Feb 15, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Andrew Cogliano (7) celebrates with his team after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals during the first period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
3. Play the Best Possible Lineup
With just a mere 25 regular season games to go, the Ducks need to stop getting “cute” with their lineup decisions and play the 18 most effective players each night. That means sitting players, namely veterans, who may make more money but aren’t worth more on the ice than some other players.
Despite the state of the defense, Brewer is the worst of the seven defensemen on the active roster. The Ducks paid a hefty price in acquiring the veteran, and his cap hit is greater than that of Lovejoy, Vatanen, or Lindholm (even after the Lightning retained 26% of his cap number and salary). However, his insertion into the lineup does not make the defense play better, and it certainly will not magically fix the mistakes that Stoner and Lovejoy make: rather, Brewer playing probably makes the situation even worse.
If the Ducks can acquire a defenseman at (or before) the trade deadline, that pushes out another player between Lovejoy and Stoner (probably the latter, since right-shot defensemen are so valuable, and Lovejoy is probably better than Stoner, in a vacuum). That could help the Ducks with their defensive inconsistencies.
Anaheim Ducks
However, this doesn’t apply to just the defense. Rene Bourque does not need to play for the Ducks, no matter how enticing his “size” or “potential” is. He has been invisible in most of his games and has not generated many positives since the Ducks acquired him for Allen. His lack of effort neutralizes whatever talent he has, and there is no reason he should be playing on a line higher than what Maroon, Beleskey, or Smith-Pelly do. Whether it involves Bourque just sitting in the press-box or being waived, the Ducks should not be playing Bourque, no matter how long “goal-droughts” get. There is more to hockey than scoring goals, and a lack of scoring should not dictate the effectiveness of a player.
The lines are mostly jumbled, but the “established” parts of the lineup are that Getzlaf plays with Perry, Kesler centers the second line, Rakell plays on the third line with Jakob Silfverberg, and Thompson gets the fourth-line. How the rest of the lineup slots in is up to Bruce Boudreau, but the team was most effective with some variation of this lineup.
Patrick Maroon – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Matt Beleskey – Ryan Kesler – Kyle Palmieri
Andrew Cogliano – Rickard Rakell – Jakob Silfverberg
Devante Smith-Pelly – Nate Thompson – Tim Jackman
But it’s not just the skaters where this area comes into play. The Ilya Bryzgalov era needs to end. Whether he is waived, or the team decides to scratch him and carry three goalies (after all, rosters expand after the trade deadline), the Ducks need to go with the tandem of Frederik Andersen and John Gibson.
The signing was a knee-jerk reaction when it happened: by the time Bryzgalov was ready to play, both Gibson and Jason LaBarbera were recovered from their injuries. His cap-hit of $2.88 million is more than Andersen, Gibson, and LaBarbera combined and eats into the limited space the Ducks have as a budget team.
Bryzgalov does not have great numbers. Yes, he is also the victim of some of the Ducks’ worst team efforts, but Andersen has delivered wins in those circumstances. Gibson has a 38-save shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks and a 35-save effort over the Carolina Hurricanes in similar circumstances, both of which led to wins. They aren’t the best way to get wins, but those two give the Ducks a chance in games that Bryzgalov, unfortunately, does not.
Andersen has done everything and more to basically cement his place in the crease for the Ducks. In his absence, Gibson has stepped in. In three appearances, Gibson is 1-1-0 with a 3.55 GAA and .890 SV%: numbers that are terrible. Yet, in front of the same defense, Bryzgalov is 1-4-1 with a 4.19 GAA and .841 SV%, which are even worse. There is no justification for Bryzgalov to play as the backup over Gibson.
The Ducks are quickly finding out what life can be like without Andersen. With Bryzgalov in net against the Hurricanes this past Thursday, there is no guarantee that Bryzgalov would have stopped 35 of 36 shots. His one win this season was in one of the Ducks’ more complete games of the season, when they limited the New Jersey Devils to a meager 15 shots on goal throughout the game.
To optimize the lineup, the Ducks have to go beyond contract and waiver-eligible status and just play the best players. In this case, Gibson has to be the other goalie ahead of Bryzgalov.
Next: Final Thoughts