Three Things the Anaheim Ducks should do by the Trade Deadline
Nearly half of the Anaheim Ducks 2021-2022 season has been completed, and the Ducks have come crashing back down to earth. Their recent play has not been what it was earlier this season, due to many factors. We’re not here to talk about why, but about how they should react. With the March 21st, 2022 trade deadline fast approaching, Interim General Manager Jeff Solomon has many questions needing answers. Here is my list of three things that the Anaheim Ducks should do by the trade deadline.
1. Sell, sell, sell
The biggest decision the Anaheim Ducks have to make in the coming weeks is whether or not they are willing to move on from some long-time fan-favorite players in an attempt to improve their roster and pave the way to becoming a dominant force once again in the Pacific Division. The biggest question marks loom over pending unrestricted free agents Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, and Rickard Rakell. The trio of UFAs are the players the Ducks should be looking to move just from a pure asset management standpoint.
Manson is 30 years old and is past his prime years. The 6’3’’ defender has been plagued by injuries over the past few seasons which has led to some poor play on the ice. With Bob Murray gone, it is very possible the Ducks finally move him for whatever they can get. Regarding Manson, Elliotte Friedman noted that “Your wife doesn’t love you as much as the Ducks love him”. It’s no secret that former Ducks GM Bob Murray loved grit and size. The only thing stopping the Ducks from moving him is his modified no-trade clause, where Manson can submit a list of 12 teams he cannot be moved to.
For Lindholm and Rakell, it’s a different story. They are both top players and producers and on very team-friendly deals. Lindholm sits at a cap hit under $6 million and Rakell sits just over $3 million. Both players though are due significant raises this summer and with their ages not quite fitting Anaheim’s next contending window, it doesn’t make sense to hold on to these players. Lindholm will be 28 at the end of the season and Rakell will be 29. These are players that can bring in assets (prospects/picks) that then allow you to flip assets in a trade to improve the roster. Jakob Chychrun, defenseman for the Arizona Coyotes, is available on the trade block. He will be 24 years old at the end of the season and would be an excellent replacement for Hampus Lindholm. He is signed through the 2024-2025 season at $4.6 million. He has had a down year, but it’s hard to not expect that based on how bad the Coyotes have been. Bringing in Chychrun gives the Ducks more cap space flexibility for the next couple of seasons, while also ensuring that their defensive core stays intact.
In the end, the Ducks need to be aggressive in trying to move these assets.Moving them now could mean quicker and more sustainable post-season success in the future for Anaheim.
2. Keep their 2022 and 2023 1st-round picks intact
The next two drafts are supposed to be some of the deepest drafts in recent memory. The Ducks should absolutely keep their own draft picks intact and not trade them away to win sooner. They have plenty of talent coming up the pipelines, but that never guarantees success at the NHL level (see: Sam Steel). Even if the Ducks are picking in the bottom 15 of the draft, they should make the picks. In deep drafts, you can find franchise players later in rounds (see: Corey Perry). Obviously, you’re not expecting to get a franchise player in that spot, but you should be able to find a good impact NHLer at any spot in the first round over the next two seasons.
3. Trim The Fat
As mentioned above, the Ducks have a plethora of talent waiting in the wings. They even have three of the top 100 prospects according to The Hockey Writers. Those three are Sasha Pastujov (#63), Jacob Perreault (#24), and Mason McTavish (#11). The latter two of these have both played in at least one game with Anaheim already this season and did not look out of place. Braden Tracey has also made big strides in San Diego this season. It’s time for Anaheim to start cutting the fat out and making room for these players.
Whether it’s via a trade or a waivers move, it’s time to start letting the youth movement take full reigns. They need to move on from players like Derek Grant and Nicolas Deslauriers. Grant has had a very poor season, even on the penalty kill - which many of his supporters say is the single reason he is needed on the team. The Ducks have responsible players that can handle this role. Per Evolving-Hockey Derek Grant provides negative value to the Ducks on the PK with a -0.9 SH defense GAR, and Nicolas Deslauriers is also negative value on the PK with a -0.2 SH defense GAR (GAR is a goal above replacement model that compares players to a replacement-level player). The Ducks actually have a readymade replacement for the PK duties in Sam Carrick, who is the player everyone thinks Derek Grant is. Carrick has posted a 0.5 SH defense GAR in very limited sample size on the PK.
To say you need to keep Grant and Deslauriers to kill penalties is just a criminally wrong take when they are providing negative value on the penalty kill this season on the team. Then when you look at their 5v5 numbers the picture gets even worse. Deslauriers and Grant are the two worst Ducks in xGF% at 5v5 with a min TOI of 200 minutes, Grant at 41.42%, and Deslauriers at 42.94%. So what you have are players who are bad at the PK and even worse at five on five. It’s time for the Ducks to double down on these kids to see what they have. The Ducks are close to becoming a competitive team again, and they can help themselves by getting rid of the anchors that are holding them back from being better right now.