Part of the equation that we went to the Western Conference finals in 2017 was due to a healthy Kesler and trade deadline Patrick Eaves. In the regular season of 2016-17, our top three scorers were Getz with 73 pts, Kesler with 58pts, and Perry with 53 points. Eaves produced 14 points in 20 games. Kesler signed a six-year extension in 2016-17 season. Eaves signed a three-year extension for the 2017-18. Both Kelser and Eaves fell off the medical truck in 2017-18, but the team managed to sneak into the '17-18 playoffs. Perry fell off the cliff in 2018-19 and so did our playoff appearance.
With his top players failing to injuries and capped strapped the team, GM Murray probably gave the Samueli's the heads up in 2018-19 knowing that Kelser and Eaves were no longer an option as well as moving on from Perry. Our center situation was dire to start the 2018 season as we were forced to start 18-year old Lundestrom and 20-year old Steel. We were rewarded with the 9th overall pick in 2019. 2019-20 was a straight youth movement push. The org denied it, but it was evident in their actions to play so many youths at one time. Fortunately, the blue line got hit hard with injuries and derailed us into 6th overall in 2019-20. Similarly for 2020-21, our blue line dropped us to the bottom.
We are probably ahead of schedule with the youth movement.
@The Midnight Burrito mentioned the progress of Drysdale, Zegras, and Perreault has the plan further along than expected. Tack on the late blossoming of Fleury and the youth movement is looking better. Going into this off-season, the Ducks will have cap space to play with to acquire two top-6 players or one top-line forward.
Anaheim had come close in acquiring D Faulk in the 2019 off-season. In the following draft, GM Murray opted to draft Drysdale 6th overall than any of the available talented forwards. He knew he wanted defense with that top pick, just like he knew he wanted a center win the 2019 draft. Earlier in this season, the Ducks fell short in acquiring center PLD. The moral of the story is that if you want top end talent, then you're simply going to have to draft them. Anaheim still possesses a plethora of futures outside of Zegras and Drysdale as it was identified in the PLD trade. That's the core of Murray's strength, a strong system can net you NHL players or draft picks. That's how Murray was able to acquire Kesler and Rico. That's how Murray almost acquired D Faulk. That's how Murray acquired D Fleury. G Andersen netted us draft picks, first round Steel in 2016 and Comtois in 2017 second round. D Montour netted us a first round pick in Tracey in 2019. F Kase (and Backes' contract) helped secure first round pick Perreault in 2020.
tl;dr version
Moving on from the Twins era is a magnanimous task. Anaheim has been in rebuild mode for the past two seasons (the youth movement push). Rebuilds are often brutal to watch.
The last three years have been capped strapped and limits what the org can do. Kelser, Eaves, Perry, and Backes' contracts are what limited what the Ducks could do. Yet, the PLD trade attempt actually validated GM Murray's tactic to the owners. Anaheim was using only futures that didn't include Zegras and Drysdale; they were one of the three finalists for PLD. Zegras and Drysdale were rated as top-3 prospects in the league as well as probably NHL mainstays from now on. Throw in the blossoming Comtois, TLD Fleury, and Lundy to the mix, then the future is already looking like it is here. With cap space and lots of futures that can be used as trade bait now, it appears GM Murray has a long game that many don't want to consider or accept.
