For several years, the jewel of the Anaheim Ducks' prospect pipeline had been the deep and potent defense corps, and it remains a supremely enticing group.
Names like Jackson LaCombe, Jamie Drysdale, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, Tristan Luneau, and Stian Solberg have all tantalized at one point or another as potential top-pair stars, with others like Drew Helleson, Tyson Hinds, Noah Warren, Ian Moore, among others, who could one day fill complementary roles beside those dynamic talents.
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Drysdale has since been traded, and LaCombe took a substantial step in 2024-25, becoming the team’s number-one defenseman, but perhaps the two most offensively gifted defensemen of the bunch struggled a year ago and may have seen some of the shine wear off: Zellweger (22) and Mintyukov (21).
Under a coach who was hesitant to play defensemen on their off-side, Greg Cronin, the Ducks rostered five left-shot defensemen to start the season, creating a considerable logjam and leaving either Zellweger or Mintyukov in the press box every night until it was relieved slightly by trading Cam Fowler in Dec. and completely by trading Brian Dumoulin at the trade deadline.
Zellweger and Mintyukov are former “Defenseman of the Year” award winners in the WHL and OHL, respectively, in 2022-23. Zellweger won the award in 2021-22 as well, along with “Defenseman of the Year” honors in the entire CHL in 2022-23.
Both players are exceptionally talented, especially on the offensive side of the puck, but represented square pegs in the round hole of a system implemented by Cronin, a system that’s proven successful elsewhere, but simply nonconductive to the roster assembled in Anaheim.
Zellweger and Mintyukov played muted styles with pucks on their sticks, an area of typical strength for the pair, seemingly hesitant to make mistakes for fear of winding up a healthy scratch for the following game.
Zellweger finished with 20 points (7-13=20) in 62 games, and Mintyukov notched 19 (5-14=19) in 68.
The Ducks parted ways with Cronin days after the Ducks' final 2024-25 regular season game and replaced him with Joel Quenneville less than a month later, who would bring with him a mostly new coaching staff and on-ice systems.
The Ducks previously struggled with Cronin’s (and Eakins’ before him) man-to-man defensive zone coverage system, finishing near the bottom of every defensive category over the last three seasons.
Quenneville and newly hired Ryan McGill, who will be running the defensemen and penalty kill, will be implementing a zone-pressure defensive system, focusing on support, outnumbering attackers along the walls, and killing cycles early.
"I think it’s been pretty seamless,” Zellweger told THN.com/anaheim on Saturday at training camp. “I’ve played both systems on different junior teams. I think the thing with man-on-man is sometimes you get outmatched, whether it’s yourself or someone who’s out there with you.
“Maybe it’s not a skill issue, maybe a guy’s tired or something like that. I think that this system eliminates that uncertainty, and that’s why there’s less hesitation. Guys are on the same page, shutting down plays earlier and more aggressively.”
The Ducks held two scrimmages on Friday and Saturday during their training camp sessions. While not an environment to make overarching conclusions, the pair was noticeably involved and impactful through the durations of those skates.
“I think it’s more simple, so everybody knows what to do. You spend less energy and kill plays faster,” Mintyukov told The Sporting Tribune when asked about the new systems. “It’s one of the most important things because if you get the puck, you play offense and you dominate.”
Quenneville and Jay Woodcroft, hired to run the forwards and power play, seemingly encourage more activation from defensemen and prioritize puck possession in the offensive zone rather than funneling pucks to the crease at will.
“I can already feel that a bit. It’s organized, but there’s a sense of freedom where you can create and make plays where you can,” Zellweger continued. “I think the D-zone suits me pretty well because I like to be aggressive and on guys hard. I think there’s less hesitation for us defensemen there.”
The benefits of a potentially development-stifling logjam now relieved, compounded with newly implemented systems and priorities, could have cleared the paths for the pair of young, talented defensemen to not only get their development back on track but also excel in the process.
Ducks Head Coach Joel Quenneville Speaks at Training Camp