Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek addressed the media following Friday’s trade deadline. Friday was quiet for the Ducks, who didn’t get any deals done, but were active on Thursday when they shipped Brian Dumoulin to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick and prospect Herman Traff (91st overall in 2024). They also brought in depth defenseman Oliver Kylington from the New York Islanders for future considerations.
Ducks Trade Brian Dumoulin to the New Jersey Devils
Ducks Acquire Oliver Kylington from the New York Islanders
Here’s what Verbeek had to say:
Questions and answers may be edited for clarity
How many other trades did you come close to making in this deadline period?
There’s a lot of talk, but nothing ever got to where I would consider serious and start negotiating. Really, nothing.
Did this deadline set up to be that active for you?
Not really. We kind of looked around to see. Talk to all the teams and see if there are things that they’re considering. We looked at a lot of different things, things you kind of noodle around with, and see if it makes sense or it doesn’t make sense.
I think once I got the Brian Dumoulin trade in place, it was really just kind of a “kick the tires” sort of thing the rest of the time.
New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned the trade had been in the works for a while. What pushed it over the finish line?
I think the decision was a hard one. I really wanted to give the team the longest chance to get through those two games (against the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks) and see if we could win. We go into Edmonton, win, and then see what could happen in Vancouver.
I delayed as long as I could as far as making the deal. At the end, I was kicking it around, probably after Vancouver, I decided to really pull the trigger on it.
Was the alternative option to keep Dumoulin as an “own rental”?
No, no. I talked to his agent a little bit and when I talked to Brian the next day, when they got back (from Vancouver), I told him we would explore talks this summer and see where it goes if he makes it to UFA.
He’s been an awesome individual. He’s just a really good man on and off the ice. He was great for our young kids, mentoring them and taking care of them off the ice as well. He was just a quality person and I was really glad that I got to meet Brian.
What kind of impact did Dumoulin have on the young defensemen on the roster?
It was great. He’s a leader, a quiet leader, but he goes about his business in a manner. He talks to these guys, has them over to dinner. I think back to when older players did that with me, it just makes you feel special and important. Young players never forget that. It was important for us to get Brian in here. I knew how high of a quality person he was, but I didn’t realize it until he got here and started going and being involved in our group.
How do you think the trade will help Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov?
When you’re a young player and you’ve been playing and you get pulled out of the lineup, sometimes there are reasons you get pulled out and other times you don’t deserve to come out of the lineup. It’s puzzling to young players and it wrecks their confidence. At some point, I don’t want that anymore.
We’ve gotten to a point here, I’m excited with where our team is right now. It was our goal to be fighting for a playoff spot, and here we are. I want the young players to go through this. This is an important part of the development process, to play meaningful games, to understand the pressure. We’re going to be playing teams that are fighting just as hard as we are, so it’s important that they go through it.
Is the plan to have Zellweger as more of a regular and have Kylington as the seventh defenseman?
That will ultimately be the coach’s decision, but yeah that’s sort of how it sets up.
What will Kylington bring when he is in the lineup?
He’s a guy that gets up the ice. KE plays with a lot of speed, skates very well, and a couple of seasons ago, played very well in Calgary. I know this player and felt comfortable in the deal to get him. Especially if one of our defensemen goes down, we won’t miss a beat, we can insert him in the lineup and just keep going.
How do you see Tristan Luneau’s development progressing?
Well, he’s really grown. He didn’t play a lot of hockey last year and we got to the point where we made the decision to leave him in San Diego. We’re going to let him keep going. There are little details that he needs to keep working on in his game and he’s doing a fabulous job offensively, which is something he did in junior and he’s continuing to do it.
There aren’t many kids since the early 80s that have been able to produce the numbers he has as a rookie. So, we’re excited for him, but we’re just going to slow-develop him for the rest of this year, anyway.
What pieces need to be added to this team to take another jump going forward?
