Do the Ducks Have Too Many Left-Shot Defensemen?
Heading into the 2024 offseason, the Anaheim Ducks are already set to deploy a full slate of LHDs on their blueline with more on their way within in the pipeline. How many is too many, and is it a problem or a strength?
Like several teams in the NHL, the Anaheim Ducks are heavy in players and prospects who are left-shot defensemen. They will enter the 2024 offseason with five NHL LHDs under team control, two set to play in the AHL, and one likely to return to the CHL.
The Ducks own the third overall pick in the 2024 Draft, a draft that could play out in a number of ways after the San Jose Sharks surely select Macklin Celebrini first overall. Pat Verbeek and the Ducks scouting staff could see one of Anton Silayev, Zeev Buium, or Sam Dickinson as the top available player when they're on the clock and further add to their elite left side of the blueline.
Would that overcrowd an already deep and potent position in Anaheim, or is adding their skill to the Ducks lineup too tantalizing to pass up?
Cam Fowler (32), Pavel Mintyukov (20), and Olen Zellweger (20) are all under contract for the 2024-25 season, played significant roles at different times for the Ducks in 2023-24, and look to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.
Urho Vaakanainen (25) and Jackson LaCombe (23) are currently restricted free agents who will need to be extended qualifying offers before July 1 if the Ducks are to retain their rights. Vaakanainen has arbitration rights as leverage while LaCombe does not.
Also in the Ducks pipeline and on the horizon are exciting prospects Tyson Hinds (21) and Rodwin Dionicio (20), who are signed to ELCs and will likely play the 2024-25 season for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL.
Konnor Smith (19) was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft and made his AHL debut while signed to an ATO (amateur tryout), playing in six games for the Gulls at the end of the 2023-24 season. He will likely return to the CHL in 2024-25 to play for the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL.
Too Many Players, Not Enough Spots
Cam Fowler's eight-year contract carrying an AAV of $6.5 million is set to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season. If the Ducks don't intend to sign him to a contract extension, that would potentially open one spot on the left side of the blueline in two seasons.
There will likely come a time in the near future when one or more of the young left-shot defensemen will either have to be traded or learn to effectively play on their offside.
It's highly unlikely all six U23 left-shot defensemen (and potentially more) will sustain long careers in the NHL. The odds against it are too great. Having an overflowing pipeline can increase the odds of at least one of those players panning out and create a sense of internal competition, elevating each player as they develop.
In January, the Ducks traded Jamie Drysdale (22) and a 2025 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Cutter Gauthier (20). Drysdale's skillset may have been seen as redundant with Mintyukov, Zellweger, and fellow RHD Tristan Luneau. The Ducks leveraged their organizational position of strength (puck-moving defensemen) to acquire a severe need (goal-scoring). If all players maintain steady developments, the Ducks can make similar moves in the future to address future areas of need.
Adjustments
Quality left-shot defensemen are far more plentiful than their right-shot counterparts. Several teams throughout the NHL deploy nightly lineups with more left shots on their blueline than right, including the likely Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers and 2023 Champion Vegas Golden Knights.
At different points during the 2023-24 season, several Ducks LHDs were asked to play on their off side, yielding mixed results.
Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger both played on the right at different points in their amateur careers, as they did at various times in their NHL rookie season throughout 2023-24. LaCombe struggled at times to efficiently pull pucks off the board and advance them with his backhand on the breakout. Zellweger improved in that facet as the season approached its conclusion.
2023-24 was Greg Cronin's first behind the bench in Anaheim as head coach. He was quicker to make adjustments to the systems he deployed as the season progressed. Further adjustments may be necessary in the future if the team is set to deploy more left shots than right on the blueline on a nightly basis.
Having closer center support and lower wingers on breakouts to shorten the distance of outlet passes would go a long way toward improving breakout success rates for the Ducks if they're to dress more than three left-shot defensemen.
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has stated his desire to add a top-four right-shot defenseman in the offseason, perhaps further solidifying his intention to ice lineups with even amounts of left and right shots on the blueline.
Adjustments can be made, and several successful teams flourish with uneven handedness on their bluelines. If the Ducks view one of the talented left-shot defensemen at the top of the draft as their best option with their third overall pick, having "too many" LHDs in the pipeline likely won't detract them from making that selection.