Having spent a couple of days in Anaheim last year, I can tell you personally how sleepy of a suburb it can be. There’s nothing going on there except for Disneyland, the Angels and the Ducks. Well, the Ducks must have fallen into the same trap I did as for most of the season, they looked like they were asleep most nights and in the process, were wasting the numerous amount of talent they have on paper.
A team that can put out a line combination of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan should not find themselves in 11th place of the Western Conference. The only excuse that they could come up with would be a lack of depth outside the top line. However, the Ducks could put out a second line out of four talented players: Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Joffrey Lupul and Jason Blake.
The problem for this team was not an inability to score goals. They finished 7th in the league in goals scored and received good production from their top forwards. Their problem was an inability to stay out of the penalty box and a lack of productivity from their defence corps. Not offensive productivity, but just a lack of ability to keep opponents from scoring.
And if you think the Ducks were able to make their defence any better by moves in the off-season, you’re completely wrong. Their defence corps took a big hit in the off-season with the loss of Scott Niedermayer due to retirement and James Wisniewski to the New York Islanders. The two of them were the two highest scoring defensemen for the Ducks last season.
They did try to cover up the holes by bringing in Toni Lydman and Andy Sutton through free agency. But the former Buffalo Sabre and Ottawa Senator are just not enough to make them a competent defence corps. It’s debatable that Lydman, Sutton and Lubomir Visnovsky represent the only NHL-calibre defensemen on this hockey club.
This does not bode well for the hockey club, but specifically Jonas Hiller or any other goaltender that’s between the pipes for the Ducks. Hiller was so good for the Ducks last year despite being on such a bad team that he took the starting spot away from J.S. Giguere. Hiller won 30 of 59 games last season with a 2.73 GAA and a 920 save percentage.
Two players to look out for in camp are Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake. Selanne had a great season despite being at an age where players are supposed to be broken down. Selanne scored 27 goals and 48 points in 54 games last year, but can he possibly duplicate that kind of production? He has to hit the veteran wall at some point. Many people were shocked to see Blake be picked up by another team after his lack of production with the Leafs, but Blake scored 15 points in 26 games for the Ducks. If he could offer consistent production, it would be a nice bonus for a club that will need all the help it can get.