If I’m looking at things, I’d like our group to be able to score more. If you look at the top teams, they socre a minimum of 250 goals and that’s something we’re going to look at, more goal-scoring in the future.
We’re hoping that our young players continue to keep taking steps. I think since the break, our young players have really taken a step and actually carried this team. I hope they can continue to do so over these next 20 games, and it will give us good insight for hopefully making the playoffs and then good insight for next season and what we need to do througout the summer.
How would you evaluate the team’s progression through the course of the season?
There are a couple of things you can look back on last year, and I think it was culture shock for the group. I think it was culture shock for the group, and the accountability that they were required to have. I think coming into this year, they knew what the expectations were. It was a different mindset for he players to come into.
We’ve tweaked a little bit, some of our system things, and they slowly got used to playing with each other, understanding how to play. If our special teams were better on both sides, this team would be in the playoffs. We’d be sitting in a playoff spot.
I liken it to a golf game, where one day you’ve got the driving and the putting going, but your approach shots stink. That’s kind of how I see it right now with our group. We’ve got the five-on-five going and now we’ve got to get going in the special teams department. There are things that are constantly evolving. Sometimes the power play will be going, but our five-on-five won’t. It’s a constant battle, but I feel confident in the group that they’re grasping all the things they’re being asked to and we’re gaining traction.
I think the young players have really started to understand the responsibilities defensively and now it’s time to gain traction offensively.
Jackson LaCombe, it certainly looks like he’s kind of taking off like a rocket ship here. Did you foresee this kind of a jump?
I wouldn’t say no. What you’re seeing is how he played in college his last year. The ability and how he plays is there. This isn’t an easy league in. Last year, Jackson was kind of in and out, struggling to find his confidence (and) understanding that playing an 82 game schedule is completely different than playing, at most, a 40 game schedule. I think you’re seeing that with Cutter (Gauthier) too. The college hockey game, you don’t play as many games. It’s an adjustment not only mentally but physically. Having him go through that last year (and) understanding what he had to do this summer. He looked great in training camp and then he got sick and kind of took a step back. To be honest, once Drew Helleson seemed to get here, his game just took off like what you said, a rocket ship, it just took off. I think having Helly here, who’s been a lifelong friend (of LaCombe’s), has been really helpful for Jackson.
What do you like about the prospect coming back from New Jersey (Herman Träff) in the Dumoulin trade?
He’s a big kid who has some nice skill. He has hockey sense. He plays with an edge, and he’s a big kid. And I like that. He’s got an aggressive attitude when it comes to his physical game. Another piece that we can kind of look at to add to this team in the future.
Leo Carlsson had a real good jump out of the (4 Nations) break. What have you noticed in his growth this season?
Defensively, he’s been really solid. Coming back from 4 Nations, playing against the best players, seeing what the best players from his country do, seeing the best players from Canada, the U.S. I think it was a confidence thing in the sense that he realizes that he can play against those players, right? And I thought the game that he played, he played extremely well. It was great. I thought his pace was good. It just makes me really excited for our future. Confidence is a funny thing. These kids have to realize that they can do it. But I think the other thing with Leo coming out (the break) is that he’s had a more aggressive mindset with his shooting. You’re starting to see him shoot the puck a lot more versus passing the puck. That leads to another thing: being confident to want to shoot the puck to score. He’s got a great shot, it just frustrates me sometimes seeing him not shoot the puck when he can shoot the puck. His mindset has been completely different since he got back and it’s been great.
Coming back to the deadline, do you think it went quiet for you guys in part because you didn’t see a lot of players with term move for picks or futures. There were mostly hockey trades and rentals. Were you looking at guys with term?
Only if I felt they could improve the team. But, honestly, I’m happy with this group. I like this group. I believe in this group. Are we going (look at guys with term) in the future? Probably. We’re always looking to improve; that’s our mindset here. At the same time, (we’re) allowing our young guys to keep pushing ahead in development. We’re going to see how this group can do in the last 20 games, I’m excited for this group.
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