Is Anaheim’s biggest offseason pick-up worthy of top-six minutes? We discuss!
The Anaheim Ducks headed into the summer with the realization that they were almost certainly going to lose Matt Beleskey to free agency.
Sure enough, Hells Bells left SoCal and headed to the East Coast to play for the Boston Bruins. Before that could happen, though, Ducks GM Bob Murray proved to be Johnny-on-the-spot, as he discovered that the New York Rangers were looking to trade Carl Hagelin, simply because they could not afford to keep him.
It’s not the Rangers WANTED to trade Hags; back in April, our friends at FanSided’s Blue Line Station argued that the Rags could not afford to lose Hagelin, and after the trade went down the guys over at Blueshirt Banter called it a “miserable, but necessary, decision.” Hagelin was definitely a fan favorite, which bodes well for us Ducks fans . . .
. . . but the question is, is Carl Hagelin a top-six forward?
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There’s no doubt that Hags is a solid two-way player, a defensive specialist who also chips in on the offensive end of the ice. In four seasons with New York, Hagelin averaged 33 points per season, and that average was brought down by the fact that he only scored 24 points in the lockout-shortened season of 2012-2013. He’ll be an invaluable addition to the Ducks’ penalty kill, and his speed should help Anaheim disrupt opposing defenses and help keep the fastest forwards on the other team in check – remember how badly the Ducks got burned by Brandon Saad in the Western Conference Finals?
Still, Hagelin spent most of his time in New York skating on the third line, and fan favorite or not, the Rangers ultimately decided that Hagelin was not worth $3.2-$3.75 million (numbers that Blueshirt Banter pegged) – essentially, the Rangers decided Hagelin was a third-line forward who was not worth top-six money.
The good news is that Patrick Comia at Blue Line feels like Hagelin is going to be a huge addition to the Ducks’ second line:
"Carl Hagelin is arguably one of the fastest skaters in the league and can bring up his team’s tempo in a game if needed. His two-way play is incredible, evident by his +18 plus/minus and was third best on the Rangers in takeaways last year. The Swedish winger would fit perfectly on the second or even the third line if his line mates don’t slow him down. When you have a skater like that, you don’t want to let that talent go to waste.Pairing Hagelin with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg would give Anaheim a line that could absolutely shut down an opposing team’s first line, but would also give the Ducks scoring depth, to boot. I don’t know if Carl Hagelin will match Beleskey’s 22 goals from 2014-2015, but then again, I don’t know if Beleskey will ever score that many again! It’s entirely feasible that Hagelin could top 40 points for the first time in his career, however, so on paper he appears to make the second line of the Anaheim Ducks even better than it was last season.Published on 07/24/2015 at 8:05 AM PDTLast updated on 07/24/2015 at 8:08 AM PDT Carl Hagelin is arguably one of the fastest skaters in the league and can bring up his team’s tempo in a game if needed. His two-way play is incredible, evident by his +18 plus/minus and was third best on the Rangers in takeaways last year. The Swedish winger would fit perfectly on the second or even the third line if his line mates don’t slow him down. When you have a skater like that, you don’t want to let that talent go to waste.Pairing Hagelin with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg would give Anaheim a line that could absolutely shut down an opposing team’s first line, but would also give the Ducks scoring depth, to boot. I don’t know if Carl Hagelin will match Beleskey’s 22 goals from 2014-2015, but then again, I don’t know if Beleskey will ever score that many again! It’s entirely feasible that Hagelin could top 40 points for the first time in his career, however, so on paper he appears to make the second line of the Anaheim Ducks even better than it was last season.Published on 07/24/2015 at 8:05 AM PDTLast updated on 07/24/2015 at 8:08 AM PDT Carl Hagelin is arguably one of the fastest skaters in the league and can bring up his team’s tempo in a game if needed. His two-way play is incredible, evident by his +18 plus/minus and was third best on the Rangers in takeaways last year. The Swedish winger would fit perfectly on the second or even the third line if his line mates don’t slow him down. When you have a skater like that, you don’t want to let that talent go to waste."