Ducks’ Defensemen Battling For A Job At Training Camp
Sept. 18 is a date that NHL fans across the globe have marked on their calendar. It signifies the beginning of the NHL season with the opening of training camps across the league.
Teams may have a general idea of what their roster will look like, but there are still vacant positions waiting to be filled on almost all teams heading into training camp.
The Ducks see themselves with a few vacant positions. They will have forwards vying for a spot on the first line and for a couple other spots among the top six forwards. They will have two young goaltenders competing against each other to try and insert themselves as the teams’ true No. 1 goalie.
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But what they also have are a group of defensemen, young and old, trying to compete for a spot as the teams sixth and final defenseman.
The Ducks currently have a solid group of versatile players that make up five of the six defensemen required for their lineup. During the regular season we are more than likely to see more than just one player step into the lineup and be that sixth defenseman.
The players on the bubble for that sixth defenseman spot are: Mark Fistric, Sami Vatanen and Bryan Allen. They all bring something different to the table as far as their game is concerned.
Mark Fistric is quite injury prone and last season he sustained a couple of lower body injuries that took him out of the lineup for a prolonged amount of time and could never find his way back into the lineup consistently as he played only 34 games. If healthy and at the top of his game, Fistric can be a huge defensive presence for the Ducks. His physical stature of 6’2 and 230 pounds could be physically intimidating for opponents and it helps when he’s doing what he does best which is separating the body from the puck and laying out some huge hits.
If you’re looking for offensive help, Fistric isn’t your man. He has just 34 points in 316 career games but he is known for his stay at home game defensively and his physicality. The thing he lacks which could make him a liability is his slow skating. He can easily be burned to the outside by speedy forwards which diminishes his whole purpose of being on the ice, which his to make hits and make defensive plays.
Apr 27, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Bryan Allen (55) defends against the Dallas Stars attack during game six of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. The Ducks defeated the Stars 5-4 and win the series 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Another defenseman battling for that final spot among the Ducks defensemen is Bryan Allen. Allen has been in the league for a long time having played in the NHL since the 00-01 season. He is heading into a contract year this season and approaching the age of 35. His career is starting to run its course. He can be utilized as a helpful veteran presence for a team full of young talent which the Ducks are.
If he is able to avoid injuries and play motivated due to the fact it is a contract year, then he may be able to provide the Ducks with a sixth defenseman in the lineup who can block shots and be a physical and defensive presence.
He plays almost identical to the aforementioned Mark Fistric. He plays a defensive game and is an absolute giant even bigger than Mark Fistric standing at 6’5 and weighing in at 234 pounds. Also like Fistric, injuries have limited Allen and prevented him from maximizing his defensive game. What may separate him from Mark Fistric is that he is an efficient skater for his size and might be able to keep up with fast skaters better than Fistric would.
With Fistric and Allen hypothetically battling each other for that spot on the defense group, they will have to battle with a player who brings a different type of game to the lineup. Sami Vatanen.
Vatanen is much younger than the other two defensemen and still has time to maximize his potential. He is a young and dynamic offensive, puck moving defenseman. He can be a potential quarterback of a power-play and can get the puck to the net from the point. He is almost the opposite of the other two defensemen, Allen and Fistric. He is strictly known for offense and is considerably smaller than the both of them being only 5’10 and weighing only 183 pounds.
Arguably, you could say that Allen and Fistric have more to prove to the Ducks than Vatanen.Vatanen has already proven to the Ducks that at the age of 23, he is capable of playing his offensive styled game in the NHL by scoring 23 points in 56 career games.
With the offense that the Ducks already possess on the back end of the ice with defensemen like Cam Fowler and Hampus Lindholm and, every now and then, contributions from Francois Beauchemin, the Ducks might need more help from a defensive defenseman. They went out and added to the depth of their defense this summer when signing Clayton Stoner, but they still might need more help and might need a defenseman who can play a clear shutdown role.
Ultimately, it will be up to Bruce Boudreau to decide on what he feels is the most outstanding necessity for the defense. If their power-play is under-performing, then Vatanen is the clear choice. If they are being out-chanced and scrambling around the ice defensively, then either Allen or Fistric can be called upon to help shut down the opposition.
Training camp is just about to begin and plenty of opportunities are about to arise. With expectations high, all players competing for a spot on the team, should be motivated and make it a tough choice for the Ducks coaching staff to decide on who gets a spot on the Ducks as the sixth defenseman.
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