Anaheim Ducks: Randy Carlyle Has Tough Decisions Ahead

Randy Carlyle has been pushing all the right buttons so far as the Anaheim Ducks are 3-0-0 on the season. That’s impressive in an of itself but even more so that he has done it with virtually all his veteran forwards out of the line-up. And while the kids have impressed the veterans will all be back at some point and what the Ducks do then will be extremely interesting.

To start I need to stress how difficult this article is to write. It’s tough because the Anaheim Ducks are 3-0-0 on the season and it should be enjoyed. It’s tough because they’re doing what I have wanted for years and finally letting their young high end forward talent play and play meaningful minutes. They didn’t bring in an “over the hill” veteran that GM Bob Murray spins a sell job on how he has great “leadership” and “grit”.

And yet as much as the kids are a huge part of this team and the success for that matter it won’t look like this all season. As much fun as these wins have been and how good the “Ducklings” have looked you have to know the Ducks won’t win anything with just the kids. They can’t survive like this all season long and they won’t have to when the plethora of walking wounded are back. But when the veterans return what will Carlyle do?

Kids are making it tough

Every game matters and it is well documented from last season what happens when you get behind the 8-ball. And I am enjoying every second of the kids finding ways to scratch out wins. Sam Steel, Troy Terry, Max Comtois, Isac Lundestrom and Kiefer Sherwood are all playing huge minutes for the Ducks and proving they belong with every game offering improved play. They all look NHL ready and are the reasons the Ducks have the record they do to this point.

Their play makes it incredibly hard to send them to San Diego or back to their junior teams. But the reality of the matter is if the Ducks have Cup aspirations they will need the veterans to come back and be the calming factor that puts the team in sync. But bringing back the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Patrick Eaves, Ondrej Kase, and Corey Perry means there are five roster spots that need to be opened up. So what do the Ducks do?

Easier Decisions

When I say easier I don’t mean the decisions are easy. Just that other decisions are much harder. When the five big guns come back it means most of the rest of the line-up has to move down the lines. With that said and as much as they have been a breath of fresh air the likes of Carter Rowney, Ben Street and Brian Gibbons are now expendable.

These three have formed a great fourth line. A line that does everything you want in a fourth line. They are responsible with the puck, always moving and forechecking and create scoring chances. Fourth lines are basically supposed to give the big lines a rest and not get scored on. If they chip in offensively its a bonus but as long as they’re even its a win.

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These three were all brought in as free agent signings on low contract amounts making them easier to send through waivers or for small-scale trades for draft picks. This is nothing against these three because they have done everything asked of them to this point in the season.

But the lines the Ducks can deploy, that I will list below, are better than what any of these three can offer. Of the three the one that could stay is Rowney as his contract is three years long and if the Ducks want to give him a season it makes sense. But it means shipping a young stud back across the pond.

Harder Decisions

Should the Ducks keep Rowney it means most likely sending first round pick this year Isac Lundestrom back to Sweden. The 18-year-old made his NHL debut against Detriot Monday night and looked extremely poised along with almost netting the OT winner. Lundestrom is only 18 and the sky is the limit for him.

Carlyle seems intent on rolling four lines this season and if Lundestrom is the 4th line center getting a regular shift than he should stay. If he is nothing but the extra forward than he should be sent back to Sweden. He isn’t going to improve and reach his potential sitting in the player’s box and its better he be skating and playing instead of watching.

Perhaps the biggest decision the Ducks will have to make is which winger to trade. Ondrej Kase or Andrew Cogliano. Both of these players have been great in Ducks sweaters and are fan favorites no doubt. But the fact of the matter is there isn’t room for both of them with all the kids.

Both are undersized wings and both play a similar style. The toughest decision to make is which one to keep and which to trade. At this point, Kase is the younger and more skilled of the two but it’s for those reasons that Kase would net the Ducks a bigger trade return.

Cogliano still has this season and two more on a deal paying him 3.25 per season and he has a modified no movement clause. Kase was extended this summer and is under contract for the next 3 years at 2.6 million per. The Ducks could potentially get another defenseman or high-end draft pick for Kase. It would be a tough call no matter what the Ducks decide to do.

Final Lines

Should the Ducks make all those moves the forward lines would look something like this:

Rakell – Getzlaf – Eaves

Comtois – Kesler – Silfverberg

Terry- Henrique – Steel

Kase/Cogliano – Lundestrom/Rowney – Perry

Extra: Sherwood

What will Murray and Carlye do? What would you do Ducks fans? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook/Twitter!