5 Takeaways: Series loss against Wild prompts Henrique waivers, Zegras call up
It’s safe to say that last weekend’s series against the Minnesota Wild was a turning point of sorts for the Anaheim Ducks. Consecutive 3-1 losses that likely could have been much worse has triggered a slew of significant changes within the organization. These are my five takeaways from this series.
1. Henrique singled out
The morning after Friday night’s loss, the shocking announcement came that the Ducks had placed Adam Henrique on waivers. Henrique is in just the second season of a five year, $5.825 million AAV contract signed in 2018. While he hasn’t exactly performed to expectations this year (very few Anaheim players have), he has had decent on-ice playdriving metrics that are actually some of the better ones on the team.
It’s clear that his contract is a problem for a rebuilding team: signed by a middle-six center when the Ducks were pretty clearly on the downswing from a long run of success. But waiving him and (presumably) trying to work out a trade when his value is at his lowest instead of at its highest during a career year last season highlights an extremely worrying pattern of poor asset management by the Ducks in a time when asset management is absolutely essential for a rebuilding team.
The tale of this transaction in light of Friday’s loss, whether intentional or not, was that Henrique was one of the skaters responsible for the Ducks underperformance and current position at the bottom of the West Division. The true story, however, is that Henrique has performed as expected for the type of player that he is, and that his general manager would rather put him in a position with his contract and team role to fail then blame him for their lack of success instead of looking in the mirror.
2. Sustainability is the name of the game
The series against the Wild proved the eternal statistical truth that is sample size. And quality of competition. It was fair to wonder if the Ducks had turned a corner earlier in the month of February, playing overall good hockey with a clear change in process reflected in both the standings and the stat sheet.
But the truth is that only a few games and weak/injured opponents does not a playoff team make. With the top three playoff spots widely considered to be locked up, the Wild were one of the teams the Ducks had to prove they could take down to grab the final position. After this weekend, it’s clear that they were not up to the task.
3. Youngsters leading the way
If there’s one positive to take away from last weekend, it’s that the kids are proving themselves to be the best on the team at the moment. That may not be a particularly strong statement given the dismal five total goals scored in the last four games on the worst offensive team in the NHL. But all but one of those five goals came off the stick of one of Anaheim’s 23 and younger players, with the fifth being primarily created by another young player.
Two kids in particular stood out in the Wild series: Sam Steel and Max Jones. Steel scored the only goal in Friday’s game and had several more chances, while Max Jones showed plenty of forechecking and possession skill while being on the bad end of some puck luck. Both players were above 65 xGF% in both games according to Evolving Hockey, driving some of the highest quality chances the team had. As mentioned previously, it’s a small sample size, but neither of these players have had many games like this in their young careers so far, and good results should be celebrated.
4. Gibson taking a step back
Let me first say that John Gibson deserves so much better. I think we can all agree on this. The man has been arguably the only reason the Ducks have won any games at all over the past three seasons and has carried the team on his back as the rest of the ice crumbles around him.
Unfortunately Gibson wasn’t particularly great against the Wild. A -1.44 GSAx in the series isn’t terrible and wouldn’t make a ton of difference given the complete lack of offense the team had, but it goes to show that with a goaltender that is only human instead of psycho brick wall, there’s nothing for this team to hide behind.
5. It’s Zegras time
The lifeless Wild series has spurred big changes in Anaheim heading into tonight’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes. One of those changes will be the NHL debut of mega-prospect Trevor Zegras. The Ducks have had some hyped prospects in recent years making their debut, like Nick Ritchie, Shea Theodore, and Troy Terry. None of them have the hype behind them like Zegras does.
Zegras is probably the first game-breaking prospect the Ducks have had since Bobby Ryan. Anyone who watched him during the World Juniors or with the San Diego Gulls can tell that this kid is next-level. A guy who can, and will, take over a game and force his team to score whether they like it or not.
It’s important to remember that Zegras is not going to be the lone answer to the Ducks issues. The chances of him instantly making them contenders is slim to nil. It’s also important to keep in mind that the 20-year-old has seen a meteoric rise in competition in such a short span. From USHL to NCAA to WJC to AHL to NHL all in the span of a year and a half. It’s extremely rare that hockey players can effectively make that kind of jump.
With all those caveats out in the open, what Zegras will likely bring at a minimum is a sense of excitement on the ice this team has lacked for a long time. He represents hope; a new symbol for a beaten down fanbase as the Anaheim Ducks start to see, what many hope, to be the very beginnings of a newer, more successful era in franchise history.