First off, I didn’t think the Ducks were going to be too active this offseason. Boy was I wrong. I said earlier in a previous post that I thought both Francois Beauchemin and Matt Beleskey should not be resigned. So, at least I was right about that in terms of predictions. However, I think all the moves the Ducks have made have been pretty smart. I don’t really worry so much about the draft with this club since this is a “win now” type of team, also because they’ve proven over the last few years to be good evaluators. They didn’t have any glaring needs going into the draft and so in the first round they took the best player available, yet another Swede. Throughout the rest of the draft, they simply wanted to add some overall depth and they did that, especially at the center position.
However, during the draft, they were very active on the trade block. They made three trades during the weekend. They traded Kyle Palmieri to the New Jersey Devils for a couple of picks over the next two years. They traded James Wisniewski to the Carolina Hurricanes for Anton Khudobin. Finally, they traded Emerson Etem and a second to the New York Rangers for Carl Hagelin, a second and a sixth. The Palmieri trade was a bit surprising, but understandable. He has shown some flashes now and then, but has been way too inconsistent. Yeah he’s had some injury problems here and there, but when given chances, he hasn’t grasped them enough. Would it be fair to label him a bust? Probably not, but I don’t think he’s lived up to the Ducks’ expectations. Next, I don’t think the Ducks got enough value for Wisniewski. I also didn’t think they gave him enough of a chance to play, especially during the playoffs.
However, you could say that the Ducks have enough puck-moving, offensive defenseman in the lineup. I was shocked to find out that it was Wisniewski straight up for Khudobin, but that just goes to show you what the Ducks really thought they needed. They put such a high value on getting a “pure backup,” I’m quoting Ducks GM Bob Murray there, that they valued Khudobin evenly with Wisniewski. Finally, the Etem-Hagelin trade was another surprise. I knew that Hagelin was an RFA and that he apparently wasn’t close with the Rangers on a new deal. Etem is a lot like Palmieri in that he has had consistency problems and never truly established himself with the Ducks. Again, he showed flashes as well, i.e. his highlight reel goal against the Jets during the playoffs when he undressed Jacob Trouba.
This trade was first brought up at the draft as the Ducks and Rangers’ tables were next to each other and Murray asked Rangers GM Glen Sather what he was doing. He just happened to mention Hagelin and Murray’s ears perked up. The Ducks could use his speed and tenacity on the PK and just in general as that was slightly exposed against the Blackhawks in the Conference Final. Overall, the Palmieri and Etem trades were partly due to the Ducks’ future cap situation. They have a lot of young guys whose ELC’s and first contracts end after next season. They will be in need of a raise and with some other UFA’s at the same time, they needed to get some value for some of the younger guys who they thought they wouldn’t be able to resign due to the cap.
Then, free agency started, and once again, the Ducks surprised me with some moves. Like I said earlier, both Beauchemin and Beleskey were let go. They didn’t replace Beleskey, yet, but they did replace Beauchemin. They acquired Kevin Bieksa from Vancouver for a second in next year’s draft. This move really let everyone know that Beauchemin was gone, as the two sides were far apart in negotiations. I think Bieksa will be a good fit. Yeah, he’s just as old as Beauchemin and it looks like he’s on his way out in terms of play, but he’s still a veteran presence and nasty guy to play against. He has plenty of experience with the Ducks from playing against them, but he will rejoin Ryan Kesler and he has also played with some fellow Ducks while playing for Team Canada internationally. He won’t need to come in and play top-pairing minutes. He just needs to be a prick out there against the opponents’ forwards. Lastly on Bieksa, he was in the final year of his contract, so, I thought, with his age, he’d basically be a rental. However, he has agreed to a two-year contract extension late last week. Is that a smart move? Ehh, I don’t think so, but we’ll see.
Before the start of free agency, the Ducks finally made it known that former Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean was joining the coaching staff as an assistant. This was a rumor for awhile after news broke that the Sens gave Anaheim permission to interview him. In my opinion, this will probably go down as the most important addition made during this offseason. It’s not a secret the Ducks have needed to get better in their own zone and I love this hiring for that exact reason. He WILL make this team a true Cup favorite, in my opinion.
Finally, the Ducks have made a handful of free agent signings. First, they added some depth and mostly help for their new AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Goaltender Matt Hackett, forward Chris Mueller and defenseman Joe Piskula will all be Gulls for next season. They then resigned defenseman Korbinian Holzer to a one-year deal after acquiring him at the trade deadline. However, he never even dressed for the team, but I have no problem bringing him back for depth. Then, the Ducks signed free agent center Shawn Horcoff to a one-year deal. The only reason he was signed is because of Nate Thompson’s shoulder injury.
Thompson is gonna be out for a long time and the Ducks needed to bring in another center to play a bottom-six role and play on the PK. Horcoff is a veteran, two-way player and is a good guy to have in the locker room. Good signing, in my opinion. Finally, they signed free agent Harry Zolnierczyk to a one-year deal. Again, he brings speed and quickness that the Ducks needed. He’s also a very agitating guy to play against. A PK unit with Hagelin and Zolnierczyk would arguably be the fastest PK unit in the league. However, Harry Z really isn’t all that good, so I don’t even know how many times he will even dress. Will the Ducks do more? Nobody really knows anymore what Bob Murray is thinking, so maybe.
Quack. Quack. Quack.
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