BombaysTripleDeke

https://www.thepucknetwork.com/Anaheim/story.php?id=27820 Interesting comments and takeaways from Murray: -He's looking at shooters in draft, specifically one-timers from the blueline (So, yeah Drysdale lol) -Good chance they can bring Grant back -Comtois and Terry were not happy about being sent down to SD. (I absolutely understand why Terry would be) -The PP is his biggest concern -Wishes he would have started the rebuild last year. -Zegras wants to turn pro -Wants to do a Pronger/Niedermayer situation with the current group when asked about free agency? The comment that warmed my heart: Hayward mentioned that most teams seem to take five years to come out of a rebuild. Murray said he didn’t want it to take that long. He also said, however, he didn’t want to take shortcuts because he wants to put the team in a position where they can compete for several years in a row and not just one or two seasons. Then this doozy: I’m not trying to win every game here, gonna be honest.” Murray still has his eye on getting a high draft pick at the moment. He did emphasize that come next year a “gun is at the head of the core players” as they need to perform better than this year. It sounded like Murray is going to experiment with the newcomers and see if they fit into the lineup. Once next season rolls around the pressure to win will be on again." Bob "Guns-a-blazin'" Murray?

I am still surprised at how well they played against Colorado given the MASH unit on defense. That was one of most improbable wins that I can remember since the Comeback on Katella lol.

Nope, because Gibson is the only star-level player that we can actually still build on going forward. The Ducks are primarily bad because of the team in front of Gibson and Miller, not because of them. Gibson is one of the premiere goalies in the game and the Ducks just can't defend in well enough in front of him which is why I'm not opposed to making a major change to the blueline. I don't see this current group cutting it and given their ages and contract situations, I'm not sure why the whole group should stay in tact. I've said that Dostal isn't even close to replacing him assuming he continues to progress and can even make that jump. Goaltenders are generally much harder to project and take the longest to develop. It's also not like I'm advocating for a 19 year old Thrun or LaCombe to hold down the fort, when we have Mahura, Guhle, Djoos, Benoit. See if one of those can be a stop gap and use a trade to improve your roster at a more needed position or get assets for a rebuild if things don't improve.

I agree, but the alternative is to keep them together and with that group the Ducks are currently the 5th worst team in the NHL. It’s a terrible spot to be in. At least on LHD, you have a plethora of guys to tryout at that position. You’re certainly right about the lack of guys ready to take in those roles, but I also think that’s just a hallmark of a rebuilding team, otherwise I think it would be more of a re-tool. Going through another season with this group would be painful which is why i’m betting on Murray to shake up the roster this summer.

Haha. The kick assist he had last night was simply brilliant. Faces of the franchise is also synonomous for your star players. They are the guys that you pay to see and build the foundation of your team on. I think Tarasenko (40 goal scorer), Pietrangelo (elite defensemen, Olympic Gold Medalist) and O'Reilly (Selke winner and all around beauty) all fit for the Blues. They also have more really good players like Parayko, Schenn and Schwartz. Fun fact: Former Duck David Perron currently leads them in points with 60.

I think either Rakell/Lindholm/Manson would fetch a very nice return. You also don’t need to move all of them or for just picks/picks prospects. You can move them to help upgrade the positions you pointed out either via hockey trades or flipping the picks/prospects you’d get for them (i.e how the Rangers got Trouba). To me, it’s a balancing act because a team full of guys on ELC’s isn’t going to pan out either. My main point is that outside of G & G the team needs to decide which established players to move on from and who they might want to keep through the rebuild. The Ducks are in some unfamiliar territory since they don’t have the next face or faces to the franchise either yet to be developed or possibly in the system at all, with the exception of Gibson. The Ducks started with Kariya, traded for Selanne, and then got Getzlaf and Perry literally weeks after Kariya’s final game in Anaheim. We might not be so lucky to be able to quickly transition from this era to the next. If that’s the case then the Ducks are going to be irrelevant for awhile. If we get the 1st or 2nd pick this year then it definitely changes everything🤞.

Haha. Great point. If Taylor Hall is on your team or the Penguins are on the verge of financial collapse then you know who’s winning the lottery.

