Anaheim Ducks 2015 NHL Draft Strategy Part One
We try to predict how the Ducks will approach the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, which is just a few days away!
The Anaheim Ducks are sitting pretty heading into the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. With its mixture of All-Star offensive talent and young, exciting blueliners, the Ducks enter the draft with no glaring needs to address.
Even so, with the dynasty that has been built in Chicago presenting a formidable challenge to Anaheim and the rest of the Western Conference for the foreseeable future, this year’s draft could play a huge role in determining how much longer than Anaheim Ducks will remain among the top dogs in the Western Conference.
This year’s draft is deep, and there is plenty of value to be found, so if Anaheim’s front office and coaching staff have done their homework, they could wind up with the next Corey Perry on their hands (remember: Perry was drafted 28th in 2003). Or, the Ducks could use their first-round pick to bring in some proven talent. Either way, watching what this team does on draft day will be interesting, so let’s break down their options, shall we?
For the sake of my sanity, I’ll be focusing on the first round of the draft only today, since Anaheim does not currently own a second draft pick, and anything beyond round two is a crap-shoot, which means I’ll have to get my thinking-cap on for Part Two!
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Option #1: Trade the 27th Pick
Our site has already floated out the idea of having the Anaheim Ducks trade their first pick in this year’s draft, and an overwhelming majority of readers (61% as of this post) are in favor of seeing the Ducks do exactly that.
It’s a tempting scenario, to be certain. Fans can only endure so many “Close, but no cigar” moments, and the Ducks have now given fans not one, not two, but three straight postseasons that ended in Game 7 losses at home. You can forgive fans for wanting to see Anaheim put the future of the franchise temporarily on hold in order to go out and get that last piece of the puzzle.
There are a few players I would not mind seeing the Ducks make a play for – Milan Lucic and T.J. Oshie immediately come to mind – but I can assure you that the Anaheim Ducks are not a fan of trading the 27th pick of this year’s draft away. Fortune may favor the bold, but recent history favors the spectacularly boring approach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Retaining its core group of players, pulling up young talent at the right time, and finding a valuable free agent here and there is almost certainly the approach the Anaheim Ducks will continue to take, much to the chagrin of fans who want to see a dramatic move that reaps huge short-term dividends.
Option #2: Trade up in the draft
Based on everything I have heard and read, the Anaheim Ducks will be using their first-round pick to draft the best player available. That’s the sort of strategy you can afford to employ when you are pretty good in every area – so why not try and move up in the draft in order to ensure that you get a REALLY solid young player?
Frankly, trading up in the draft is something a team like the Ducks should only consider if a team is desperate enough to come knocking. The Boston Bruins (14th pick) and Dallas Stars (12th pick) are both examples of teams who might be willing to move down in the draft in order to pick up a player who instantly fills a need, as are the Edmonton Oilers, who own the 16th pick in addition to the first overall.
Could one of these teams come asking about one of Anaheim’s young players? I’ve heard no such rumors yet, but Anaheim is clearly in the driver’s seat should such a scenario arise. With a draft this deep, there is no pressing need for the Ducks to sacrifice a young player they already have in their system just to move up a few spots, but desperation could cause a team to provide Anaheim with an offer that it just can’t refuse. Unlikely, sure, but stranger things have happened.
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Option #3: Just Use the Damn Pick!
This option is the most likely scenario, as boring as it may be to discuss. There will still be solid NHL talent to be had when the Ducks pick in the 27 spot, so Anaheim can go with whichever player they feel is the most talented one remaining and feel good about the future.
When we asked which position the Ducks should use their first pick on, 45% of readers who took the poll wanted to see Anaheim select a winger, while 32% were hoping for a center. It’s pretty safe to say that Anaheim will use this pick on a forward, rather than a defenseman or goaltender. Here at Pucks of a Feather, we either have the Ducks drafting Brock Boeser (RW) or Joel Eriksson (C) with the 27th pick, and there’s always a chance that either Jake DeBrusk or even Paul Bittner could be had here, as well. While none of these players are going to make their ways into the NHL until probably 2017-2018 or beyond, they all project to be solid top six forwards who will continue to keep Anaheim competitive in the West as this decade closes out.
None of us know what will go down once the 2015 NHL Entry Draft begins, but I advise you not to hope for anything too sexy to go down when it comes to the Anaheim Ducks. This team has steadily made progress the past few seasons, and is dangerously close to being a legitimate contender to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup next season. I expect the team to have a conservative, boring approach to this year’s draft, with the upside being a decidedly un-boring conclusion to the Ducks’ postseason sooner rather than later!