Another trade deadline gone, more continued lack of direction from the Anaheim Ducks
Another trade deadline has passed by. Another trade deadline with limited, small moves from Anaheim Ducks General Manager Bob Murray.
We’re now on year three of watching the Anaheim Ducks sit in the basement of the league after the best run of success in franchise history. For most other teams significant changes would have happened by now with a consistently underperforming roster.
And yet, nearly half the current roster still with the club today were part of the last run of success for Anaheim. Valuable assets that could have been moved for pieces to help with the future of the team have been held on to, with their boss demanding value that doesn’t exactly line up with what the market dictates.
If any big moves were going to be made, this was the deadline to do it. Rumors swirled of teams asking about Rickard Rakell, Josh Manson, and Ryan Getzlaf (Getzlaf is the outlier here, with him committing to retiring a Duck and helping the next generation), and maybe more. All of whom could have brought back valuable pieces for Anaheim and moved up the timeline of the rebuild.
Instead, the only transactions were defenseman Ben Hutton to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 5th round pick, and defenseman Jani Hakanpaa and a 6th round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for defenseman Haydn Fleury.
To be clear, both of these trades were good deals for Anaheim. Turning Ben Hutton, a guy they got for free this season, into an asset is quality work. And Haydn Fleury, while not a star, is certainly an upgrade over Hakanpaa. However, winning both of these deals does not mean that this was a good deadline for Anaheim.
Data courtesy of JFresh Hockey.
Data courtesy of Evolving Hockey.
The overall goal of the trade deadline for the Ducks should have been acquiring draft picks and/or young, high upside prospects. Indeed, reports are that Murray was supposedly looking for young players who were close to NHL ready. But that obviously did not materialize, with no new prospects and coming out the other side of the deadline with the exact same amount of draft picks as they did previously.
It’s one thing to actively shop players looking for a good return and work out a deal that benefits both sides based on their current value (keyword current). It’s another thing to hang on to veterans who likely won’t factor into the next contention window and demand outrageous superstar prices for, well, not superstars.
Therein lies the most significant issue with Bob Murray’s handling of this franchise: an unwillingness to make the difficult decisions rebuilding a franchise requires. Whether from fear or from overvaluing assets, neither approach will get the Ducks back to contention, even with the emergence of Trevor Zegras and Jamie Dysdale.
It’s not like a fair market didn’t exist for Rakell and Manson. Defenseman David Savard, who is fairly comparable to Manson, got a 1st and a 3rd. A good value for a quality second pairing defenseman. Nick Folgino, who is older, a pending UFA, and worse than Rakell, got a 1st and a 4th. It’s hard to believe that Murray couldn’t have gotten that and more for both of these players, especially considering their cheap contracts and the fact that the team trading for them would have two potential playoff runs.
There are those who believe that hanging on to both of these players was the right move and that they can still contribute to the team. The problem is this: they’re currently on the team – along with several other veterans on expensive deals – and they have multiple years of basement-dwelling to show for it. They’re not bad players by any stretch, but they clearly do not solve the issue of turning the Ducks back into a winning team. And as they get older, the chances of them becoming better than they already are plummeting.
The bottom line is that Bob Murray held several of the most valuable assets on the trade market coming into Monday’s deadline. He could have fairly assessed their value and strove for a deal that helped the future of this club, while also benefiting a playoff contender in demand of a proven veteran’s services for two possible playoff runs.
He instead decided to add a mid-late pick and spend a late pick and a depth defenseman for a third pairing blueliner, and nothing else. It’s another indication that there is no coherent, logical plan to get this franchise back to its winning ways.
Now, with the expansion draft coming up for a Seattle team that is heavily investing into analytics right out of the gate, the Ducks run the risk of losing another good player for nothing, instead of gaining some kind of asset for them. Yes, they can still be on the move this off-season. But their value will be lower due to having only one remaining year on their contract before hitting UFA status.
Unless a significant organizational philosophy change comes quickly, either through personnel or otherwise, the Ducks could very well be destined to several years of mediocrity: not good enough to consistently make the playoffs, yet not bad enough to gain high-value assets in the draft or the trade market.