I wish I had your optimism lol. Goaltending is not a concern of mine for the foreseeable future with Gibson and I like Dostal as well (he’s ripping up the Finnish league at only 19 years old). I’m not sold on this defensive group which is unfortunately taking up an entire hospital wing at the moment. Those defenses you mentioned all had a Norris caliber player anchoring them along with better top pairing guys than the Ducks do. I think it assumes that there is some much higher level that this group is capable of playing at consistently. I forgot who said it on these boards (Sorry for not properly crediting whoever it was) but I think that the more magical beans would be thinking that the Ducks are going contend with mostly the same established players staying in tact. Adding to a group that doesn’t have a strong enough core seems unlikely to bring success and has been the biggest issue for me. i absolutely agree with you that the Ducks need an upgrades on RHD, 2C, and RW. I’d probably go further go further and say an additional RW is needed as well after trading Kase. The Ducks have no top line RW and Henrique is currently leading the team in goals. I don’t see how they get back into the mix without that being addressed in a major way. I’m not for burning everything down right this second and trading away everyone. I’m for a slow burn but something big needs to change (preferably at the GM spot). Everyone other than Getzlaf and Gibson can be had for the right price. Moving Fowler or Lindholm is no longer out of the question, imo especially if we want to upgrade the necessary positions or get more rebuilding blocks. Well, we should find out in about a month with the draft lottery set to take place on April 9th. I’m ready to yell “rigged” if Montreal or NJ wins it and sob if LA does.

Those are the only types of guys the Ducks have in the system right now with the hopeful exception of Zegras. I think the only was he does if he’s playing with much better players. All of those guys are also better natural scorers than Henrique also. Yep, I agree which is why I think a full rebuild is the route to go. Getting a Lafreniere or Byfield would sure help speed things up but the Ducks aren’t contending anytime soon. We’d need to get 2003 draft level of lucky and send Murray packing before we get back on the path.

This is where I am pessimistic and don't think that Henrique is going to be scoring at that rate when he's 32, 33 years old, assuming that he stays healthy. How many players in the NHL put up 25 goals at age 32 and up? Ovechkin sure does, I think Kane and Pacioretty will be able to have that kind of productivity. I think Parise is on pace for it this season as well. Henrique could buck the trend but I'm not banking on him to keep scoring at this rate two seasons from now.

Don't you go getting my hopes up for Lafreniere! He'd definitely help speed up the rebuild but the Ducks apparently can't have nice things anymore. I agree that the center depth is not good and if the Ducks can move on from Henrique and a LW/LHD to bring in a good young 2C, then I am on board with that. Outside of Zegras, the Ducks don't have any guys with the potential to be a legit first liner, same could be said about a top-pairing defenseman. I'm sure that Murray would love to draft Drysdale and/or hope that he can use the Bruins pick to draft Justin Barron if he's still available. I'm surprised that he didn't move the Montour pick last year to upgrade the roster. Seems like it would have been a better time to do it. I don't think the Ducks could be awful again for a third year in a row but am not expecting them to necessarily compete for a playoff spot either. They have too many holes in their lineup and it's going to take more time to fix them. My bold take is that either Fowler or Lindholm gets moved this offseason.

Even though he played for the USA World Junior team, I feel like that is the the most likely reason lol. Good thing Kaliyev isn’t on a hated divisional rival that could do max damage to the Ducks for years to come! The Ducks might very well get that RHD in Drysdale at the draft. I know he won’t be NHL ready for at least a season under the best of circumstances but. The only asset as far as picks that the Ducks have is the Bruins pick, which if Boston wins the President’s Trophy then I believe that pick won’t be lower higher than 28th. If we had multiple seconds also then I think it gives the Ducks more expendable trade capital to play with. Shifting Henrique to LW creates and even greater logjam there so I guess it depends on who you’d want to ship out to make space for him. Personally, if you can trade Henrique (especially coming off the season he is having) and then get a younger 2C upgrade then I agree with you that makes a lot of sense going forward. The Ducks are also full at Center next season without even accounting for Henrique and then potentially Zegras in the near future (Getzlaf, Steel, Lundestrom, Backes). I’m more curious to see what Murray does with all of the LHD’s. He’s been hoarding them and makes me think that there’s a greater possibility of Fowler or Lindholm could get the traded this summer. We can also just sign the Vatman to run our PP this offseason!

