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2018-19 Season Primer: Anaheim Ducks

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With the NHL season now just underway, we continue our look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Last up is a look at the Anaheim Ducks.

Last Season: 44-25-13 record (101 points), second in the Pacific Division (lost to San Jose in the first round of the playoffs)

Remaining Cap Space: $0 in regular space, $9.275MM with LTIR per CapFriendly (still need to re-sign Nick Ritchie)

Key Additions: F Pontus Aberg (waivers, Edmonton), F Brian Gibbons (free agent, New Jersey), F Isac Lundestrom (draft), F Carter Rowney (free agent, Pittsburgh), D Luke Schenn (free agent, Arizona), F Ben Street (free agent, Detroit), D Andrej Sustr (free agent, Tampa Bay)

Key Subtractions: D Francois Beauchemin (retirement), D Kevin Bieksa (free agent, unsigned), F Jared Boll (retirement), F J.T. Brown (free agent, Minnesota), F Jason Chimera (free agent, unsigned), F Derek Grant (free agent, Pittsburgh), F Chris Kelly (retirement), F Antoine Vermette (free agent, unsigned)

[Related: Ducks Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Player To Watch: F Jakob Silfverberg – The 28-year-old was the key player coming to Anaheim as part of the deal that sent Bobby Ryan to Ottawa back in 2013.  They viewed him as a core forward and while he hasn’t really emerged into a top line piece, he has been an important part of their supporting cast since being acquired.

Silfverberg now finds himself in the final year of his contract and with the long-term injury to Corey Perry, he also now has a golden opportunity to demonstrate that he can be more than a secondary scorer.  The expectations will be there given the higher ice time but a good showing here would go a long way towards bolstering his case in free agency.

What will be interesting to see is if Anaheim finds a way to lock him up.  GM Bob Murray acknowledged over the summer that inking him was a priority but with having more than $74MM tied up in just 16 players for next season, finding a way to keep him around is certainly going to be a challenge.

Key Storyline: Anaheim has been a team in the bottom half of league scoring in each of the past three seasons and didn’t really address that in their offseason movement, opting instead to change some of their depth pieces around.

Barely a week into the year, the injury bug has struck hard.  Perry will miss most of the season after undergoing knee surgery, Patrick Eaves is recovering from a shoulder issue after missing most of last year with Guillain-Barre syndrome (so even when he returns, he will be rusty for a while), while Ondrej Kase, who quietly tied for second on the team in goals last season, is dealing with a concussion.  For a team that isn’t a prolific offensive unit, this is a lot of firepower they’re missing already.

With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Ducks look to make a move sooner than later to bolster their attack.  While getting back into cap compliance will be a factor when Perry gets back four-to-five months from now, they’ll have plenty of time between now and then to make that work.  Given their cap situation beyond this season though, they’ll already be forced to look through the rental market.

Overall Outlook: Anaheim can sometimes be a trendy pick in terms of teams that will take a step back but they always seem to be in the mix at the end.  Their injuries up front will certainly hurt but when all is said and done, they’ll likely still be in the hunt for a Wild Card spot at least in what looks to be a very tight Pacific Division.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Calgary Flames Hesitant To Move Sam Bennett Despite Interest

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Through four games this season, young Calgary Flames forward Sam Bennett has just one point. He has yet to score a goal and has taken just six shots. He is seeing just over ten minutes of ice time per game, down more than four minutes from his career average. Bennett is currently on pace for just over 20 points on the year. It seems like a disappointing start and perhaps just an aberration for the 2014 fourth overall pick. In reality, it is par for the course for the 22-year-old forward. Since his strong 36-point rookie campaign in 2015-16, Bennett has failed to improve his production and has seen less and less ice time. This is simply a continuation of the trend.

To say that Bennett has failed to live up to the expectations of his lofty draft position would be to understate the issue. Drafted ahead of the likes of William Nylander, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, and David Pastrnak in 2014, the Flames certainly expected far more out of Bennett thus far. His overall production is decreasing, he has never cracked 20 goals or 20 assists in a season, and a center when drafted now plays almost exclusively on the wing. Bennett has simply not at all been what the Flames thought they were getting at fourth overall. Meanwhile, the team is without a playoff win in the three years since Bennett became a regular and patience is running out in Calgary. Bennett has shown flashes of immense ability, but has lacked consistency and, more than anything, has been a poor fit in the Flames’ system. With the hire of new head coach Bill Peters, many expected a turnaround from Bennett this year, but it has been far from it so far. It would seem that Bennett’s time in Calgary is almost up, right?

