Future of Anaheim

[PhoenyX]

The key moving forward will be if Murray can parlay the depth on defense + 1 of Andersen/Gibson for good young forwards

Yep. We lack good young forwards, but have the trade chips necessary to acquire them so I'm not worried.

 

[2faded]

Not worrying although the lack of forward talent should be addressed at some point.

If only there was a potentially elite center that doesn't want to play for the team that drafted him available.

 

[Getzmonster]

Maybe I'm overrating some of our young forwards, but the OP's mock kiddie roster doesn't look too bad to me.

Obviously we could use a couple more top six forward prospects, but considering where we draft most years, that's a decent group (would've looked better with Karlsson and Friberg, but Murray's gonna Murray).

 

[AnotherHabsFan]

Not sure where to post this but I wanted to get your take on a possible trade between MTL and ANA since we always seem to trade anyways.

Would you guys do Fowler + 2016 1st vs. Pacioretty?

I'm just thinking that it may make sense for both teams and the value seems to be there. MTL gets a top 4 LHD dman to replace Markov when he's gone while also adding to our prospect pool. ANA gets a bonafide 35+ goal scoring LW who has a well rounded game and is on arguably the best contract in the NHL.

What's your thoughts?

 

[Emerald Duck]

Not sure where to post this but I wanted to get your take on a possible trade between MTL and ANA since we always seem to trade anyways.

Would you guys do Fowler + 2016 1st vs. Pacioretty?

What's your thoughts?

First of all I don't think this type of trade would happen as both players are too important to their clubs. Patches would certainly be a welcome addition to our Top-6 for a roster that is in a win-now mode.

If we traded Fowler we would open up a big hole on the blueline, and I don't think Depres/Manson/Theodore would fill it short term (since we are swapping out similar contracts we still would not have enough money to re-sign Vatanen so he wouldn't be considered part of the Fowler replacement). Lindholm can't carry the heavy minutes on the blueline alone.

Some of the Ducks interest in Patches is also affected by how well Perron continues to perform. If we are able to keep Perron at a reasonable contract ($4M-4.5M), then the cap space available for adding another top 6 winger goes down. While Patches is a better scorer and defensive forward, I think the club is optimistic about the developing chemistry between Getzlaf and Perron. It's too early to say for sure if Perron has a future in Anaheim.

However, Fowler + Perron > Pacioretty + Fowler-replacement.

Assuming that both GMs are interested, then I think Fowler + 2016 1st for Pacioretty + 2016 2nd or 3rd would be fair.

 

[Nordic*]

No Drouin.


I'm sad.

 

[Mr Rogers]

No Drouin.


I'm sad.

Could still very well happen in the summer. I'm guessing there will be many young forwards around the draft that Bob will have a chance to bring in.

 

[camshaft]

Could still very well happen in the summer. I'm guessing there will be many young forwards around the draft that Bob will have a chance to bring in.

Trading our abundant supply of young mobile d-men and Freddie can bring in young forwards such as Drouin, Galchenyuk, RNH, to name a few. Tampa Bay and Ducks have the brightest future of any Stanley Cup contending team. Teams like Chicago and LA have only a year or two left before their Cup window closes and they fall back into mediocrity due to salary cap and trading away their future picks and prospects.

 

[Paul4587]

Why does LA only have a year left to compete? Their best player is only 26, Kopitar is only 28 and none of their good defensmen are above 28.

Likewise for Chicago. Kane is the best player in the league and is 27, Toews is also 27. Not to mention they're pumpkin out great prospects left right and centre.

Meanwhile our 3 best forwards are 30+. Take off the orange tinted glasses we have a window too. You saw how bad this team is when Getzlaf doesn't perform, him aging well is key to our success going forward.

 

[pucku33]

I don't get it.. if this is 3-4 years down the line.. that's 3-4 years of new drafted players that would also slot in there. Not to mention trades/FA.

This seems to assume that all picks within the next 3-4 years will be traded for UFA's and we never participate in Free Agency.

 

[camshaft]

Why does LA only have a year left to compete? Their best player is only 26, Kopitar is only 28 and none of their good defensmen are above 28.

