The Anaheim Ducks have been oh so close to getting back to the promise land, Stanley Cup Final.
Until last season the Los Angeles Kings were the bane of the Ducks’ existence. But last season it was Chicago Blackhawks who ended the dream for the Ducks in an agonizing Western Conference final that saw the Hawks move on to capture their third Cup in six years.
Anton Khudobin – Photo by Jack Lima
For Anaheim, the window of opportunity is closing with the bulwark of their offense all older than 30 and now showing signs of age and wear and tear from the annual grind.
Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler are still forces to be reckoned but the club needs youth injected in the lineup to prepare for the inevitable.
The Ducks have been longing for a return to the Final since winning it nine years back when many of the roster’s stars were mere youngsters.
But the Ducks have also managed to put together another solid corps while keeping the salary lines to a frugal level. They have a little more than $7 million to spend on the cap.
Over the off season they saw a number of players leave including Francois Beauchemin, Matt Beleskey, Emerson Etem, Sheldon Souray, Jason LaBarbera, Tomas Fleischmann
But they also added solid replacements including Kevin Bieksa, Carl Hagelin, Mike Santorelli, Chris Stewart, Anton Khudobin, Shawn Horcoff.
The weakness of the club may be in net where Frederick Andersen had a fine regular season and adequate first two rounds of the post season. His club bailed him out and helped reach the Conference Final before the Blackhawks ruined everything with an offensive blitz that left Andersen shaky at best and the Ducks flying north for the summer. John Gibson was used sparingly in the season campaign and Anaheim added former Carolina Hurricanes netminder, Anton Khudobin. Gibson was signed to a three-year extension in the off season.
Patrick Maroon moves up ice – Photo by Jack Lima
Can Andersen improve on last year and can he shake the demons of Hawks buzzing in his head?
At forward, the usual suspects of Perry, Kesler and captain Getzlaf will be supported this season by newly acquired Hagelin from the New York Rangers (who became an expensive option the Blueshirts could not sign) and Chris Stewart who skated with the Minnesota Wild last season.
Jakob Silfverberg was a regular star in the season and post season and his youth (24-years of age) will be sorely needed and relied on this season.
The Ducks were +10 on goal differential last season and the goalies need to step up certainly but the defense needs a measure of improvement. The top-six defense includes Simone Despres, Cam Fowler, Kevin Bieksa, Hampus Lindholm, Clayton Stoner, and Sami Vatanen.
There is plenty to be optimistic about in Anaheim but three straight losses in Game 7’s on home ice are not sitting well with the faithful. Last season’s loss to the Hawks was bad but worse still were the losses to the Kings.
To the benefit of the Ducks, the rest of the division is not significantly more improved than their own lineup. The Arizona Coyotes are likely years away from contending, the San Jose Sharks are as old, or older than the Ducks, Vancouver is almost there with their lineup, the Calgary Flames showed moxey and mettle in the regular season and post season and should be even better this season, and the Edmonton Oilers are stacked with green, talented players and will be under enormous pressure to get out to a fast start.
Ducks Max Friberg collides with Barclay Goodrow (89) – Photo by Jack Lima
And that leaves the Kings who were unremarkable in the regular season and may be an angry group into this season.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau will need a fast start as well or the fans will be making ducks calls for something other than a rally.
We see the Ducks ending up at the top perch in the Pacific but will they have the gas to make run at the Cup?
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