Wrong, in fact. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman led off his latest edition of “31 Thoughts” by acknowledging the trade interest in Bennett, but doubting that GM Brad Treliving and the Flames were ready to move on. Calgary is wary of trading Bennett while his value is at its lowest to a team seeking to buy low on the talented forward and finally find a way to get the most out of his ability. Friedman expanded on his comments with Sportsnet Radio 960 in Calgary, stating that the Flames appear to be obsessed with avoiding the mistake that provincial rivals the Edmonton Oilers made in trading away Taylor Hall at well below his true value. Hall was also struggling to meet the expectations of his draft slot, first overall in 2010, and it was compounded by the team’s struggles as well. Hall was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson and is now the reigning Hart Trophy winner and a top ten forward in the league. The Flames could certainly use a Larsson-caliber piece in their pursuit of a playoff berth this season, but not at the cost of losing a player that they still believe has untapped potential.

That is not to say that the team hasn’t considered offers, though. Friedman states that, while no deal was ever close, Calgary went “far down the road” in trade talks with several teams. Friedman specifically names the Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Tampa Bay Lightning as teams that he knows have had interest in Bennett before and, especially in the case of Anaheim and Montreal, likely continue to. The fact that Bennett is perceived as being available via trade would seem to indicate that the Flames continue to field offers for the young forward, even if they aren’t actively selling. While Friedman doesn’t see it happening, Bennett’s play so far this year is trending towards 2018-19 being a new career low. With a year remaining on his contract beyond this season, giving a new team the time to attempt to turn his development around, a poor season for Bennett could see Calgary finally give up on their once-top prospect. It’s fair to want to avoid giving up on potential, particularly for a disappointing return, but a point is fast approaching when Bennett can no longer be seriously compared to a player like Hall.

Minor Transactions: 10/13/18

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Forward Logan Shaw has re-joined a familiar locale. The journeyman power forward, who attended Calgary Flames training camp on a PTO, was unable to secure NHL employment this season. Instead, he has signed a one-year AHL contract with the San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks’ affiliate announced. The Gulls are one of the seven different NHL or AHL teams that Shaw has played for in his five-year pro career, albeit only briefly with a pair of contests in the 2016-17 season. Were it not for the Montreal Canadiens claiming him on waivers last season, that number would be much higher. The Anaheim Ducks, who had traded for Shaw early in 2016-17 and gave him a then-career high 55 games and a contract extension, attempted to slide the big winger through the waiver wire after another 42 games last year, only for the injury-riddled Canadiens to claim him. Shaw skated in 30 games for Montreal and, combined, recorded a career-best 72 games and 14 points last year. However, that wasn’t enough to drum up NHL interest and Shaw has instead returned to the AHL level and a team in San Diego with which he has some familiarity. Shaw made his Gulls season debut last night, notching an assist in a narrow loss to the Tuscon Roadrunners. Shaw could be a leading scorer for San Diego this year and, at 26 year old, the door to an NHL return may not quite be shut just yet.

More minor moves as the day goes on:

  • The Boston Bruins have assigned forward Martin Bakos to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, the team announced. Bakos, a free agent signing out of the Czech Republic, began the season on the injured reserve after suffering a lower-body injury early in training camp. That lack of ice time with the starters in the preseason eliminated any chance that Bakos had of cracking the Bruins’ roster right away, but the team does have high expectations of the veteran Slovakian forward. Bakos, 28, has several season of experience in the KHL as well as the Czech League, including his career-high 40-point campaign with Liberec last season. Bakos is a versatile, two-way forward who can play all three forward positions and competes in all three zones. The Providence Bruins are deep with talent, both young and older, but Bakos could be one of the first call-ups if he stays healthy, adjusts to the North American game, and produces for Providence.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have recalled goalie Charlie Lindgren from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, the team noted this morning. It is an emergency recall for Lindgren, as starter Carey Price is apparently unavailable do to the flu. The Habs square off with the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight and it will presumably be the first appearance of the season for primary backup Antti Niemi. However, given the Penguins’ scoring punch, Lindgren could also potentially make his season debut. The 24-year-old has made 17 NHL appearances in his young career, posting a save percentage of .914 and a goals against average of 2.78.
  • With their injury-plagued parent club already drawing on their roster depth, the Belleville Senators have re-signed forward Daniel Ciampini to a two-way contract for this season, the team announced. Ottawa could prove to be a team with a fluctuating roster this season in need of AHL reinforcements, so Belleville has proactively added one of their own in Ciampini. The 27-year-old played in 49 games with the junior Senators last season, recording 16 points. The former Union College standout has also scored at a better than a point-per-game clip in the ECHL the past two years, showing some production potential that Belleville hopes spills over into the AHL.
  • The Florida Panthers have sent defenseman Jacob MacDonald to the AHL, the team announced. MacDonald will head to the Springfield Thunderbirds, somewhat of a return for a player who briefly played for the former Springfield Falcons back in 2015-16. The MacDonald experiment always seemed to have an expiration date with the Panthers having several injured defensemen on the mend, but MacDonald did score on his first (and only) NHL shot and performed well in sheltered minutes through two games. However, the team will move on without MacDonald for now, as he looks to continue the success he found at the AHL level last season. In the meantime, KHL import Bogdan Kiselevich has been activated from the injured reserve and will likely take on a regular role in Florida.

