Gorbachav55

I would not be. I would love one more top six forward who can put the puck in the net, but I'm ok if that doesn't happen this offseason. The team could probably also use a veteran LHD for a season or two - but I'm ok with the defense as is. There are a lot of kids vying for time there. I think there's a good mix of kids and veterans, and it gives room for kids to either make the team or not.

Debrincat can score...but he's another zero in the d-zone. With the addition of Killorn and the hopeful development of Carlsson, I'd love for this not to be an issue. And we do need goal scorers. I think I'd be happy with the pick up, depending on what we gave up.

He's definitely a pest on the ice, but I have not heard the locker room issues. And given where Chicago is in their process, there's no way they'd want a guy with locker room problems, but rumor is that they'd like him back. For me, his defensive issues might be too much for the Ducks. He puts up decent points, but he gives a lot of it back by being totally useless in his own end.

I'm listening to the 32 Thoughts podcast that came out today - for those Michkov fans, it sounds like he made it clear to teams that he was only interested in playing in certain markets. Friedman wasn't specific about which markets, but the criteria he talked about intimated that Anaheim probably wasn't one of them. We probably would have eventually had to trade him if we picked him.

I've been talked down a little bit on my disappointment over the Myatovic pick and the lack of ability to get an additional asset to pick Carlsson. I would go B/B-. They did fine.

I wonder the same. Strictly from a production standpoint, Sprong was one of the best values in the league last year, and would be even at his QO amount. So is he really just a clubhouse cancer? Or is it financial related? Certainly he'd be worth his QO, but maybe Seattle was worried about his arbitration number? Surely he'd get it if his case went to arbitration, but you'd think they could qualify him and trade him for something. This reminds me of the Mathieu Perreault thing back in the day where Murray just let him walk after a solid season and then Perreault went on to be really productive for Winnipeg for like 8 years. I tried to defend it at the time, but I was wrong. It was stupid.

Surprised but not disappointed about Benoit. He was a good soldier during the crapfest that was last season. But you can't be the worst defenseman in the NHL and get paid more money. I wonder if they'll see if he'll stick around for the league minimum. I wouldn't mind him on a one-year deal as a 6/7 guy if the team is still going to be rough next season. Maybe the new coach can coax a little bit more out of him.

Cal Foote, outside of being right-handed, is basically the worst parts of Soucy and Graves combined into one. He's better than Simon Benoit. But not by a whole lot and that's about the best thing I can say about Cal Foote. I'd rather get an asset to take Tyler Myers' contract for a season.

The Ducks could really use some size and physicality on the back end. I like Soucy more than Graves, but Soucy only played 16 minutes per night last year. That's not exactly a workhorse, although he fits the Ducks needs, especially as a RD. Graves played a bit more, but he's a lefty and the Ducks could use more help on the right side. He also has some pretty terrible possession numbers, but he's been used fairly commonly as a shutdown guy, so those should be taken with a grain of salt. I am wary of overpaying (especially in years) one of these big, hulking d-men. I'd almost rather see if we can get Gudas for a couple of seasons. If we signed a guy like Soucy, I'd prefer it to be for three years or less.

Yeah, I'm perfectly fine letting him rot there.

I think Max Domi is generally the TYPE of play the Ducks need. He's young enough that he could help throughout the rebuild and possibly even into contending time. He plays physically, he's an agitator, and he's a good forechecker. The downsides for Domi are that he's not big and he's awful defensively. The size thing isn't a huge deal since I think Domi is one not to get pushed around, but it's still not preferable. The defense thing is a tough pill to swallow. Zegras is a horrendous defender already. Putting another zero defense guy on his line doesn't seem great, even if Terry is a solid defender. I'm also pretty sure Domi is going to wind up back in Chicago. I would be surprised if he came out here. As for Wheeler, his age makes him a tough fit. He's going to want to go to a contender. He's going to be 37 next year; I can't see him being on the next Ducks team that competes for a Cup and I don't think he's exactly what they're looking for in the meantime. He's a good player, so I'm not going to be upset if he ends up in Anaheim, but I don't think he should be a primary target. If we're going for an older guy to shepherd the team, I wouldn't mind guys like Killorn, Bailey, or JVR. They're a little younger than Wheeler, but they provide potentially more on both ends of the ice. If we're going for a more long-term fit, honestly, Tyler Bertuzzi, as much as I dislike him, is probably the best fit for what the Ducks want - scoring, physicality, youth. He's not elite in any area, but he'd be a nice complement to what the Ducks already have. But Bertuzzi seems very likely to re-sign in Boston. I like Compher as a guy to provide solid two-way play. He's more of a middle six guy, but perhaps he'd fit alongside Zegras as someone to provide defensive support. He can also play center. The risk there is an overpayment for a guy who had a career year in the regular season and then disappeared in the playoffs. Outside of that, there really isn't much. I guess they could kick the tires on Tarasenko, but I would rather let some other team overpay him. He seems like a prime candidate to regress pretty quickly as he gets deeper into his 30s.