Yeah. Teams passed on Kaliyev because of character issues not because of his talent. After Caufield, most pundits viewed him as the next best goal scorer in the draft. After drafting Tracey, Murray said the reasoning was because “we need more goals in Anaheim.” With that reasoning, why not take the guy who has the highest upside to do that, which was Kaliyev? That’s what surprised me. After drafting Zegras, it seemed like a potential future duo for the Ducks. I had hoped Murray would have taken a bigger swing on a guy like Kaliyev, though now I hope that Tracey makes me regret that and pans out better. I’d rather have the Cups. Those are what get remembered and also give you the ultimate justification for doing a rebuild. Plus, I think that the Ducks are on a longer more painful rebuild path than LA is and without having the Cups to show for it. why not? The team in front of him has been very bad for two seasons now, and with less talent on it. Ryan Miller hasn’t fared much better and I’m not sure what other goalies would. Gibson hasn’t had a great year but I wouldn’t be surprised if the mental toll isn’t affecting him. talk about a team with high paid defenders and is now really struggling, please see San Jose.

Murray passed on drafting one of the premiere shooters/scorers last year in Kaliyev, so I don't suddenly expect him to have an eye or the wherewithal to bring one in lol. He doesn't have a good track record in that department. I don't think our defense is good enough or deep enough. I think we have a big enough sample size and that the band needs to be broken up. The Kings won two Cups in three years and moved on from guys like Muzzin, Martinez, Toffoli etc because they knew it wasn't going to work anymore and helped set themselves up to contend sooner than the Ducks. It's more than frustrating.

Outside of goaltending, we need everything. The top-2 picks are no brainers and with our top-4 defenders out we could easily fall to the second worst record by the end of the season and guarantee ourselves a top-5 pick.

Absolutely. Ryan seems like a real genuine dude and I'm so glad that he's well and playing again. One of the most feel good hattys you'll ever see.

Yeah, I think that Murray would have to draft Drysdale first before moving Manson, but I can definitely see that scenario playing out.

I'd rather have Raymond, Holtz or that Stutzle kid over Drysdale just because I think that they are better prospects, so I'd be a little bummed if Murray passed on them but couldn't really blame him if he did.

I think that unless we win the draft lottery, Murray is taking Drysdale if he's on the board.

Kovalchuck to Montreal for a 3rd round pick. Not bad for a guy that they signed for nothing two months ago and could re-sign next season.

Hertl out for the year. The Sharks are doing their best 2017 Ottawa Senators impersonation. An rapid fall from grace and not owning a potential lottery pick.

Yeah, like last year, the draft really starts at #3. As of now, I’d go Holtz, Raymond, Stutzle, Drysdale, Rossi then Lundell. I agree that the Ducks still need goal scoring more than anything but also think that Murray is drafting Drysdale if he’s on the board. That’s not a bad move though especially since we need a legit top pairing prospect.

I don't know, I don't think our core is very good, certainly not one that you can contend with, and one that has most players on the back-nine of their careers. I think that one of our current top-3 is going to be moved as a result the expansion draft, as well as to make room for Josh Mahura. I agree that you don't dismantle the entire team, but that some mainstays are not going to be on this team within the next two seasons. I think that Gibson and Getzlaf are still untouchable, unless Gibson demands a trade or Getzlaf waives his NMC and that anything that can bring back at least a first round pick should be at least entertained. We can always use those extra picks as trade chips to bring in more immediate scoring help as you stated. As dtsdlaw said, Gibson can't withstand many more seasons of the kind of hockey in front of him and if things don't at least trend in the right direction, then he could find success with another team.

I think that would be an easy sell to ownership: Bob: "Henri and Susan, do you want to win another Stanley Cup?" H & S: "Yes, absolutely" Bob: "Great, then this is what needs to be done in order to do that sooner rather than later." *Note: This is not an endorsement of Murray being the right GM to execute the game plan. Eaves is off the books after this season and there is still no reason for me to believe that Kesler is going to be playing in another NHL game at this point. He coaches his son's hockey team so he could be skating just to be involved with that. Taking on a bad contract (i.e. Backes, which the Ducks were rumored to be looking into) for assets is what the Ducks should be doing if the are going into rebuild. The Ducks aren't likely to be contending for a couple of years anyway. Assuming the Garrioch reporting is accurate, then that seems to fall in line with what has been mentioned on these boards recently: anyone besides Getzlaf and Gibson could be on the trading block. Dostal has been great this season and I'd say is the best Ducks prospect overall after Zegras, but he's only 19 years old. I don't see him being NHL ready, let alone supplanting Gibson as the starter for a few more years, assuming he becomes that good. They haven't even brought him over to North America yet.

Murray’s stones are the reason I cringe a bit about him handling this rebuild. He’s usually the one giving up the player that goes on to be legitimate lol.