We just passed the second anniversary of the Anaheim Ducks appointing Pat Verbeek as their General Manager. Let's take a look at his decisions when it comes to the man behind the Ducks' bench.

Saturday marked the second anniversary (Feb 3, 2022) of the Anaheim Ducks hiring Pat Verbeek as their General Manager. He was brought into the organization on the precipice of an inflection point. The team had seemingly attempted to stave off a rebuild for as long as they could but were trending toward missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season at the halfway mark of the 2021-22 season.

Dallas Eakins, the head coach at the time, was in the third and final year of his contract which held a club option for a fourth. The team had played well in stretches during the 2021-22 season and had a 23-16-9 record when Verbeek took over in the front office. The team only won four more games between then and the trade deadline and Verbeek decided to move on from three high-profile pending UFAs (Unrestricted Free Agents) and members of the now former core of the team (Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, and Josh Manson). The team finished the year with a record of 31-37-14 (76 pts), which was good enough for 7th in the Pacific division and 23rd in the overall NHL standings. Verbeek picked up Eakins’ contract option for the 2022-23 season. 

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“Dallas has done this job under difficult circumstances and deserves the opportunity to continue coaching this team,” Verbeek said in a statement after the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. 

The 2022-23 season went on to be the worst in franchise history. The Ducks ended their season with a 23-47-12 (58 pts) record and finished at the bottom of the NHL standings. That team was the worst defensive team in the modern era (post 2004-05 lockout) allowing 335 goals against. Dallas Eakins was not brought back as head coach.

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On June 5, 2023, the Anaheim Ducks hired Greg Cronin (60) to be the team’s new head coach. Reports indicated Pat Verbeek cast a wide net before landing on Cronin to take the helm of his team. Cronin had spent the last three and a half decades coaching as either an assistant coach in the NCAA, AHL, and NHL or as a head coach in the NCAA and AHL. The Ducks’ job was to be his first crack at head coaching in the NHL.

“I was looking for someone that could develop a culture with high standards, compete, work ethic, and accountability,” Pat Verbeek said at Greg Cronin’s introductory press conference.

Greg Cronin believes honesty and personal connection with a player is paramount to getting the most out of them on the ice. “If your practice habits are not good, they’re going to follow you into the game,” Cronin said. “You coach the person, not the player, first. So that relationship is critical.”

Cronin is a student of the game, consistently watching hours upon hours of game film. He enjoys how hockey evolves and believes in innovation. He cherry-picks what he likes stylistically from successful teams around the league.

The Ducks roster has sustained injuries to several key pieces for their future, but the culture and effort level of the team is trending toward where Cronin and Verbeek ultimately want it. The systems designed and implemented by Cronin don’t give the players another option than to give full effort every second of the game. They deploy a high-pressure 2-1-2 offensive zone forecheck, a shadowing 1-2-2 neutral zone forecheck, and a man-to-man defensive zone coverage scheme. If a player were to lose focus or intensity for a split second, it could result in a chance the other way. This is where the honesty and trust that are preached become functional.

Greg Cronin’s NHL head coaching career is just 50 games in, but he seems to be getting out of the young roster what Pat Verbeek intended when he was hired. It will be curious to see how the young core players progress in the years to come and what adjustments Cronin will make if and when he deems adjustments are necessary.

The Ducks currently have an 18-30-2 record at the All-Star break. It’s been an up-and-down season full of growing pains and injury. There doesn’t seem to be any cause for concern, however, regarding Pat Verbeek’s first coaching hire as General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks.

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