While expansion was the early headline in what will be a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Anaheim Ducks.
Going with the theme of what’s old is new again in bringing back Randy Carlyle paid early dividends for the Ducks who won the Pacific Division and made it to the Western Conference Final this past season before being eliminated by Nashville. Now, GM Bob Murray is tasked with tinkering with a roster to try to take that next step forward. After re-signing Patrick Eaves, here are a few other keys to their offseason success.
Extension Talks For Fowler
Defenseman Cam Fowler had a very strong season in 2016-17, setting a career high in goals while putting up his highest point total since his rookie campaign. He also shouldered a much bigger workload, logging just under 25 minutes per game during the regular season, a number that jumped to 26:30 per night in the playoffs. This came on the heels of being in trade speculation for most of the previous season and summer.
Fowler is now entering the final year of his contract but instead of there being trade talks, the focus will be shifting towards getting a long-term extension done. He will assuredly receive a significant raise from the $4MM cap hit he’s carrying on his current deal as he will be looking to be paid as a top pairing defender.
Not only would getting a deal done take away any possibility for a distraction during the season but it would also give them a sense of whether or not they’ll be able to afford to keep the rest of their core defenders intact for the long-term. If not, that may thrust fellow blueliner Sami Vatanen back to the forefront of trade speculation once again.
Find A Backup Goaltender
Last summer, Murray brought in Jonathan Bernier to push incumbent John Gibson for playing time and he had a pretty solid season (though that will be overshadowed in part by his poor postseason play). Bernier is set to become an unrestricted free agent on Saturday and will be looking for more money and playing time than the Ducks will be willing to give him.
Veteran Jhonas Enroth is also set to become unrestricted and he was basically brought in as injury depth so it’s not likely that he will be back either. Dustin Tokarski has some NHL experience but he’s best served as a third string option that can play a few games as needed than a full-time backup. Accordingly, they’ll be looking outside the organization to find a second netminder.
There are veteran trade options out there but they’re all likely carrying too high of a cap hit to realistically be considered. Accordingly, it seems likely that Anaheim will turn to the free agent market where there will be several veteran backups to choose from. Given that Gibson will only turn 24 next month and has just 140 games of NHL experience, they will likely want someone who can handle a bit more of a workload than a typical backup and may have to pay a little bit more to get that insurance.
Add Left Side Offense
Of Anaheim’s top five point producers up front (six if you count Eaves’ full-season totals), precisely zero of them are left handed. Veteran Andrew Cogliano was their top point getter from the left side and he’s more of a middle six player than a top threat.
While the Ducks won’t complain about goal scoring as long as they get it, they would have a much more well-rounded attack if they could find a left handed forward that could play a regular top line role. Youngster Nick Ritchie has the potential to fill a spot like that down the road but he’s not ready to take on that spot just yet.
As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Murray pursue a trade or free agent to give them some more balance in their attack. Typically, it’s harder to find righties than lefties so if they do have to go the trade route, they’ll at least be dealing from a position of strength that a lot of other teams will be coveting.
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