Confirmed with Link: Ducks sign Benoit-Olivier Groulx to extension (1 year, $775k, two-way)

[MMC]

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[dracom]

Cool. Hope to see him play more with Ducks this season

 

[branmuffin17]

Cool. Hope to see him play more with Ducks this season

Same, I think he has potential as bottom 6...and that's from seeing him mostly 2 years ago when he played a bit with the Ducks. His growth and improvement as a contributor on the Gulls the past year is promising.

 

[Ducks DVM]

This is why they aren’t filling up the roster any more with iffy signings. Need to know if some of the kids can play before they become free agents.

 

[Mr Rogers]

next to 0 offensive upside but agreed you gotta see if he can make the jump at some point. 5 years since he was drafted.

 

[MMC]

 

[GreatBear]

He is no longer waiver exempt so the Ducks risk losing him if they try to send him to San Diego. I predict that he will start the season with the Ducks if he has a decent training camp. Whether he stays up with the Ducks will depend upon his performance. I prefer him to Leason, although that is not saying that much.

 

[DuckDuckGetz]

The extension we've all been waiting for

 

[Leonardo87]

This is why they aren’t filling up the roster any more with iffy signings. Need to know if some of the kids can play before they become free agents.

Totally agree with this, we have a few kids who can maybe make the jump, with Groulx being one of them. Rather take a chance on him than re-sign a 4C vet with no upward potential.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Another meh prospect

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Coulx.

 

[SmokeyDuck]

There can only be one Benoit

 

[Kalv]

This was the easiest in terms of agreeing on value, I guess, so it was first from our RFA signings. The other ones will need a bit more bargaining, I'm sure conversations have already started

 

[Dirk316]

A Verbeek style gentle giant. Nothing impressive about him.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

next to 0 offensive upside but agreed you gotta see if he can make the jump at some point. 5 years since he was drafted.

Groulx made the jump two seasons ago because he did well in his first year with San Diego in 2020-21. We went really young to start the 2021-22 season down the middle.

2021-22 start of the season

1C Getz​

2C Zegras​

3C Lundy​

4C Groulx​

Game was a bit too much for Groulx and was sent down to San Diego. He's been regaining his play since. I was surprised to see him used as a 1C last year since he's a defensive specialist. His offense did increase a bit and could make him a more well-rounded bottom-6 player who can chip in a little.

 

[Dirk316]

Groulx made the jump two seasons ago because he did well in his first year with San Diego in 2020-21. We went really young to start the 2021-22 season down the middle.

2021-22 start of the season

1C Getz​

2C Zegras​

3C Lundy​

4C Groulx​

Game was a bit too much for Groulx and was sent down to San Diego. He's been regaining his play since. I was surprised to see him used as a 1C last year since he's a defensive specialist. His offense did increase a bit and could make him a more well-rounded bottom-6 player who can chip in a little.

Who else would have been a 1c on that crappy team? No surprise and I won't be surprised to see him return there

 

[Mr Rogers]

I do feel like the level of relative optimism about Groulx is kinda higher than it should be. He is 5 years post-draft and has shown nothing to indicate he can hack it in the NHL. I know it sounds harsh, but I thought he looked terrible a couple years ago during that stint.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I do feel like the level of relative optimism about Groulx is kinda higher than it should be. He is 5 years post-draft and has shown nothing to indicate he can hack it in the NHL. I know it sounds harsh, but I thought he looked terrible a couple years ago during that stint.

Yeah, that jump from AHL to NHL was a big jump for Groulx. Lundy, best known for his defense and being one of the most NHL-ready prospects in the 2018 draft, cycled between the NHL and AHL for three seasons. Although there's no record of Lundy playing in the NHL for the 2020-21 season, he start off with Anaheim as a winger in pre-season. He didn't look great and was sent down to San Diego. Lundy flashed under Dineen during pre-season that he got called back up to the NHL club before the AHL regular season started.

The past two seasons in San Diego has been weird and bad. Groulx has played under three different head coaches.

San Diego Head Coaches

2020-21: Dineen​

2021-22: Bouchard​

2022-23: Sommer​

Groulx looked great under Dineen. He struggled for a bit under Bouchard. Then last year happened and Groulx was playing 1C. Last year was mostly a bad roster for San Diego and the coaching didn't help.

With Grant, Silf, and Carrick getting older and older, finding in-house replacement is okay. We're still in a rebuild/development season this year. Groulx isn't the only prospect we're looking at for in-house help as there's Nesterenko and Regenda also looking to make the NHL jump.

 

[AngelDuck]

I do feel like the level of relative optimism about Groulx is kinda higher than it should be. He is 5 years post-draft and has shown nothing to indicate he can hack it in the NHL. I know it sounds harsh, but I thought he looked terrible a couple years ago during that stint.

I agree. A Derek Grant career seems to be the absolute maximum best case scenario to me.
Floor is someone who never finds a role in the NHL - a very real possibility
Not an ideal ceiling

 

[DuckDuckGetz]

I agree. A Derek Grant career seems to be the absolute maximum best case scenario to me.
Floor is someone who never finds a role in the NHL - a very real possibility
Not an ideal ceiling

Maybe not ideal but pretty realistic for a fairly late 2nd round pick

 

[Mr Rogers]

Maybe not ideal but pretty realistic for a fairly late 2nd round pick

2018 was kinda barren after the first round, so while Lundy hasn’t been very impactful (yet) it’s not like there were any huge misses although either Sandin or Durzi would’ve been nice. Same logic applies to Groulx although I guess in deeper drafts I might consider getting a player of his stature mildly disappointing in that slot especially if teams around that pick found guys. I think it’s important to look at what the average 2nd round pick ends up becoming but at the same time I don’t think we should have too low of expectations especially if we really have one of the best amateur scouting teams in the league.

But in 2018 can’t really complain too much, more just my general feeling about how they’ve historically done finding impact forwards in the 2nd round and later.

 

[AngelDuck]

Maybe not ideal but pretty realistic for a fairly late 2nd round pick

I’m not complaining about his outcome. I just feel like there is a general consensus that he’s likely to be better than a player like Grant. I personally don’t agree

 

[Hockey Duckie]

2018 was kinda barren after the first round, so while Lundy hasn’t been very impactful (yet) it’s not like there were any huge misses although either Sandin or Durzi would’ve been nice. Same logic applies to Groulx although I guess in deeper drafts I might consider getting a player of his stature mildly disappointing in that slot especially if teams around that pick found guys. I think it’s important to look at what the average 2nd round pick ends up becoming but at the same time I don’t think we should have too low of expectations especially if we really have one of the best amateur scouting teams in the league.

But in 2018 can’t really complain too much, more just my general feeling about how they’ve historically done finding impact forwards in the 2nd round and later.

That and we were forward driven between 2016-18 drafts. The 2018 really is scarce in top talents; most of it is in the top-15. Dostal can change things now that he'll be a regular at the NHL level.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

If he suddenly developed a physical game, he'd be a valuable addition to the team.

Many times in the old days, guys changed their play style to fit what the market called for. There's a reason why Reaves is making 4 million a year at 36 years old and it isn't for his 5 goals. I'm not saying become an MMA fighter in the off season but get bigger, stronger and be someone the team can look for to make an impact. If he became Tanner Jeannot lite, we'd be cookin.

 

[duckpuck]

I’m not complaining about his outcome. I just feel like there is a general consensus that he’s likely to be better than a player like Grant. I personally don’t agree

I guarantee you that Groulx will be the better player in 3 years (probably sooner) - for the simple reason Grant very likely won't be playing then. And that is really the only timeline that matters at this point.