Snapshots: Gagner, Despres, Flyers, Bruins-Red Wings

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Count Sam Gagner among the many of us surprised by his waiver placement and subsequent loan by the Vancouver Canucks. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox recently sat down with Gagner, now re-located to Toronto to play for the AHL’s Marlies this season, and found that the veteran forward “didn’t see it coming”. Just one year into a three-year, $9.45MM contract, Gagner said he was “shocked” that the Canucks had decided to move on so quickly. “I came to camp prepared, I had a really good summer of work, I did well on the [fitness] tests, I thought I played pretty well in pre-season…”, but it was all for naught, as Vancouver decided to move forward with their young players, leaving Gagner as the odd man out. To make matters worse, the Toronto native had just re-located his young family to Vancouver, only to get reassigned to Toronto, where he currently lives with his parents. Gagner has been a serviceable albeit streaky player throughout his playing days, but after this surprising and unfortunate shift in his career, one can only hope that a more permanent solution for Gagner and his family comes around sooner rather than later.

  • TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that veteran defenseman Simon Despres has opted not to sign with the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Despres, a former first-round pick and NHL regular with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks, struggled with injuries and was more or less forced out of the league in recent years. After finally returning to full health last season and performing well with the KHL’s HC Slovan Bratislava, Despres expressed an interest in returning to the NHL this year. Interestingly, he specifically mentioned his interest in the relatively new AHL franchise in his hometown of Laval and signed a PTO with the Montreal Canadiens this summer in hopes of landing a two-way contract where he could play in Laval and potentially work his way onto the Habs’ roster. He fell short of that goal, but a one-way AHL contract with the Rocket seemed like the next-best thing. Instead, Lavoie indicates that Despres has chosen the unknown over minor league certainty. He has no plans for the season right now, but won’t be accepting an AHL contract and could certainly entertain offers back in Europe.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have announced their support group for captain Claude Giroux, naming their alternate captains for the season. Wayne Simmonds, an impending free agent but a fan favorite and respected veteran, will wear the “A” at all times this year. On the road, the elder statesman of the blue line, Andrew MacDonald, will serve as an alternate. Back at home, 2017-18’s breakout star Sean Couturier will be the other alternate. With a substantial number of young players playing key roles for Philly, their leadership corps has an important role to play if the Flyers are to be contenders this season.
  • The Bruins have made things easier for Boston sports fans this Saturday. With the Boston Red Sox eliminating the New York Yankees in the ALDS on Tuesday night, the team moves on to the ALCS to face the Houston Astros with Game One taking place on Saturday night. The Bruins were also scheduled to play on Saturday night, facing the Detroit Red Wings at 7pm ET. However, the team announced that they have re-scheduled the game for 3pm ET to avoid the conflict with the Red Sox game. Head coach Bruce Cassidy recently spoke about his support for the Bruins’ baseball counterparts and the privilege of coaching in a city with so much fan support and success across all four major sports.

Snapshots: Edler, Montreal, Kesler

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The Vancouver Canucks have had an interesting start to the year, with impressive performances from rookie Elias Pettersson but bad losses at the hands of the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes. The team has allowed 14 goals in three games, and is busy shaking up their blue line to try to find answers. One player that won’t be taken out of the lineup because of his play is Alexander Edler, but there might be a break-up coming down the line anyway. Edler is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, but has made it clear he wants to spend the rest of his career in Vancouver.

Still, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet points out in his latest 31 Thoughts column, Edler would be an attractive rental piece at the trade deadline for a contender. The 32-year old defenseman is averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time through the first three games and is coming off his most effective offensive season in some time. Friedman notes that the Tampa Bay Lightning has shown interest in the left-hander before, and that “someone” will again even if he’s determined to return to the Canucks in 2019-20.

