The Ducks Waive Derek Grant and Greg Pateryn
The Anaheim Ducks have placed Derek Grant and Greg Pateryn on waivers.
I repeat the Anaheim Ducks have placed Derek Grant, who has the second-most ice time of any center on the team in all situations and led the Ducks forwards in time on ice in all situations last night, on waivers. To say this is a surprise would be an understatement.
Grant has been an anchor around the neck of the Ducks franchise for parts of the last five seasons, and yet the franchise kept thinking he was providing enough value where they would find ways to bring him back after leaving. This includes giving him a three year deal worth $1.5 million annually just a year ago. He has not provided a positive impact on the ice for the Ducks outside of the penalty kill for the past few seasons.
Image courtesy of Evolving-Hockey
Image courtesy of JFresh
None of this information is new. He has been a below replacement level player for most of his time with the Ducks. So why is this move happening now, when the team signed him to his three year deal worth $1.5 million annually just one year ago?
I believe there are a few things at play here. His play took a dive last year from being just below replacement level to being significantly below replacement level. I think that the management group saw that partnered with his play in the first two games of the season and thought that something had to change.
Another important piece of information for this decision is that the Anaheim Ducks let it be known over the summer to Crash The Pond that they have restructured how they are going to do things internally. And a part of that is Jeff Solomon building an analytics department. Bob Murray even went on record with the Orange County Register to state the following:
“We had some people and we had some numbers,” Murray said of embracing analytics. “Since Jeff has come on board, the way he explains it to me and talks about it, I understand certain things a lot more. Certain things, when they’d say them to me, I’d say, ‘Hold on. I just watched that game. That’s not what I saw.’
“But (Solomon) explains it more and it can definitely back up some of your thought process and open your eyes to others. I like what shows what lines are good together, what defense pairs are good together. I like that because it reaffirms in my mind who can work well together.”
With that in mind this appears to be a move geared towards that. As the charts above show, Derek Grant has been a below replacement level player for quite a while, and anyone with a solid understanding of analytics could see that. With Solomon having a better understanding and ability to communicate what the numbers are showing, Murray could have finally understood the negative drag that Grant was having on the roster.
The final piece of this is the rebuild. Murray and the Ducks have made no qualms this summer communicating to the fan base that they understand they are in a rebuild. A part of that is moving on from aging pieces, both the good ones that can net you value in a trade and the bad ones that are taking roster spot from younger players. Derek Grant was the latter. Now that he has been waived and will most likely either be claimed or sent to the Gulls, a roster spot will be open for a guy like Sam Steel or Sonny Milano or even Jacob Perreault.
Bob Murray has admitted that signing Grant to this deal a year ago was a mistake by making this move. This is a positive sign that the rebuild is on. Now it is important for the Ducks and Murray to continue this line of thinking when it comes to their pending UFAs.
Also, it should not be lost in all of this that Greg Pateryn going on waivers will accomplish a similar thing to Grant going on waivers. If Pateryn clears and is sent to the Gulls, or is claimed, that should open up a spot in the lineup for Josh Mahura. Mahura playing is more beneficial for the long term outlook of the franchise.