Biggest Preseason Question: Anaheim Ducks
The 2023-2024 NHL season is almost upon us, and the air is thick with speculation. Whether the vibes around your team are bolstered by high hopes or mired in existential dread, there’s something for everyone here at Beerly Hockey. For the next two weeks I’ll be looking at each team’s biggest question going into the season and sharing my findings in rapid-fire fashion until opening night on October 10th. We’ll kick things off at the top of the alphabet and the bottom of last season’s standings with one question for the Anaheim Ducks.
Can the Kids Take the Next Step?
Anaheim had an abysmal 22-23 season, which wasn’t surprising considering their commitment to a total rebuild. The tanking Ducks finished last in the league, but were robbed of the chance to draft elite center Connor Bedard by the cruel luck of the lottery. Despite that disappointing development there are reasons to remain hopeful in Orange County, as the Ducks have amassed an arsenal of exciting young talent. They drafted hulking two-way center Leo Carlsson with the 2nd overall pick, and he’ll have every opportunity to earn a spot in the opening night lineup after an impressive season as an 18 year old playing against grown men in the Swedish Elite League.
Carlsson joins an exciting group of youngsters including Jamie Drysdale, Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger, and Trevor Zegras. These guys are the fruits of repeatedly finishing near the bottom of the standings, and if the Ducks want to claw their way out of the basement these kids need to take meaningful strides this season.
Zegras is the most accomplished of the group, posting a statline of 46 - 80 - 126 over the past two seasons while dominating highlight reels with his electric offensive creativity. Rounding out his defensive game and breaking the 30 goal barrier should be his primary areas of focus this year, but unfortunately an ugly contract negotiation has kept him out of training camp and could cause him to miss the beginning of the season if it’s not resolved soon.
Joining Zegras in contract purgatory is Drysdale, who missed all but 5 games last season due to injury after an impressive rookie year. These guys were supposed to be the cornerstones of the Ducks’ rebuild, but GM Pat Verbeek is refusing to pay them anywhere near what they’re worth despite having more salary cap space than God himself (yet he had no problem overpaying for aging veterans in free agency). If these negotiations drag into the season, the young guns could lose essential development time and the Ducks may find themselves drafting in the top 5 yet again.
On the contrary, if Verbeek swallows his pride and follows the league wide trend of locking up young studs on long term deals with reasonable cap hits, this crop of young talent has a chance to pop off and surprise some teams. I don’t see playoff hockey returning to Anaheim this season, but if the prospects produce, the Ducks could be playing meaningful games beyond the month of November.
