This season hasn't seen the jump in standings many were hoping to see from the Ducks, but there are things to look forward to.
This season hasn't seen the jump in standings many were hoping to see from the Ducks, but there are things to look forward to.
It would be perfectly understandable if one were less than enthused about watching the last 30 games of Anaheim Ducks hockey in 2023-24. The All-Star game has come and gone, and once again, the team dwells near the bottom of the NHL standings. This season will mark the sixth consecutive year without playoff hockey in Anaheim and a bottom-10 finish.
While it may seem like the sun may never peek through the cloudy skies over Honda Center, there are quite a few reasons to pay attention to Anaheim Ducks hockey in the closing two and a half months of the season. These are the top five reasons to remain optimistic in 2023-24:
Coaching
In the summer of 2023, the Anaheim Ducks organization hired two new head coaches for their NHL team and AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Greg Cronin was hired as the new bench boss of the Ducks and Matt McIlvane took over the Gulls. Though they are each first-time coaches in their respective leagues and the standings aren’t a glowing endorsement, there has been a noticeably positive culture shift within the organization.
When Cronin was hired, he made it a point to connect with each of his players on a personal level. His goal was to discover what drove each player on a day-to-day basis on and off the ice so he could get the most out of them mentally and physically on game days. He brought with him a labor-intensive system with foundations in trust and effort. It’s a similar system to that of the Carolina Hurricanes or Colorado Avalanche, where it requires consistent pressuring of the puck over the entire 200-foot ice surface. There have been speed bumps and growing pains, but there have also been flashes where the buy-in is clear and results extraordinary.
McIlvane was hired under a mission statement with an emphasis on developing the younger Gulls players into full-time NHLers one day. There’s been a cohesive thought process between the two teams in the organization and they are running a very similar system to each other. The objective is to create a seamless transition for whoever gets the nod to join the Ducks so they’ll have one less thing to worry about while they adjust to playing at the highest level. If the early returns on how Olen Zellweger has played in his first handful of NHL games are any indication, more players are going to make immediate impacts when their number is called.
Leo Carlsson is Rolling with the Punches in His Rookie Season
Gulls to Ducks
Speaking of Olen Zellweger, he is sure to make his return to the NHL once the All-Star break is over and the regular season resumes. He’s been a breath of fresh air and a jolt to the entire lineup as his energy and determination to create high-danger chances has seemingly brought new life to the club and fanbase.
With the trade deadline approaching and predictably unpredictable injuries bound to occur, some roster spots may open and there are a handful of current young Gulls who may be wearing Ducks jerseys very shortly. One shouldn’t be surprised to see Nikita Nesterenko or maybe Drew Helleson make their way up the I-5 in the next month or so.
Cutter Gauthier's Debut
Nearly one month ago, Pat Verbeek and Danny Briere shocked the hockey world when Jamie Drysdale was sent to Philadelphia to join the Flyers along with a 2025 second-round pick in exchange for Cutter Gauthier (2022 5th overall pick). Gauthier is said to be signing his ELC once his sophomore NCAA season with Boston College concludes. After which, he’ll head straight to Anaheim.
Gather (20) is leading the NCAA in goals per game with 21 goals in 24 games played. He’s a powerful skater who thrives in transition and battles hard. With him, he’ll bring the one thing the Ducks are lacking in their pipeline of prospects and haven’t had since Teemu Selanne was playing (or maybe ever); an instant-offense sniper. His bread and butter is shooting the puck. He shoots hard and he shoots often. Whether he’s posted in the right circle for a one-timer on a power play or he’s using defenders as screens on rush shots, one thing’s clear, Gauthier shoots to score. He can fit anywhere in the Ducks’ top-9 and may play alongside another rising star or two (Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish).
Vets Turning Back the Clock
Placing Greg Cronin behind the bench and infusing the Ducks’ roster with young talent has seemed to inspire several veterans on the team. Whether it’s Adam Henrique (33) on pace to set a career-high for points in a season (on pace for 55 points in 81 games), John Gibson (30) proving he’s still one of the most talented goaltenders in the NHL, or Jakob Silfverberg (33) adding offensive wrinkles to his game as we’ve never seen from him, several Ducks’ vets are playing as if they’re five years younger. Greg Cronin’s system rewards tenacity and intelligence and it’s fun to watch the veterans thriving in that environment. There aren’t any signs of slowing down from them either.
A Healthy Core
Heading into the 2023-24 season, there was a clear emphasis on developing the young talent the Ducks had accrued over the last several seasons. One could argue that the process was more important than the results so long as the young players made significant strides in their development. And there were to be a lot of young players on the roster. Trevor Zegras (22), Jamie Drysdale (21), Mason McTavish (21), Pavel Mintyukov (20), Leo Carlsson (19), Jackson LaCombe (23), B.O. Groulx (23), and Tristan Luneau (20) were all on the Ducks’ opening night roster.
A future core of a contending team was all set to play NHL hockey in 2023-24 until the injury bug hit. Zegras, Drysdale (before the trade), Carlsson, McTavish, and Mintyukov represented the team’s last five top-10 overall draft selections and they have all missed significant time this season due to injury. As it stands, Trevor Zegras is four weeks into an estimated 6-8 week recovery from a broken ankle suffered on Jan. 9 vs Nashville. In that same game, Pavel Mintyukov suffered a separated shoulder and was given an estimated recovery time of six weeks. The future core (the five players mentioned above) never played a game together. Barring further injury, once Cutter Gauthier signs his ELC and Zegras and Mintyukov return to the lineup, the Anaheim Ducks will finally be able to see a significant portion of the team’s future core on the ice together. A core that can make up a perennial Stanley Cup contender.
The 2023-24 season may not have gone the way many had hoped, but there are still several aspects to look forward to with the Anaheim Ducks. There have been ups, downs, growing pains, actual pains, and everything in between. There are a few things that are crystal clear in Anaheim; the future is bright and the present is fun. The final 30 games will be very telling as to the trajectory of the Anaheim Ducks moving forward.