Likewise for Chicago. Kane is the best player in the league and is 27, Toews is also 27. Not to mention they're pumpkin out great prospects left right and centre.

Meanwhile our 3 best forwards are 30+. Take off the orange tinted glasses we have a window too. You saw how bad this team is when Getzlaf doesn't perform, him aging well is key to our success going forward.

There is no denying Chicago's star power, but that is their strength, and their weakness is a team with very little depth. As a result, every year they have an all-in model where they mortgage their future by making trading deadline deals giving up 1st and 2nd draft picks for potential free agents they cannot afford to re-sign due to cap. This model has limited shelf life, as your top players start to age, where Keith turns 33 in July, Seabrook turns 31 in April, and Crawford is 31 year old.

The Ducks have a different foundational model than Chicago, which is a self-regenerating model (Detroit and Tampa Bay also uses this model), where they draft extremely well despite having later picks due to its past success, and generate new stars. Three years from now, Getz and Pears won't be our best players, and hopefully they age well like Thorton, Jagr and Teemu, and be very productive players even though they will no longer be in their prime. Cam and Hamps will be just entering into their prime and both become elite d-men like Keith is presently, and along with Gibson become our best players. You will not only have two elite #1 d-men and a superstar goalie in their prime, but you will have a deep defensive core in their prime or approaching their prime with the likes of Vats, Manson, Despres, Montour, Theo, Larsson, and Pettersen. Granted, some of these players will be traded for high-end offensive talent such as a Drouin, RHN, Galchenyuk type players and we have our own offensive players developing such as Raks and Ritchie. It is this self-regenerating model the Ducks are using is why the Ducks Cup window is open so much longer than the Blackhawks and Kings.

 

[Six Assets]

What do you guys think of Rakell? He's having a nice breakout year, what do you think he will top out as? First liner or second liner?

Also, how's his defensive game? Thanks

 

[Nordic*]

What do you guys think of Rakell? He's having a nice breakout year, what do you think he will top out as? First liner or second liner?

Also, how's his defensive game? Thanks

Has already played on the first line and looked great doing it. Will probably be a 70-75 point player in his prime, depending on his supporting cast.

Defensively he needs some work.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I doubt he ever hits 70 points, that's a top ten player in this league. He's a second liner with some defensive deficiencies, but he's young enough to be able to iron some of those out with some effort.

 

[ChaseANA]

I see Rakell as a 20-30-50 type of guy. Top six forward who is good for fifty points annually.

 

[Ducks Nation*]

There's no way Rakell scores 70 IMO. 50-55 more likely in prime.

 

[Paul4587]

I doubt he ever hits 70 points, that's a top ten player in this league. He's a second liner with some defensive deficiencies, but he's young enough to be able to iron some of those out with some effort.

Yeah I doubt he hits that number unless he has some kind of ridiculous one off career year. Those are lofty expectations. I also think if he did ever hit near PPG numbers it would be as a winger where he didn't have to worry about his defensive responsibilities as much.

 

[Nordic*]

Winger 70-75 points, center 60.

I do have high hopes for Rocky, he does have one of the smoothest sets of hands in the league, good shot, good vision, decent wheels, strong on the puck, good passer, goes into the rough areas etc.

I also said that 70-75 only will happen with a good enough supporting cast.

If Ritchie pans out and becomes a Bertuzzi:ish player along with another center or winger - and then have Theodore, Lindholm, Montour and Fowler supporting from the backend, I believe he can end up top-10 in points over 82 games.

3-4 years from now.

Perron is still decently young, perhaps Perron-Rakell-Ritchie can do some damage in a couple of years.

Don't think that supporting cast is good enough though.

Perhaps if we get Drouin in the off-season.

I didn't see a Rakell Player Discussion thread but if you exclude the month of October he has 16-18-34 in 51 games.

Borrowed from another thread.

That is 55 points over 82 games. So basically, in a season where we couldn't score any goals the first 35 games, most of you are saying that Rakell will not have a better season in his career?

He is bound to get better than he is now and another 15 points are not far fetched at all.

And now he's playing on the third line in a situation where the top-3 lines share the icetime and he plays on the second pp unit.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Winger 70-75 points, center 60.