It might have been a factor in the draft decision, but even if it wasn't a major factor there, it was probably a significant factor in why Verbeek couldn't (or didn't feel comfortable) trading down with Columbus. Columbus had a TON of evidence that Verbeek would have been bluffing, and if they offered anything, it was going to be so insignificant as to make the risk not worth it.

This is a great post. I like your thoughts. I will say that I think at least one forward needs to be brought in from outside this summer. I think the team needs a heavy forechecking winger with some skill who can play alongside Zegras to dig pucks out and be physical in front of the net. I know there's not much in free agency (Barbashev would have been great in that role and I would absolutely have given him the deal he got in Vegas), so I'm not sure where it comes from. I'm thinking someone like Tom Wilson, preferably without the d-baggery (although I understand the two things often come hand-in-hand).

Lol

Which, honestly, was always the most likely outcome.

I'm not happy about the #33 pick, but it does seem like the rest of the draft was ok. And while I was initially disappointed Verbeek didn't get another asset to move down and take Carlsson at 3, I think he was probably a bit hemmed in. Maybe it was partially his own fault if he tipped his hand, but I think he was also somewhat over a barrel with Fantilli not being interested in playing in Anaheim. So I'm less disappointed than I was before. That said, Verbeek hasn't impressed in the trade market thus far. He hasn't done much (which can be ok if it makes sense), but when he has done something, it has been underwhelming as often as it has been decent. And he hasn't yet hit a home run (or even a triple). My opinion of Verbeek is beginning to coalesce, and it's not going in the right direction. I'm not ready to wail and gnash my teeth yet - I'll hold off at least until after the summer - but he could be doing better.

I hate Chicago so much.

I don't agree with that at all. Nick Ritchie, for one. There are plenty of examples of guys with high enough talent that they make the league and can even be successful despite not being hockey smart. They know enough to know where they need to go to use their skill. And there are some guys with high talent whose games suffer when they get to the NHL because they just can't get to the right places to access their skill, or they give too much back through dumb plays to justify putting them at the top of the lineup. And it's not a black and white thing - it's a spectrum. In Carlsson's case, he has high skill and incredible smarts, at least as far as we've seen. Fantilli seems like he's reversed - incredible skill and high intelligence. Which is going to be more productive at the NHL level? Which do the Ducks need more, if you value the entire package equally? I'd argue, with the Ducks looking like they have the last few years, they desperately need the high IQ guy. They seem to have remarkably little of it. And while you don't draft for need, if you value the players equally, I don't mind it as a tie-breaker. The one issue I have with the pick is that I think Verbeek played his hand poorly. I think he could have gotten something from Columbus for them to move up and take Fantilli.

Sidorov showed up at #140 on Pronman's rankings and not at all on Wheeler's. I know were getting into territory where teams are taking kids they like, but it would be nice if we liked kids that other people rated highly. Personally, I wouldn't call this draft a disaster, but it's about as disappointing as that jersey they revealed yesterday, and that's taking into account that we got the top player I like. Even then, we could have gotten value by trading down a spot.

The draft tracker on NHL.com has stopped working.

The original logo (with the Duck mask turned at an angle) was a brilliant blend of cartoonish and cool. It worked. The forward-facing mask is just cartoonish, and the giant circle logo around it accentuates that feeling, at least for me. I like the return to eggplant and jade, but the silver seems out of place. It's not terrible, but it leaves a lot on the table. I am certainly not interested in getting one of these.

What problem do you have with "high IQ"? Sure, it's a bit of a cliche, but I'm a huge fan of smart hockey players. Those are the ones who play good defense. They're the ones who get the absolute most out of their talent. They're the ones who make the little plays that are the difference between gaining possession or not. When you've got guys with lower relative hockey sense, you need to have excellent systems so that guys know where to be at all times and can follow instructions to execute the plan. High skill and talent/low IQ can work under the right coach and the right system. The Ducks don't have, I think, a lot of guys at that higher IQ level, and it shows the most on defense where, even without good systems, you hardly ever see those little plays to break up an offensive possession or to force a turnover at the blueline. When you've got guys with high hockey IQ, they can play in any system because they instinctively read plays and know where to go. They make systems work better. They make guys around them better. And, as long as the effort level is there, they play well in all zones and in all situations. I'm a huge fan of those types of players, which is why I'm so excited about Carlsson.

If you slide all of these picks down one slot and pick someone decent at 33 (like Gauthier or Brindley), this is a pretty good day. Gauthier-Myatovic-Terrance would have been a solid 2nd round, and then if you want to grab a goalie in round 3, that's not so bad. But this is bad value.

Carey Terrance and some giant goalie from Sweden. Is that what we were hoping for?

Damn it. I wanted to stay positive. I was working really hard to hope. But the discouragement is taking hold.