IRVINE ––The Ducks purged what was left of their previous administration in 2022 when they brought in general manager Pat Verbeek to slice and dice the roster with his blade pointed squarely toward the future.
Not surprisingly, Verbeek’s first full season on the job generated the worst point total in franchise history for an 82-game season. Year Two was to bring greater promise as prospects arrived along with a rookie head coach – albeit one in his 60s – but the Ducks’ 59 points in the standings were only one point better than the year prior, while their 50 regulation losses added yet another ignominious franchise record to Verbeek’s young tenure.
With that, the Ducks have three burning questions to answer as they seek to halt their playoff drought at six seasons.
Is this team any better?
The Ducks continued to be sellers in 2023-24. As last season’s lights began to dim, Verbeek averred to season-ticket holders and the media that he’d be pursuing a top four defenseman and a top-six winger, as well as upgrades to the bottom-six forward group and a more even distribution of left and right shots.
After striking out in free agency, Verbeek turned his attention to a pair of low-cost, low-commitment trade acquisitions that gave the Ducks a bit of depth but no more right shots and, of significance, allowed them to clear the salary-cap floor. Robby Fabbri represents another effortful veteran while Brian Dumoulin, who won two Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017, should provide mentorship to a young defense corps under second-year coach Greg Cronin.
Yet even without much noise in the trade market and not so much as a whimper in free agency, the Ducks have reasons for optimism. Last season was a nightmare in the trainers’ room, where the Ducks not only finished high in man games lost but were without their best players consistently. Defenseman Tristan Luneau played just seven games, but is healthy and ready to give them another force on the right side behind Radko Gudas, who was named captain this summer.
“I know this group is really excited,” Verbeek said. “There’s good energy, and I think, moving forward here with everything, I think they know what to expect from (Cronin) now and I think the whole group is more prepared to make the jump.”
Can Cutter win the Calder?
Beyond Luneau, the Ducks have an even grander source of enthusiasm in Cutter Gauthier, 2022’s No. 5 overall pick and the marquee name on last year’s gold-medal winning World Juniors squad for Team USA.
After he refused to sign with the team that drafted him, the Philadelphia Flyers, Verbeek seized the moment and acquired the 20-year-old forward in exchange for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a draft pick in January, marking a rare instance where a prospect of Gauthier’s caliber became available.
Adding intrigue this season will be that Philadelphia’s 2023 first-rounder, Russian savant Matvei Michkov, is the Calder Trophy favorite while Gauthier’s odds to win rookie of the year are also short. Gauthier’s campaign will be aided by the Ducks’ top rookie last season, 2023’s second selection Leo Carlsson.
“They have great chemistry already and they have a lot of fun playing together,” winger Brock McGinn said.
Is Trevor Zegras still part of the nucleus?
Few players faced as many challenges as Zegras did last season as a training camp holdout gave way to a slow start hampered by an injury in his pubic bones that ultimately cost him a swath of the early campaign. But that wasn’t all, as he then notched five points in seven games before breaking his ankle. Even after he recovered from that injury to finish the year with eight points in eight games, he had something of a tumultuous tenure with Team USA at the World Championships.
The Ducks are now flush at center, particularly in a top six anchored by Carlsson and Mason McTavish. Gauthier moved to left wing and Zegras, whose name dominated trade rumors, has now played some left wing and right wing for the Ducks. He’s also been challenged to add dimensions to his flashy, offense-first game.
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While Zegras is not in a contract year – he’s signed through 2026 and still under team control then – this season feels like an impasse for him, perhaps as a Duck and maybe even as an NHL player believed to be capable of reaching a high level of stardom. Cronin told Ducks Stream that Zegras was “at that sweet spot” in terms of his age and development path.
“He learned last year that you have to play on the other side of the puck, too … that value system wasn’t in his playbook,” Cronin said. “So he goes to the World Championships and he gets sat because he wasn’t working away from the puck. I know the coaches there and I talked to ‘Z’ about it, and he was really good about it. He goes, ‘I’m going to use this as a springboard to prove my game.’”