The Anaheim Ducks announced on Thursday that Joel Quenneville will become the 12th head coach in franchise history.
Ducks Name Joel Quenneville Head Coach
Ducks Part Ways with Thompson, Clune
Quenneville (66) is the second-winningest coach in NHL history (969 regular season wins) and has won the most Stanley Cups (3) since the turn of the century.
He hasn’t coached a game since Oct. 27, 2021, when he resigned as head coach of the Florida Panthers after the conclusion of an independent investigation into the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks, where Quenneville served as head coach.
Quenneville, along with executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIssac, was reinstated on July 1, 2024, after nearly a three-year ban from the NHL.
By the time the 2025-26 regular season commences, Quenneville will have not coached a game in nearly four full years, and he will be the oldest coach in the NHL (unless one of the current six vacancies is filled by an elder candidate). It would be understandable to question what he will bring to the talented, young Ducks roster from an on-ice perspective.
Between the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, the trimmed-down bubble schedule in 2020-21, and his seven games in 2021-22, Quenneville never coached a full season for the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers lost in the qualifying round of the 2020 playoffs, lost in the first round 4-2 to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 playoffs, and (without Quenneville for all but seven games) won the 2021-22 President’s Trophy, but lost in the second round 4-0 to the Eastern Conference champion Lightning.
It can be difficult to gauge what tactics, systems, brand, etc. Quenneville will establish with the 2025-26 Anaheim Ducks, but we can deduce a few aspects from his time behind the bench for those Panthers teams.
Disclaimer: It’s nearly impossible to decipher how much responsibility a head coach carries in terms of tactics and how much is delegated to their assistant coaches. It’s very much a collaborative effort, and each team goes about that process differently.
We’re going to take a look at the early 2021-22 Panthers for this exercise, the most recent games Quenneville coached.
Defense
The (early) 2021-22 Panthers, unlike the Panthers from the last three seasons (2022-2025), ran a box-plus-one/zone defensive zone coverage scheme. They kept opposing cycles to the perimeter and relied more on instincts to disrupt and create turnovers.
The front of the net is never left unprotected, and all five players are in position to get to loose pucks along the wall first.
Centers and support were/are the keys to making this scheme successful, timing their help to battles and anticipating how pucks would bounce free.
The most substantial benefit from this is predictability on the breakout, a considerable weakness of Ducks teams in the recent past.
Transition
Quenneville’s teams have always deployed the standard forechecks of the era. The Panthers ran a 2-1-2 offensive zone forecheck and a 1-2-2 in the neutral zone. As with the defensive zone, they relied on instincts and anticipation to manufacture turnovers and counter quickly.
Predictability once possession is won in the defensive zone leads to clean exits and more rush opportunities. When a winger wins a wall battle, they instinctively know when and where their center will provide support. Defensemen know their options after retrieval, rendering outlets quicker and more precise.
Skating pucks through the neutral zone and gaining the offensive blueline with possession was a priority for those teams. Players would only chip pucks deep and establish a forecheck as a last option, often utilizing their defensemen in the neutral zone to regroup rather than forcing plays north.
Defensemen were as involved as forwards in transition, an aspect that will benefit the dynamic young blueliners on the Ducks roster like Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov.
Cycle
Player movement, active defensemen, and creativity were staples of Quenneville’s Panthers in the offensive zone, while still valuing and driving to the net.
Maintaining puck possession was prioritized over winning them back after funneling to the net from every angle, hoping for positive bounces.
The Ducks' youngest and most talented forwards, like Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Trevor Zegras, and Mason McTavish, are all more impactful with pucks on their sticks and their feet moving. This brand in the offensive zone could benefit them greatly.
Assistant Coaches
Quenneville’s assistant coaches during his time with the Panthers were Andrew Brunette, Derek MacKenzie, and Ulf Samuelsson (for the final two seasons).
Brunette is now the head coach of the Nashville Predators, and MacKenzie is one of his assistants. They implement many of the same concepts as those Florida teams, so it could be deduced that they were responsible for a lot of their tactics.
Whoever Quenneville and Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek hire as assistant coaches will be essential not only to special teams but to 5v5 play as well.
Philosophy
Tactics and systems are ever-evolving, but Quenneville has always catered to his rosters instead of the other way around.
Whether with the Colorado Avalanche of the mid-aughts, the dynasty Blackhawks of the 2010s, or in his stint with the Panthers, Quenneville has always prioritized up-tempo, dynamic offense built from meticulous and supportive defense.
High levels of trust and diligence as individuals and as a unit are paramount if success is to be found within this structure, but Quenneville has always elevated his rosters in those regards.
The Ducks have established a baseline for defensive habits and attention to detail over the last two seasons. The time has come to unleash the full potential of their exceptional offensive skill, an area Quenneville has found success in the past.