I think they’re doing what they can to do what you’re asking for. Fowler is off the top PP, and there’s simply nobody on the roster that can take his minutes without getting caved in. Henrique is on the 3rd line, getting pretty small minutes, and Leason is on the 2nd line. He’s still exponentially better than Groulx, and is still significantly better at the whole points thing than Carrick. Killorn is being allowed to play himself into game shape, and the left wing choices are him, Leason, Jones, and the 4th line chaff (don’t get me wrong, I’m rationalizing why he looks so bad and makes such bad decisions, but I think he’s also being told to not give himself an injury like Drysdale and Zegras did). Silfverberg gets 20-30 more seconds of ESTOI that the 4th liners, meh. He gets more PP time than Jones and the 4th liners. Carrick might be better, but the 4th line is saved for the post-PP shifts. Him being on the PP is a function of injuries- he’s 12th in PPTOI/G.
The team has a talent deficit. Demoting/benching those guys just makes it more likely that the team will lose even more pathetically.
Henrique being better than Groulx is part of the problem. Henrique should be putting up decent numbers, laying big hits and leading by example. But he does none of this. If the team was winning and showing some kind of hint at competing for a playoff spot, I'd say sure you keep Henrique in the lineup on the chance he turns his game around but thats not where the Ducks are. Keeping him on the team just shows bad habits to the youth and is taking ice time from someone who will actually be on the team in a few months. As of now he has the same number of goals as the 4th line enforcer, despite having better line mates and having 4 mins more of ice time per game. Killorns played 19 games so far. How long is it going to take to get into game shape? As bad as Leason was last year, has Killorn looked much better? Slightly more dangerous but not by much.
The talent deficit is a problem but do you trust the Ducks to fix it? Eventually you have to bring in some vets that can lead by example. Killorn was Verbeeks biggest add of his tenure and he's clearly overpaid. Strome hasn't been terrible by any means but he's also overpaid. Vatrano and Gudas were solid adds but hardly gamebreakers. Trade wise, Verbeek hasn't exactly won many as a seller, can he do better as a buyer? I'm not sure. Young teams need vets to lead even in the dark days of lottery playing hockey and I don't trust the current crop to that for a different number of reasons.
Gibson - Very talented goalie who I have defended a lot but he's a hot head that can let it effect his play, thats not what you need from a vet. You can't have your goalie barking at the ref when you're tied at 1 in the middle of the play. This season in my opinion has been an outlier. He was always hot headed but there wasn't an example of him letting it get to him and he wasn't letting in nearly as many soft goals like he has this year.
Fowler - Good skater but when you think of that clutch playoff warrior whos out there laying it on the line Cam Fowler comes off as the opposite of that in 2023. The games on the line with 5 seconds left, you can count on him throwing a shot from the point into the boards a football field away, he never hits anyone. at most if someone ran the goalie he'd give them an evil look and skate away.
Henrique - Never hits, never is engaged with the game and now you can add barely does anything on offence to that list.
Silf - Effort is always there, plays the game smart but his reduced ability sometimes makes me wonder if he should be in the lineup on a day to day basis.
Jones - Kinda the same as above. There's times where hes clearly the hardest working player on the ice but he just can't seem to ever produce.
Strome - Good player, can get nasty at times but he keeps missing all his chances which makes it hard to gage where you put him in the lineup.
Vatrano and Gudas are the perfect medium of guys who can do it all. They're engaged, they're hitting and they aren't a lability to the team but they can't be your best vets.
Personally, I'd like to see the Ducks look to trade or sign an elite player that can lead by example. But I'm not sure thats going to happen any time soon so I'd go with the idea of treating the entire roster as equals. You can't have two separate coaches bench Zegras and have 3 years of Shattenkirk playing AHL quality hockey. You can't sit Leo late in the game because he screwed up a PP and have him replaced by a dude with 1 goal. I understand that you give vets a little more leash but this isn't Jiggy ,Getzlaf, Perry or Selanne its Killorn, Gibson, Henrique and Fowler. They aren't hollowed figures of the franchise and aren't above a good benching / scolding.
