In their first major free-agent signing in at least two seasons, the Ducks landed forward Mikael Granlund with a three-year, $21 million contract.
Granlund, 33, split last season between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars. He compiled 22 goals, 44 assists and 66 points. He managed to stay level despite a massive swing in circumstances, having been dealt from bottom-dwelling San Jose to contending Dallas, which reached the conference finals.
He had previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild, the franchise that drafted him ninth overall in 2010. Internationally, he has represented Finland and medaled at most of the major tournaments, including two World Championship gold medals and an Olympic bronze alongside former Ducks legend Teemu Selänne
Granlund is capable of playing in all situations as well as lining up at center or either wing position and adds scoring punch to a team that finished 30th in the NHL in goals last season.
“He’s a very versatile player. He was really good on faceoffs last year,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “He can kill penalties, play the power play and he can really go up and down the lineup. I thought he had a really good playoff.”
Verbeek said “the beauty” of Granlund was that he didn’t need to have his role set in stone, though his comments about faceoffs suggested Granlund would be used as a center primarily.
At any position, he provides new dimensions to the Ducks, Verbeek said.
“He’s what I’d consider a hard-worker, he goes to the hard areas, something that we needed more of,” Verbeek said. “He’s not afraid to be a net-front presence guy. He’s a guy who hangs onto pucks in the corners for more puck possession. He’s a very smart hockey player.”
The Ducks missed out on the biggest names in free agency despite owner Henry Samueli’s guarantee of a blank check, as the frenzy of multiple signings when free agency opened was tempered by a free agent class thinned by teams making pre-emptive moves to keep top talent.
In addition to their solid second-tier player signing, the Ducks rounded out their coaching staff.
They added two assistants to Matt McIlvane’s staff with the San Diego Gulls, the Ducks’ top minor-league affiliate. Dave Manson, the father of former Ducks defenseman Josh Manson, and Michael Babcock, the son of former Ducks coach Mike Babcock, will join McIlvane.
At the top level under newly hired Joel Quenneville, they brought in New Jersey Devils assistant Ryan McGill to run the penalty kill, as he did in Newark to the tune of the league’s second-best PK last year. Verbeek said he would be “ecstatic” if the Ducks could approximate that success with their heretofore anemic shorthanded group.
While Tim Army, the Ducks’ “eye in the sky” during games, remained with the staff, they’ll have another set of peepers with Andrew Brewer. He worked as an assistant for the Toronto Maple Leafs and then as a video coach, including time under Quenneville, for the Florida Panthers.
Their biggest hire, however, was former Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft, who will be tasked primarily with turning around a perpetually hapless power play.
Woodcroft, who will turn 49 in August, coached the Oilers for parts of three seasons, including two playoff runs that saw them reach the conference finals and the second round, respectively. He is from the coaching tree of former Kings bench boss Todd McLellan, having worked with McLellan in various capacities during three different stops: Detroit, San Jose and Edmonton.
Now, he will be operating under another big-ticket coach, four-time Stanley Cup champion Quenneville.
Woodcroft guided the Oilers to consecutive second-place finishes in the Pacific Division, including a 50-win season in his only full campaign as head coach. He was fired after a 3-9-1 start to the 2023-24 season. His replacement, Kris Knoblauch, stewarded the Oilers to consecutive Stanley Cup Final series, losing both.
He interviewed with the Ducks during the coaching search that produced Quenneville and was reportedly a candidate for other head coaching vacancies. With him joining Quenneville’s staff, the Ducks now have two figures on their bench with more NHL playoff head coaching experience than their outgoing staff – Greg Cronin plus assistants Rich Clune and Brent Thompson – combined.
They had previously spared plenty of expense when it came to coaches, letting Dallas Eakins coach out four futile years and retaining one of his assistants, Newell Brown, for Cronin’s first season at the helm.
Now, they’ve made significant investments. Although coaching salaries are seldom made public, it’s possible that they now have both the highest-paid active head coach and highest-paid active assistant coach. Quenneville commanded $6 million per year in his previous stop (Florida), where he was barred from seeking NHL employment for three years due to his role in the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal. Woodcroft brings considerably more cachet than most assistants.
“We really focused in on quality, quality coaching, and I feel very fortunate that we got the guys that we got. Mixed in with Joel, I think we’ve got an outstanding staff,” Verbeek said.