The Anaheim Ducks’ Most Glaring Weakness Heading Into 15-16 Is . . . .
The Ducks are a very good team, but if they wish to attain greatness, there is one chink in the armor they absolutely have to fill.
The other day, Bleacher Report was kind enough to include an article entitled, “Every NHL Team’s Biggest Question Mark for the 2015-2016 Season” in the daily email I receive as part of my NHL Edition Team Stream Newsletter.
Naturally, I was curious to see what Allan Mitchell had to say about the Anaheim Ducks, and while I don’t disagree that the Ducks defensive corps is young and inexperienced enough that it could benefit from the addition of one more experienced blueliner, I’m not ready to call that Anaheim’s biggest question mark heading into 15-16.
Instead, my biggest question is, “Where will the Ducks find left-wing scoring from?” Specifically, I look at Anaheim’s top line of Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry – Patrick Maroon and wonder, “Are these the starting forwards for a Stanley Cup-contender?”
And honestly, I have to answer, “No.”
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Hey: I love Patrick Maroon. Dude went from being cut loose by the Philadelphia Flyers the year that he was supposed to finally make the leap from the AHL to the NHL to scoring 7 goals and 11 points in the 2015 playoffs. That’s great – seriously – and I look forward to continue watching him play with the Anaheim Ducks.
But Maroon is not the guy you want starting on the left wing alongside Getzlaf and Perry if you want to see the Ducks win the cup.
Ryan Getzlaf was a top-fifteen center in the NHL during 2014-2015; Corey Perry, the 11th-best right winger. Patrick Maroon? The 42nd best left-winger in the NHL last season. No offense to Maroon, but he’s AT BEST a second-line winger starting alongside two All-Star talents, and on many playoff teams, he would be happy to get third-line minutes. He was a nice stop-gap, but I just don’t see him being Anaheim’s long-term solution to filling the void created by Bobby Ryan‘s departure.
A best-case scenario would see the Anaheim Ducks swing a trade for Alex Galchenyuk, who clearly doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Montreal Canadiens at this moment when it comes to contract talks. Of course, this is not a very realistic wish, I understand – Galchenyuk is only 21 years-old, so Montreal would have to absolutely bonkers to give up on him – but if Bob Murray could bring in someone comparable, the Anaheim Ducks would be instant favorites to win the Stanley Cup in 2016.
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Should a trade fail to emerge, the Ducks should consider using Carl Hagelin on the first line. Hagelin was one point better than Maroon in 14-15, and that was while Hags was playing on the Rangers’ third line. No, Hagelin really is not worthy of starting, but he’s clearly an upgrade, and Maroon should thrive playing alongside Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg.
The Anaheim Ducks are a solid team in every area, but “solid” and “contender” are not always synonymous. Anaheim’s starting line disappeared down the stretch against the Chicago Blackhawks, and while I am not going to lay the blame solely at the feet of Patrick Maroon, the Ducks will continue to come up short if they continue to ask Maroon to play like a top-20 left winger. For all the success Bob Murray has had so far during this offseason, failing to address this glaring weakness could come back to haunt him in June.