  • The Montreal Canadiens will face a tough decision in the coming days, as Eric Engels of Sportsnet writes that the team will likely put either Jacob de La Rose or Nikita Scherbak on waivers once the former is back to full health. Both high draft selections, neither player has really found much consistency in the NHL and even their youth can’t get them into the current lineup. Engels believes that both would be prime targets for a waiver claim, given that they still hold some substantial potential. There are obviously other ways out of the roster crunch, but if it does come down to a waiver placement and attempted minor league assignment, the Canadiens could find themselves losing some of their forward depth for nothing in the coming days.
  • Ryan Kesler was on the ice at the Anaheim Ducks morning skate, and even took line rushes between Andrew Cogliano and Kiefer Sherwood according to Josh Cooper of The Athletic. The veteran forward was not expected to return so soon, and head coach Randy Carlyle wouldn’t even confirm that he’ll be in the lineup tonight against the Arizona Coyotes. If he is back to health it’s at the perfect time as the Ducks are without Ryan Getzlaf and are struggling to find much offense up front. An expected Stanley Cup contender, the Ducks have been ravaged by injuries early and could use some good news on that front.

Minor Transactions: 10/09/18

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The season has gotten off to a strong start, with outstanding individual performances and parity among all four divisions. As teams try to keep their momentum going, we’ll be here to keep track of all the minor moves.

  • The Florida Panthers have recalled Juho Lammikko from the AHL, bringing up the 22-year old forward after just one game in the minor leagues this season. Lammikko, a third-round pick of the Panthers from 2014, is still looking to make his NHL debut and could provide some more size for the team’s bottom six. Derek MacKenzie is expected to miss the Panthers’ next game.
  • Pontus Aberg has been assigned to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL after clearing waivers, and will continue to be a part of the Anaheim Ducks organization. Aberg has had several chances in the NHL over the last few years, but can’t seem to catch on. The talented forward will try to prove his worth at the minor league level for the time being.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks promoted Alexandre Fortin late this evening, with the team heading on the road to face the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. The 21-year-old forward would be making his NHL debut if he were to be in the Hawks’ lineup for their next game. Fortin, an undrafted rookie out of the QMJHL now in his second pro season, is a versatile forward who could slot in throughout Chicago’s forward corps.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Lundestrom, Luukkonen

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The NHL has handed out the Three Stars of the Week for the first time this season, naming Auston Matthews as the top performer through the first few games. Matthews leads the NHL with eight points through three games including five goals, and has been a huge part of the Toronto Maple Leafs getting off to a 2-1 start. The Maple Leafs have looked shaky in their own end to start the year, but with the firepower that Matthews and John Tavares can provide up front it might not matter on most nights.

Jonathan Toews and Ben Bishop were named to the other two spots, noting a bounce back for both players this season. Toews especially had a down year as the Chicago Blackhawks disappointed in 2017-18, but is off to a blistering start with five goals in his first seven periods and six points total through three games. If the Blackhawks are to return to relevancy this year, they’ll need their captain to be among the best players in the league once again.

  • Speaking of captains not living up to expectations, the Anaheim Ducks were without Ryan Getzlaf today at practice while he deals with a lower-body injury. That meant first-round pick Isac Lundestrom was skating between Andrew Cogliano and Kiefer Sherwood according to Eric Stephens of The Athletic, giving the young forward a chance to make his NHL debut later tonight. Lundestrom has been surprisingly polished through training camp, and even at the age of 18 looks like a possible contributor for the Ducks this season. The 23rd-overall pick scored 15 points in 42 games in the Swedish Hockey League last season, and will try to make an even bigger impact in the NHL.
  • The Ducks aren’t the only one with an impressive young prospect though, as Buffalo Sabres draft pick Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has won the OHL Player of the Week award. Luukkonen is playing for the Sudbury Wolves this season as he prepares for life as a professional in North America, and is already 5-0 with a .944 save percentage. Selected 54th overall in 2017, Luukkonen signed his entry-level contract this offseason and is quickly becoming one of the top goaltending prospects in the league. He’ll likely start out next season in the AHL, but the Sabres are hoping for big things from him down the line.

Anaheim Ducks Place Pontus Aberg On Waivers

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Monday: Aberg has cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, an interesting move given that the Oilers could have reclaimed him for their minor league squad. That means Aberg will now be able to go to San Diego should the Ducks decide to send him there.

