn't because maybe, just maybe, we'd be having a different conversation about Eakins. Because as it currently stands it's fair to say that they're an issue but how much of an issue towards Eakins are they or is Eakins just as bad as them?

Besides the ducks I'm following (kind of just watching highlights) Montreal, only because of Perry. But I can't help but notice that they don't play him very much. His TOI is fairly low. I understand he's getting older but he's one of the top scorers on the team. I'm just baffled that a guy who arguably should be top 5 in scoring on the team, because he's missed more games then some of the others, isn't played more. But I should give some credit to Perry here because he deserves it. He's still producing and I know it's the Habs but seriously though the guy can still produce. He's not the player he once was but he's no slouch either. And he's arguably a guy who we could use right now. He consistently parks in front of the net. We currently have few guys who have net front presence. He'd currently be tied for 6th with Getzy in points in 6 fewer games. And because he's played fewer games based on points percentage (with at least 2 games played, thanks to Drysdale) he'd be third overall on the team. Let that sink in. I believe he's 7th overall in points for the Habs but much higher based on points percentage. Perry may be old and slow but he can obviously still produce. I hope he retires with the Ducks someday instead of somewhere else, even if it's for a one day contract.

Yeah I believe both Bieksa and Kesler mentioned on their podcast that each was coaching kids in some kind of tournaments. As a side note, it's interesting that so many podcasts from former nhlers have come up. I guess when you have some interesting stories to tell about when they were in the league people are interested. But Bieksa definitely makes a good tv personality besides just doing a podcast.

This is more interesting then watching the ducks play....😥 This season should never be remembered ever again! But it just continues to get worse, can't we just skip the rest of the season? Throw in the towel or something? Just give us the #1 pick already!

Nah, I don't see him coaching. I could see Bieksa and Scotty though. Scotty just has that leadership ability I think. And I'm surprised at Bieksa sometimes. If you've ever seen him on what is it TSN? He discusses situations and analyzes plays well I think.

I think I feel like Bob traded to upgrade that 2015 team but getting Wiz was a letdown. Maybe that was the best we could do but couldn't we offer more to get better players for the run? I mean sure options are limited but come on, that seemed like a bargain Bob type of deal. Any other GM would probably spend more to get more. It was a missed opportunity for sure. Everyone was upset at getting Wiz and to make matters worse he didn't even play.

I came across this podcast, I've never seen it before, with former Duck Shane O'Brien. It was an interview with Teemu. Some interesting stories from Teemu but I thought it was pretty interesting when they talked about Eakins. They seemed to say some good things about him. I actually had no idea that Teemu had played with Eakins on the Jets during Teemu's rookie year. Here's the link for anyone interested: It's pretty new, just posted about a week ago.

Laine is an rfa this offseason, any chance we could try to make a move for him? Who knows, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing in Columbus.

I get what you're saying but the problem is we kind of have to get a goalie back which would kind of lower the value somewhat. We need legit scorers but I personally wouldn't sacrifice our legit top 5 goalie for that unless we have someone very capable in the system that's ready. There seems to be only two options where I'd be willing to do that: he requests a trade or we get a deal that we just can't refuse. I think people forget that Gibson also played earlier in his career where we were pretty competitive. Just because we've sucked for three years doesn't mean he automatically wants to leave. If it was that easy as soon as the top teams were no longer playoff bound we'd see all the stars requesting trades. But we just don't see that. So I have my doubts that he actually wants to leave and it's just that rumours. It's unfortunate but I don't think it's smart to move a goaltender of his caliber unless we hit the jackpot of trades. We're just not in that position to do it at this time. If Dostal was ready and looked like a legit starter I'd trade Gibson then. That's how I see it anyway. I think we'd be in free fall if he's gone honestly and would probably be the worst period of Ducks hockey. Plus there's no guarantee we would even be able to turn that around without rebuilding for even longer than we'd want to. It's a dangerous road to take, the risks are high but so are the potential rewards theoretically. I would personally take a different approach, build from the goaltender out at this point. So what if he's going to be in his 30s when we'll be competitive? There are lots of goalies playing at an elite level into their 30s.

It doesn't make sense to trade Gibson for Eichel even. What does that really do for us? We essentially trade spots with Buffalo. We become them and they kind of become us. But out of the two teams I'd rather be us then buffalo. Dostal isn't ready to become our starter. We'll overpay for someone in free agency or pick someone up from the bargain bin. We then suck so bad and hope Dostal actually ends up being what we hoped. Plus Gibson is on a really good contract and anyone we pick up will be worse at a worse price tag. We could draft someone I guess but why though? They might not pan out either. We run with Gibson until we have someone ready otherwise we become the next Buffalo. We need to draft forwards and defence, maybe another goalie to add to the system but not with our top draft picks. It took the Flyers how long to get a good goalie, they even overpaid Bryz and look how that turned out. Look at Florida, they're paying 10 mill for Bob. I would only trade him if we get a crazy haul back that we know for sure will help us become a contender and I don't even think Eichel is the answer. If we had someone else in the system ready to step up like when we had Anderson and Gibson otherwise I think I'd pass.

Maybe he tries to get the Wiz back from retirement! Lol playoffs here we.... doh!

I'm sure that every GM has some say in their teams day to day activities. But you're probably right BM is trying way too hard to control certain aspects which is a bit concerning. Completely agree. We need a new GM and HC. Just as a team's head coach loses his voice in a locker room I think BM has basically done the same thing with the players, organization and fans. We need a new voice. It would definitely change the team dynamic. Besides, BM was behind the bench at one point, who knows what that did to the players? I'd say if there ever was a season to get rid of both it's this one. I just hope we don't end up worse than what we currently have, although that's pretty hard to do.

