The NHL season has ended and while the Florida Panthers were thrilled to repeat as champions, the Ducks remained preoccupied with reversing the fortunes that have caused them to miss the playoffs seven seasons in a row.
Next, they’ll navigate a pivotal summer with a renewed commitment to potentially spend to the upper limit of the salary cap and a legitimate push to return to the postseason.
What they’ve done so far
The Ducks have been arguably the most active club in the NHL since their season ended, with a coaching change and a major trade already in their rearview mirror.
Despite a conference-best vault in the standings, the Ducks dismissed first-time NHL head coach Greg Cronin after two seasons and brought in the most proven name available, albeit one with considerable baggage, in four-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville.
They then continued to add ex-Rangers (bringing their total to four) as they swung a deal with New York that brought in the final two years of 34-year-old Chris Kreider’s contract for the low cost of mid-round pick swap and a middle-tier prospect.
Quenneville was exiled from the NHL coaching ranks in 2021 for his role in the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sex-abuse scandal involving former video coach Brad Aldrich before Quenneville was reinstated last summer. Kreider dealt with back spasms, vertigo, a broken hand and other maladies in a down year last season, but had been coming off three of the best campaigns of his career.
“If you talk to Joel, we want to play fast and we want to play heavy, and (Kreider) provides those two elements right off the bat,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said via teleconference. “We want to be a fast team, we want to hunt pucks and Chris has the ability to put incredible pressure down ice with his forecheck and also on the PK. There’s a lot of assets that Chris has that are going to fit how Joel Quenneville wants to play.”
What’s next?
In an environment where hockey trades have come back into fashion but salary dumps, like Kreider’s, are still ongoing, this could be a robust offseason for the NHL in general and it almost has to be one for the Ducks in particular.
Owners Henry and Susan Samueli are banking on a return to the playoffs to help bolster the opening of Honda Center’s new neighbor, O.C. Vibe, and have committed resources to the effort, beginning with the Quenneville hire. Frugality with the coaching staff and player payroll alike appear to be things of the past.
The defining moments of most offseasons come as June fades into July, with the NHL draft taking place in Los Angeles on June 27 and 28 ahead of the opening of free agency July 1.
The Ducks own nine picks across seven rounds, including two selections in both the fourth and fifth rounds. That’s headlined by the No. 10 overall – the Ducks slid back two spots as a result of the lottery drawing – with no picks until they will select 60th overall. Their second rounder, which would have been No. 40 overall, went to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Cutter Gauthier trade. Verbeek restocked that pick, albeit 20 spots lower, with one that initially belonged to the Winnipeg Jets but arrived to the Ducks via the New Jersey Devils in March’s Brian Dumoulin deal.
What do the books look like?
Again, the Ducks carry a massive stockpile of salary-cap space into the summer. Even after taking on Kreider’s $6.5 million cap hit (and $5 million cash salary), the Ducks have more than $32 million to spend under the cap ceiling, per PuckPedia.
A substantial portion of that could go to extensions for a pair of prominent restricted free agents, goalie Lukáš Dostál and forward Mason McTavish (defenseman Drew Helleson and center Isac Lundeström are other RFAs of note). The last pair of high-profile RFAs for the Ducks were Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, with both signing three-year pacts that were considered bridge deals.
Even if the Ducks go the pricier route of locking down McTavish and Dostál long-term, they project to be potential players in the free-agent market and trade scene alike given their current leeway and impending further flexibility in the years to come as veteran players and the salary retention from the Cam Fowler trade come off their ledger.
Who could depart?
Experienced forwards Brock McGinn and Robby Fabbri have uncertain futures with the Ducks after spending much of last season on injured reserve. Veteran goalie John Gibson and one-time cornerstone Zegras, both of whom had their own injury woes, have had their names circulated in trade rumors on what feels like a daily basis, but there’s no clear impetus to move either.
At the end of the day, the Ducks have an uncommon level of control over personnel between the ability to match any offer sheets to their RFAs and the circumstantial factors surrounding their UFAs. They can let opportunity dictate their moves by and large, though historically the franchise hasn’t fared especially well in free agency apart from the 2005 signing of Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
That futility or their whiffs last summer shouldn’t prevent the present-day Ducks from making strong pitches to potential top-of-class free agents like Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Florida’s Sam Bennett and Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers.
What do they need?
In goal, Dostál has emerged as a potential star and Gibson, when available, has proved to be a highly capable albeit expensive ($6.4 million cap hit) option behind him. If Gibson were to be traded, pending UFA Ville Husso or another veteran backup could become an option.
On defense, the Ducks solidified their group of six rearguards after a season that involved three trades on the blue line – the departures of Fowler and Dumoulin and the arrival of Jacob Trouba – and there are layers to their defense corps. Awaiting behind Trouba and another right-handed-shooting veteran, captain Radko Gudas, are Tristan Luneau and Noah Warren. Though the Ducks are deepest on defense, creating the potential for a D-for-forward swap, no changes appear imminent on the back end at this time.
The Ducks’ attack will be the main focus. It has been remarkably feeble over both the near and long terms. Not only were they dead last in the NHL in power-play percentage last season, they are an eyelash ahead of Philadelphia for the worst percentage over the span of their seven-season slump that’s seen nothing but sub-.500 campaigns and playoff misses. During those same seven campaigns, they’ve ranked dead last in goals per game overall, five-on-five and with the man advantage.