When Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray let veteran defensemen Francois Beauchemin walk away in free agency this summer, he was quick to take action on finding a replacement. Murray set his sights on a trade with Vancouver and he brought in another veteran defensemen, Kevin Bieksa.
On paper it made sense, replace one veteran defensemen with another. Bieksa and Beauchemin share a lot of the same attributes, both play a tough physical game and both have served as leaders in their teams locker room’s for many years.
However both have flaws and unfortunately for the Ducks, Bieksa’s are being exposed more than ever with a change of scenery.
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Bieksa started the season with a role that Beauchemin had become familiar with, playing alongside 21 year old Hampus Lindholm. It was another decision that looked good on paper, but it became evidently clear that the chemistry was not there, Lindholm was not adapting to Bieksa as he had to Beauchemin.
Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau was not blind to this issue, he made the decision to switch things up after just 12 games of watching Bieksa and Lindholm struggle.
Boudreau moved Bieksa next to Cam Fowler and slotted Josh Manson next to Lindholm.
After four games of watching the Fowler-Bieksa pairing, things are suddenly becoming more clear and it now seems that the issue at hand might be with the guy wearing number 2 on the back of his sweater.
Bieksa can’t find chemistry with anyone and whether you base this judgment off of the “eye-test” or the statistics, there is no denying that things have not been good.
The “Eye-Test”
From simply watching Bieksa play, you get the sense that he is still going through a feeling out phase. It’s understandable since he is now playing with Cam Fowler for the first time, but the decisions Bieksa is making on the ice lead you to question whether or not there is a lack of communication between him and whoever he is playing with.
Bieksa and Lindholm simply did not click. Far too many times Bieksa was looking to join the rush and chase the puck in deep to preserve possession in the offensive zone. This led to numerous 2-on-1 opportunities for opponents and it left Lindholm on an island to defend all by himself.
It seemed like it would be a fixable thing, Bieksa being a veteran, you would assume he and Lindholm would talk things out after mishaps. Only now the same thing is happening as Bieksa plays alongside Fowler.
Bieksa is skating forward into the defensive zone just as often as he is skating backwards to defend his own net, something you don’t want to see from your veteran defensemen. This is again due to Bieksa’s odd decision making that has him joining the rush at inopportune times.
There seems to be a lack of communication with whoever Bieksa is playing with and the “eye-test” is not one that he is passing.
What The Statistics Say
Well, plain and simple, the stats say that Bieksa has been one of if not the worst Ducks defensemen thus far.
Here’s what the advanced statistics say.
Bieksa has not done a very good job at controlling possession or suppressing shots, two pretty important things I’d say.
Another thing that is very interesting here is when looking at the poor stats, you also see that Bieksa’s quality of competition rank is third amongst Ducks defensemen. He’s being used against the opponents top players and he is struggling while doing so.
To go along with that high quality of competition ranking, Bieksa is second on the Ducks in ice time per game and he is second amongst Ducks defensemen is shorthanded ice time per game.
Bieksa is being used heavily throughout the game, especially in key situations, but something is not working.
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Since Boudreau has made the switch, Fowler and Bieksa have only surpassed 50% possession once through four games. Yes, they are playing more minutes than anyone else against tough opposition, but the Fowler-Bieksa pairing is showing a trend of continually producing about 40% possession.
Fowler and Bieksa may get more time to figure things out since the duo has looked better than the Lindholm-Bieksa pairing did, but it will need to be a quick fix.
The Ducks again could not hold the lead last night and Bruce Boudreau himself said after the game, “We need to know how to defend the lead.”
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Call me crazy, but if the Ducks veteran leader on the back end, Kevin Bieksa, is struggling than might it be time for some change?
Those leads aren’t going to protect themselves, especially if Bieksa continues to struggle.
Stats via War-on-ice and Puckalytics