I do have high hopes for Rocky, he does have one of the smoothest sets of hands in the league, good shot, good vision, decent wheels, strong on the puck, good passer, goes into the rough areas etc.

I also said that 70-75 only will happen with a good enough supporting cast.

If Ritchie pans out and becomes a Bertuzzi:ish player along with another center or winger - and then have Theodore, Lindholm, Montour and Fowler supporting from the backend, I believe he can end up top-10 in points over 82 games.

3-4 years from now.

Perron is still decently young, perhaps Perron-Rakell-Ritchie can do some damage in a couple of years.

Don't think that supporting cast is good enough though.

Perhaps if we get Drouin in the off-season.





Borrowed from another thread.

That is 55 points over 82 games. So basically, in a season where we couldn't score any goals the first 35 games, most of you are saying that Rakell will not have a better season in his career?

He is bound to get better than he is now and another 15 points are not far fetched at all.

And now he's playing on the third line in a situation where the top-3 lines share the icetime and he plays on the second pp unit.

Going to have to start calling you Rakshaft. A few more points never seems all that difficult in a vacuum, for any player. Slumps happen, injuries happen. There will be 11 or 12 70-point scorers this year, 6 or 7 75-point guys. If everything goes exactly perfect for Ricky, he might have a career year at 70, but it's really, really unlikely. It'll be due to more than his supporting cast, although I know how tempting it is for his fans to blame everyone else for his production.

 

[Paul4587]

That is 55 points over 82 games. So basically, in a season where we couldn't score any goals the first 35 games, most of you are saying that Rakell will not have a better season in his career?

Ok so you want to take out the first 35 games (Rakell was scoring at about a 40 point pace after the first 35 games IIRC). but ignore the torrid pace we've been on recently. The current hot streak where we are scoring at a ridiculous pace has almost cancelled out the cold streak to begin the year. You can't just ignore stretches of games because including them is inconvenient to your argument.

 

[Nordic*]

Ok so you want to take out the first 35 games (Rakell was scoring at about a 40 point pace after the first 35 games IIRC). but ignore the torrid pace we've been on recently. The current hot streak where we are scoring at a ridiculous pace has almost cancelled out the cold streak to begin the year. You can't just ignore stretches of games because including them is inconvenient to your argument.

Over all the games this season, despite the team's record-breaking drought, he is on pace for 49 points.

So according to most folks in here, he has pretty much reached his peak.

I just think there's more to Rocky than we've seen so far.


/ Rakshaft

 

[AngelDuck]

Maybe I'm optimistic here, but I think Rakell will score 65-70 points at some point

 

[Paul4587]

Over all the games this season, despite the team's record-breaking drought, he is on pace for 49 points.

So according to most folks in here, he has pretty much reached his peak.

I just think there's more to Rocky than we've seen so far.


/ Rakshaft

From what I see he's on a 46 pace but that's beside the point. And only 2 posters mentioned 50-55 points as his top end upside. I wouldn't say that's the majority of most folks.

 

[camshaft]

Going to have to start calling you Rakshaft. A few more points never seems all that difficult in a vacuum, for any player. Slumps happen, injuries happen. There will be 11 or 12 70-point scorers this year, 6 or 7 75-point guys. If everything goes exactly perfect for Ricky, he might have a career year at 70, but it's really, really unlikely. It'll be due to more than his supporting cast, although I know how tempting it is for his fans to blame everyone else for his production.

Even though I irratate you with my optimism, I wasn't wrong about how good this team really is. It doesn't mean the Ducks will win the Cup, but they are in very good position to do so. Games are won on the ice and not by speculation.

But in regards to Raks, there is a good chance of him being 70 point player simply based on the NHL changing the rules in order to create more goals. They are talking about either drastically cuttting down the size of goalie equipment or expanding the size of goalie nets. But besides this happening, Raks is only22 years old and this is his break out year. This is far from him entering his prime, and it is natural to think that he will only get better over time.

 

[Goose of Reason]

By my calculations, Rakell started beside Getzlaf and Perry on November 13th for the first time. I think that's when he really emerged. Since then he has 30 points in 48 games, which would be a 0.625PPG pace, good for 51 points over an 82 game schedule. So, I think Ricky definitely has 60+ point potential. I don't think we're seeing his peak.