Sunday: The Anaheim Ducks decided that Pontus Aberg may not be the best fit after all. After claiming him on waivers from the Edmonton Oilers last week, Elliotte Friedman reports that the Ducks have put the 25-year-old winger on waivers Sunday.

Aberg played just one game for the Ducks, who added Aberg due to multiple injuries to their roster, including Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry and Ondrej Kase. Aberg played 20 shifts in the team’s season opener against San Jose and played 13:47, but didn’t register a point. He did have a minus-one rating and picked up two penalty minutes, made one hit and blocked a shot.

There is no guarantee that any team might take a flier on Aberg after being waived after a one-game trial, but if Edmonton opts to claim him back and no one else does, the Oilers can send him directly to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL without having to re-waive him again. If Edmonton opts not to bring him back and he passes through waivers, he can be sent to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL.

Overseas Notes: Rodin, Haapala, Robak

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Anton Rodin signed with the Anaheim Ducks this summer hoping to get a second chance at the NHL. Rodin had previously played for the Vancouver Canucks, without much luck. Rodin played in three NHL games and three AHL games in 2016-17 but was otherwise shut down for the year with injury. Then, upon failing to crack the Canucks’ roster last season, the two sides came to a mutual agreement on the termination of Rodin’s contract and he played out the remainder of the year back in Europe, again limited by injury. Unfortunately, history repeated itself in training camp this year, as Rodin was unable to land a spot with the Ducks. He requested a termination of his contract and cleared unconditional waivers last week. Now, Rodin seems to have already found a new home, returning to the Swiss club he played for last year, HC Davos. Swiss new source “Hockey News” reports that a deal is in place to bring Rodin back to Davos, where he will join fellow former NHLers Shane Prince and Anders Lindback. The former Swedish Hockey League MVP reportedly had interest from clubs throughout Europe, including the KHL and other NLA teams, but opted for familiarity, returning to Davos. While his experiments with the NHL are likely over, hopefully the talented winger cans stay healthy and return to his status as one of the top players in Europe.

  • By all accounts, Henrik Haapala is still technically under contract with the Florida Panthers. However, the former Liiga scoring leader has signed with HC Lugano of the NLA for this upcoming season, the team announced. The Finnish forward signed a two-year entry-level contract with Florida last summer and even played in five games with the Panthers. After 20 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, Haapala was loaned back to his Liiga club, Tappara, for the remainder of the season. However, he still had a year remaining on his contract and no deal in place with Tappara and was expected to return to Florida this season. Instead, Haapala didn’t even participate in training camp and now appears slated to spend 2018-19 with Lugano. There is no word on what this means for his contract status with the Panthers, but Lugano is happy to have him. The small, speedy winger has excellent play-making ability and has the potential to be a major contributor in the NLA.
  • Former Florida Panther Colby Robak is also on his way to Europe, leaving North America for the first time in his career. Robak has signed with Vassan Sport of the Liiga in Finland, the team announced. Robak, a second-round pick in 2008, has not played in an NHL game since 2014-15, in which he split the yeat between Florida and the Anaheim Ducks, but has made a living as a veteran leader in the AHL. Apparently, his time in that role ran out, as Robak was unable to find another AHL contract this summer and has made the jump overseas. Sport finished dead last in the Liiga last year and get a major boost from Robak’s arrival, as the experienced defender should easily become a leader for the team in their efforts to improve this season.

Ondrej Kase Suffers Concussion, Out Indefinitely

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The reasons for the Anaheim Ducks claiming Pontus Aberg are becoming even more clear, as the team today announced that Ondrej Kase suffered a concussion in the final preseason game and has no timetable for his return. Brian Gibbons has been cleared to play after suffering a bone bruise, but Josh Cooper of The Athletic reports that Ryan Kesler will not play in the opener and Patrick Eaves was not at practice today.

The Ducks of course are already without Corey Perry for the next several months at least, and still have not signed restricted free agent Nick Ritchie. Any team in the league would be desperately trying to find replacements at this point, given their decimated depth on the wing the last few weeks. Kase, the latest to go down, broke out last season with a 20-goal campaign and is an integral part of their offense. The seventh-round pick recorded 38 points in just 66 games and was expected by some to even eclipse that total this season given the opportunity presenting itself, but this injury will quickly put a damper on those projections.

Obviously there could be a quick recovery in this case, but head injuries can affect players long after they are medically cleared to play. If Kase does return to the lineup soon, there’s no telling how effective he’ll be in an increased role. Instead, the Ducks will have to find offense from some different sources which could include rookie Sam Steel, who is still with the club for the time being.

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