Off-Season Review: The Anaheim Ducks had the most boring summer ever
The Anaheim Ducks did virtually nothing this offseason.
After putting up a 17-30-9 record, their worst result in franchise history in terms of points percentage, general Bob Murray decided to stand pat.
It makes sense that the Ducks didn’t opt to dish out any contracts in free agency this summer given where they are in their rebuild. But, the odd thing here is that they also haven’t really leaned fully into a rebuild at all.
Instead, Anaheim sits in purgatory, not pushing to be competitive while also not blowing things up to stockpile draft picks.
What happened in 2021?
There weren’t many bright spots on the Ducks last season, which is natural when you lose twice as many games as you win.
@Max Comtois, the team’s second-round pick from the 2017 NHL Draft, was a plus, leading the team in both goals with 16 and points with 33 in his first full NHL season. Otherwise? Former first-round picks Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale had nice debuts and Anthony Stolarz put up a .926 save percentage in eight games.
The list pretty much ends there. The Ducks boasted the league’s worst offense, scoring just 124 goals over their 56 games. Veterans like Rickard Rakell, Adam Henrique, and Jakob Silfverberg had disappointing showings, scoring 28, 21, and 16 points, respectively. John Gibson, who’s usually a rock for the Ducks, posted a .903 save percentage, the lowest figure of his NHL career.
When you put it all together, you have a team that finished second-last in the league, nowhere near playoff contention for the third season in a row.
What did they do in the off-season?
Notable Additions: Greg Pateryn, Buddy Robinson, Danny O’Regan, Brogan Rafferty.
Notable Subtractions: Haydn Fleury, Ryan Miller, Danton Heinen, Chase De Leo, Andy Welinski, Carter Rowney.
So, what did the Ducks do after that miserable season?
Did they make some additions in order to fill holes on their roster with eyes on pushing for a playoff spot with their veteran core? Nope.
Did they sell of said veterans in order to stockpile draft picks to add to their next wave of talent coming up through the system? Nope.
The Ducks did nothing of note this off-season, save for re-signing captain @Ryan Getzlaf to a one-year deal and losing @Haydn Fleury in the Expansion Draft. They’ll be going into 2021-22 with virtually the same roster as they had last year. The only difference will be a few more young players getting in the mix.
There was talk about the Ducks being in play for disgruntled Sabres captain @Jack Eichel, but nothing came into fruition. Here we are now, a few weeks from the start of the season, and Anaheim’s biggest off-season additions are a trio of players on two-way contracts and a defender with three games of NHL experience.
What to expect in 2021-22?
The Ducks are in danger of missing in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, which would be their longest drought since entering the league in 1993-94.
The one positive for Anaheim is that it is moving from the loaded West Division back to the mediocre Pacific Division in 2021-22, so a rebound seems slightly more possible. The best-case scenario for the Ducks would be veterans like Gibson and Rakell bouncing back combined with breakout rookie seasons from Zegras and Drysdale.
If that happens, the Ducks could find themselves in the conversation for a playoff spot, especially if teams like Vancouver and Calgary have poor seasons. But, even then, their best big-picture play would likely be to sell high on veterans when the trade deadline rolls around.
Let’s hope that’s more exciting than their offseason was.
One bold prediction…
The Ducks will struggle again in 2021-22 but they’ll finally lean into some kind of rebuild. The major player who gets dealt for a big return is goaltender @John Gibson.
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