I get that Bob has control over a lot of aspects regarding team decisions. But you seem to be defending Eakins there a bit. Starting from the beginning of the year Eakins has made questionable decisions, last year too, that were head scratchers. We started off with a clean slate for this new year, no way Bob would get that involved early. Sure after the season was underway and Shatty wasn't great I'm sure Bob talked with Eakins then. I do believe Bob seriously thought we could compete for the playoffs this year otherwise we never get Shatty. Bob makes questionable moves as does Eakins with the way he manages the bench. It's pretty obvious that he's perhaps a likeable coach, so was BB (except for Teemu😬), however if we just compare them I don't think it's even a question that BB is the better coach. So I'd say that as far as coaches go, Eakins is probably better suited as an ahl coach rather than an nhl coach. Either that, or he needs to spend more time as an assistant coach. Though to be fair, we are starting to see more scoring however this should be his final season. But what bothers me more than Eakins is the fact that Bob decided to keep the assistants, they were a major problem last year and they continued that on into this season.

Sutter coached the kings to two cups. Sure at the end of his tenure he was terrible but you can't deny that he had a good run there.

I'm not sure I believe this. You're saying that before the season started BM wanted to tank and set up the team with the worst pp possible? It's pretty clear to me it's a systems issue. Sure our personnel on the ice aren't great, we don't have very good finishes, but even an average squad would score more than we have. So yeah, he's not a good coach. He still makes the decisions on which lines to put out, or does he get a call from Bob?

No way Eichel comes here. Anyone watching this team have to be laughing right now. We're probably on every team's no trade list for sure.

? You do realise it's February 2021 right? The off season has long past...

Because anywhere except buffalo would be great right now. They may possibly do a rebuild within a rebuild lol.

Sign me up!! But I think that's way low and they hang up the phone... but it seems like we need to make some trades happen.

I think this is 100% true. I'm not saying Getzy has checked out of this team but he just doesn't have that drive and it's not from a lack of true wingers. I think he definitely misses Perry or that style of play. Wherever we got guys who really meshed well with him at the deadline they were really good. The problem is he plays a certain style of game but the wingers don't complement his style. Seems to me that Perry might have been a bigger piece on this team that he got credit for. As for getting credit, I had thought about how our defense kind of went down the drain after Yawney left. But it also seemed to really take a hit after Vats left. I had heard somewhere after he left that he was a really good shot blocker. So is it also possible that although his play really seemed to dip in his last days here, that he was actually a really key piece on our blue line? It really sucked that both Hampus and Vats had separated shoulders and didn't they both come back well into the following season. Never the same after that. Which is too bad as I really liked the guy.

I understand we'd be getting a pretty good return on Rakell as compared to our players who are/ should be on the chopping block. But I'd rather keep him. Trade Henrique and Manson at this point. Ricky is currently one of the few exciting ducks this season, even if he's not putting up the points. I don't think he's going to get a significant raise. I'd say maybe look into trading silf as well. We need to rid ourselves of these contracts that I think are kind of holding our rebuild back. If Getzy is ok then trade him at the deadline as well. We can't completely tear the team apart though, otherwise we'll end up like buffalo. If Getzy leaves we'd have to give the C to Grantzlaf, it's only logical. Jk lol As much as Fowler is a bit overpaid I think he'd leave a hole that will set us back, I think we should keep him. Expose Shatty in the ED, with his play maybe it wouldn't be too bad to lose him. But Ricky is a vet and actually puts in the effort. We're going to need a mix of vets to show our young guys the ropes.

I've actually been thinking we need to trade him at the deadline. And Montreal to play with Perry for the cup would be my choice. It's the only reason I watch highlights of their games and look for 94 on the ice. Seriously, Getzy is missing that guy who could battle along the boards like he used to play with Perry. Their games just meshed. I really miss that dominance and I think he misses Perry on his wing. Sure he was no longer the Hart winner, but he did still bring a lot to the team. I think it's evident that Getzy hasn't meshed well with the other players like he had that chemistry with Pears. So Montreal would be my vote as I already follow them. With the way this year has gone I would mind them hoisting the cup over there.

Though the whole situation is weird, I think we do need to trade Rico regardless. We need to get younger guys, he's on the opposite side of 30. I think he's still got some decent value. 26 goals last year isn't anything to sneeze at but his contract is a problem. Maybe we could have gotten some decent value at the deadline as he could be someone that cup teams would possibly look at. We'd have to sweeten regardless but we need the cap hit off the board too. Though I wouldn't want to add too much because his play would outweigh the trade value, especially if he can still contribute goals wise. As mentioned before, salary retention to possibly get better picks or prospects. Current issues or not, he can still put up points in this league and considering he's playing on one of the worst teams in the league he could probably put up better numbers playing with guys who can actually score. I don't want this turning over into some crazy holdout/ trade demand situation. Something's not right but I think the trade is probably the best option. We don't have enough scorers on the team. It also doesn't help that Rico is better as a LW rather than a center. But because of our lack of center depth (or actual capable centers) we chose to play him there. The team is a mess. I don't want to tank or tear up the team, but changes need to be made and it's better to get rid of these older guys.

What the issue is, is not Gibson is what I'm saying. The team is the bigger problem.