Anaheim Ducks Need to End the Rene Bourque Experiment
The best way to construct a championship team in today’s NHL is to have a great mix of veterans and young talent. Too far in one direction, and the team most likely cannot compete with the league’s best. This summer, the Anaheim Ducks felt they needed to get younger, so they opted not to offer contracts to Saku Koivu, Daniel Winnik, and Jonas Hiller. However, the team retracted on that stance almost immediately, signing Dany Heatley in free agency.
Heatley was a shell of himself, and after suffering a groin injury, his Ducks career was short-lived. Heatley only appeared in six games before being waived and sent to Norfolk of the AHL. This was a move most fans applauded, as it paved the way for young forwards such as Devante Smith-Pelly, Matt Beleskey, Patrick Maroon, and Kyle Palmieri to get the playing time they deserve. It also opened up a roster spot for Rickard Rakell to finally get playing time.
However, that one move did not fully clear up the list of “unproductive” veteran forwards. Heatley was waived on December 29th, but the team made another move before then that helped create the Ducks’ logjam at forward. On November 20th, the Ducks sent defensemen Bryan Allen to the Montreal Canadiens for Rene Bourque. Moving on from Allen was a good move: Clayton Stoner is a younger, better, and similar version of Allen, and the Ducks’ young defense had been playing exceptional hockey. There was no room for Allen to get playing time. But the Ducks had to take someone back in return, and that particular someone ended up being Bourque.
Bourque has never been an NHL All-Star, but he did have back-to-back 50 point seasons in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 while playing with the Calgary Flames. He scored 27 goals in each of those two campaigns. However, Bourque’s point totals have plummeted, scoring 24 combined with Calgary and Montreal in 2011-2012 (he was traded midseason). He put up 39 points with the Canadiens over 141 games for parts of four regular-season campaigns. Those aren’t good numbers: Beleskey put up 37 points over 97 games in Anaheim in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, even before his 17-goal breakout season this year. Beleskey also only had four fewer goals in those two seasons than Bourque had in those four.
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Bourque appeared in 13 games for the Canadiens this season, scoring a meager two assists. He had a -9 rating in those games. Despite his monstrous postseason, where he led the Canadiens in goal-scoring (eight) on their run to the Eastern Conference Finals, he was waived and assigned to AHL Hamilton. The Ducks subsequently acquired him, and Bourque has been decent. He has two goals and seven points in 22 games with an even rating. Now, that’s better than two assists and a -9, but that’s not impressive. Palmieri has nine goals in 23 games: that’s more goals than Bourque has points with the Ducks. Bourque’s billed as a goal-scorer and power-forward, yet Tim Jackman has twice as many goals this season. Emerson Etem and William Karlsson, who are in the AHL thanks to Bourque taking up a roster spot, have two goals this season for the Ducks.
The Ducks have a legitimate chance to contend for the Stanley Cup this season, and taking Bourque out of the lineup could be a simple case of “addition by subtraction”. Bourque played significantly with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on the top-line, filling general manager Bob Murray‘s ultimate vision of having a power trio (hence the Heatley signing). When that hadn’t worked, Bourque played with Ryan Kesler on the second line, as a top-centerman could help the big winger produce. That has not worked. He has formed little to no chemistry with these lines.
There was a legitimate argument that could have been made about Montreal’s centers. David Desharnais, Tomas Plekanec, and Alex Galchenyuk are not Getzlaf or Kesler. But Bourque’s lack of production has followed. Lines are optimized when each player helps his linemates: it’s a two-way street. There is little to be gained if Getzlaf and Perry can help Bourque, but Bourque cannot help them back. This is why Heatley frustrated so many fans, and this is why Bourque continues to frustrate.
Bourque playing top-six minutes also prevents players from slotting into those minutes and producing. Bourque playing with Kesler means Beleskey cannot take that spot, but a huge part of Beleskey’s breakout season has been the ability to play with Kesler. But Beleskey is also good in the corners, digs out pucks, crashes the net, and gets physical with opponents. Bourque with Getzlaf and Perry? Look at Maroon there now. He’s engaged in the corners and has returned to his October form, where he won seemingly every puck battle and got the puck to Getzlaf and Perry. More pucks for those two usually results in good things.
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What has killed both Heatley and Bourque is that they are not high-effort players. Maroon and Beleskey play hungry and are tenacious in all zones. They aren’t great defenders, but applying effort is a big part in playing hockey: in a league of professionals, effort can create a bigger divide than sheer talent and ability can. Playing with Getzlaf and Perry or with Kesler is not a role where they pull all the weight and good things happen. Each line member has to do their part for the whole thing to work. With increased minutes for the Ducks’ young wingers, the team has improved as well.
Beleskey’s 17 goals has been mentioned. He also has seven helpers for a whopping 24 points, matching his career-high from last season in nine fewer games. Maroon has been tremendous with Getzlaf and Perry: he has points in three straight games (two goals, three assists). He has two goals in his last three games after only having two in his first 36. Palmieri has found a home with Beleskey and Kesler, scoring nine goals and 14 points despite missing parts of the season with a high-ankle sprain and shoulder injury. Even when Bourque slots in the fourth line, it is not as effective as when Smith-Pelly or Jackman play with Nate Thompson.
It is truly difficult to make the case that Bourque makes the team better. He isn’t a fit on the top-six, yet he gets paid like a top-six player. Even on the bottom-six, he’s not a better option than Andrew Cogliano, Jakob Silfverberg, Smith-Pelly, or Jackman. It could be in the best interest for the team to optimize its roster and waive Bourque (after all, the Canadiens have already waived Allen). The Ducks can’t even look to really trade him, as Bourque has done nothing to elevate his value, and the team acquired him in a swap of unproductive players. Bourque has a cap-hit of $3.33 million for next season as well, so that’s extra baggage and lowers his value.
Regardless, the team looks better without Bourque in the lineup than with him. Maybe he is waived. Maybe there is a salary-dump partner (more likely in the offseason, when some teams will have to hit the salary-floor). But the Ducks, again, have a legitimate chance at hoisting a Stanley Cup in June. If the goal is to win and be the best team as possible, then Bourque should sit in the press-box unless injuries force him to play. The Ducks are better with other players on the ice, and no contract, reputation, or amount of talent should get in the way of the facts provided.