The Hockey News’ Derek Lee reports from the Ducks’ morning skate.
IRVINE, Calif. - The Ducks went through morning skate in Southern California before heading up to San Jose for their first preseason game tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
Brock McGinn, who missed most of last season due to a back issue, is one of the Ducks in the lineup tonight. He underwent surgery in March and spent most of the summer rehabbing.
“I kind of was dealing with it a bit in camp and then tried to figure out a way to keep playing and battle through it for the majority of the year,” McGinn said. Came to the conclusion at the end of the year that the surgery was needed. It was successful and I think I had a good summer with rehab and everything, so it feels good.”
McGinn had a disc issue that was cleaned up via the surgery. He said he felt relief right away and changed his strength and conditioning program to keep his body from overloading. It’s the longest period in his NHL career that he’s ever been injured for.
“It’s really hard,” McGinn said when asked how it felt mentally being away from the ice for that long. “You want to play, you want to be in the dressing room every day. It’s tough to sit on the sidelines and watch and battle through something like that.”
"He tries to execute everything you ask him to do," head coach Greg Cronin said of McGinn. "He's a great teammate. He does all the little details, the gritty stuff that you need that puts a little bit of flesh on a team like blocking shots, finishing checks, going to the net front, takes short shifts. All those little things that I think are really important parts of a team's identity, he does them."
Brett Leason will center McGinn's line, a role he said he hasn't regularly played in seven years. Leason lined up as a center in the final game of last season and it appears he will continue to refine his game in that role for now.
"When I arrived at camp, (Cronin) told me he wanted to try me at wing still but to give it a shot at center and see how it goes," Leason said. "So I'm excited for the opportunity. Last game of the year, I played center and I feel I did well––generating a lot of speed and some chances––so I'm looking to build off that."
"Having a big, long body in the middle of the ice––I think––is a strength in the defensive zone," Cronin said. "His length and his reach will get to loose pucks quicker. He's a penalty killer, so I think he's got a defensive mindset that's going to strengthen our structure in the defensive zone.
"We played him (at center) in the last game of the year and I thought he played well. He gets lots of speed under the puck on breakouts. When you're on the wing, you're kind of stuck on the wall and then when you have an opportunity to build speed into the attack, you're coming across the ice. In the middle of the ice, you can drive plays. You can get the puck on your stick in the middle and kick it wide and drive the net. He can do some things with his big body that others can't."
Ducks Projected Lines
Nikita Nesterenko - Brett Leason - Brock McGinn
Boris Katchouk - Jansen Harkins - Carson Meyer
Pavol Regenda - Ryan Carpenter - Judd Caulfield
Yegor Sidorov - Carey Terrance - Travis Howe
Urho Vaakanainen - Gustav Lindström
Tyson Hinds - Noah Warren
Rodwin Dionicio - Mark Pysyk
Calle Clang - Oscar Dansk
Sharks Projected Lines
Barclay Goodrow - Will Smith - Fabian Zetterlund
Nikita Gushchin - Filip Bystedt - Luke Kunin
Justin Bailey - Colin White - Scott Sabourin
Tyler Toffoli - Alex Wennberg - Carl Grundström
Jake Walman - Jan Rutta
Jimmy Schuldt - Jack Thompson
Braden Haché - Joey Keane
Vitek Vanecek - Gabriel Carriere