The Anaheim Ducks roster is official and we are just mere days away from puck drop on the Ducks 2015-2016 season.
This is a season of great expectations for the Ducks and hearing all the interviews following training camp and pre-season games, the Ducks are welcoming the added pressure. And while it’s great to hear actions speak louder than words, the Ducks need to get it done on the ice.
Close isn’t good enough and the Ducks know it. The first step to making sure a Cup is coming back to Anaheim for a second time is getting the right lines and defensive pairs together.
So here is what Bruce Boudreau should do for a line-up starting Saturday night in San Jose,
Patrick Maroon–Ryan Getzlaf–Corey Perry:
I wrote an article just a couple days ago on how the Ducks would be best served to have young stud Nick Ritchie opposite “the twins” but Ritchie was assigned to San Diego so you need to utilize who is actually with the big club.
There have also been numerous reports that the Ducks want to split Getzlaf-Perry up for a more balanced line-up. And while I see the logic in that I subscribe to the “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” way of thinking.
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Getzlaf and Perry are arguably the best duo in the league and are at their best when they’re playing together. Both can play and still be effective on separate lines but they are near lethal together. The Ducks depth is phenomenal this year and there is no reason to split them up.
While I’d prefer Ritchie and think he brings more to the table, Maroon was able to tack up 34 points in the regular season and another 11 in the post-season while primarily playing on this line.
No reason to go away from it and when all three are on there game and able to cycle, there is no stopping them. Look for Getzlaf and Perry to tally 70+ points each and no reason why Maroon can’t reach 40 points if he is a fixture on this line.
Carl Hagelin–Ryan Kesler–Jakob Silfverberg:
The new dynamic duo from a post-season ago and the Swede with speed could make this line even harder to handle than the Getzlaf line.
Kesler arrived in Anaheim and was exactly as advertised, he added secondary and clutch scoring, was a tenacious puck battler, and never giving up for a second. He was snake-bit at times but hopefully those stretches this season will be shorter.
He knows how close the Ducks were last year and knows his window won’t be open forever. He’ll be ready to go from day one knowing this may be his best chance at a Cup. Silfverberg came into his own last season showing Ducks fans and the rest of the NHL the skill he possess.
It also doesn’t hurt to have your pivot be Ryan Kesler and the two of them devolved great chemistry. To complete that line the Ducks brought in Carl Hagelin from the NY Rangers.
Hagelin is young and is a great possession player while also containing blistering speed. Hagelin performed well last season racking up 35 points while not getting the top 6 forward minutes he would have liked. With the Ducks, Hagelin will be an integral top 6 forward and will make this line tenacious, fast and able to put the puck in the back of the net.
This line should find chemistry immediately and it’s not out of the question for all of them to surpass 50 points.
Jiri Sekac–Rickard Rakell–Andrew Cogliano
If you thought the previous line was fast, you haven’t seen anything yet. Good luck to opposing defensemen keeping up with this trio.
Rakell proved last year that he can be a great 3rd line center and he’s learning from two of the best in the game in front of him. Rakell showed flashes of brilliance with his heady plays, soft hands and ability to make things happen in both zones. He needs to take the next step and with a year under his belt now he’ll be ready to.
Cogliano will finally have a line mate that can keep up with him in Sekac, and getting the puck to either one of them on the wings could result in a very fast goal. They both have blazing speed and also don’t easily get knocked off the puck. Allow this trio to develop chemistry and you may be dealing with one of the top 3rd lines in the league.
Mike Santorelli–Shawn Horcoff–Chris Stewart:
A heavy line full of guys with something to prove.
All three of these players signed low one year deals and hope to get their careers back on track with a Cup contender in Anaheim. When Nate Thompson returns he will be the center on this line but that won’t be until after Thanksgiving. So these three will need to hold the fort until Thompson’s return.
Stewart has been playing with Getzlaf on the first line in the preseason but on this team, he shouldn’t be on the first line. There is no doubt he has the skill and will to bring toughness and grit to the team but there are far better options to put on the top line. Stewart needs to prove himself first and needs to start at the bottom.
Anaheim Ducks
Horcoff and Santorelli are in different spots. Horcoff sees his NHL career doesn’t have much left and is trying to capture that elusive Cup before he calls it a career. He has made a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and knows what it takes to get there. He still has juice in the tank and can bring a veteran leadership to the room.
Santorrelli has showed flashes of being a good depth forward but is an extremely streaky player. He knows he has to prove he belongs with the Ducks since so many young kids are knocking at the door for roster spots. If he can return to his 30-35 point output, you can’t ask for much more from a fourth liner.
After one of the more lob sided deals of the past few years went down, the Ducks ended up with a young dynamic combo. Despres and Fowler seemed to have chemistry from day one in Anaheim and after a great end to the season and great playoff these two are primed for a break-out season.
Fowler has improved year after year and the time is now for him to take the next step forward. He is always a threat offensively and his defensive game has grown by leaps and bounds. He won’t plaster anyone to the boards but his skating is impeccable and he makes a good first pass and clears the front of the net. Despres as his partner will enable him to jump into the rush more often.
Despres got caught in what appears to be a numbers game and was dealt out of Pittsburgh. The Ducks wanted him but didn’t expect him to excel as quickly as he did. He wasn’t thought to even be in the line-up on a regular basis but his play made him a staple and the Ducks couldn’t be happier.
Despres is young, mobile and hard hitting. The perfect complement to Fowler as he will stay at home when Fowler rushes. He can be the more physical of the two in the defensive zone and he has the ability to keep up with the fleet of foot Fowler.
With the departure of François Beauchemin, the Ducks wasted no time filling the void. Bieksa is here to stabilize a Ducks back-end whose average age is only 23. Bieksa is another veteran who takes the “Close isn’t good enough” mantra to heart.
He has been through the grind and knows what it takes to get there. He also knows the time is now because he is running out of chances. He’ll be counted on heavily here and will be tasked with guiding budding superstar Hampus Lindholm.
Lindholm is looked at by many to be the next super-star and leader of the Ducks d-core for a decade or more to come. Taken 6th overall back in 2012, Lindholm has impressed from day one.
He is smart, possesses a great shot that he gets on net and makes a great break-out pass for quick exits out of the defensive zone. Many are looking for Fowler to step up and lead and he should but Lindholm needs to be right behind him.
He has played two full seasons as well as been given a great taste of what playoff hockey is. The growing pains are over and he will be counted on. There is no doubt that given how well he could play this pair could become the first pair and not second.
Yes it will be hard to stomach paying a seventh defenseman $3.25 million to sit on the bench, but I’d rather pay Clayton Stoner to sit on the bench than be on the ice.
Josh Manson has impressed so much in training camp and pre-season that the Ducks couldn’t send him down. He impressed in his limited action last season but the Ducks felt it would be better to let him play in the AHL full-time.
This season however the Ducks can’t send him down and would be better to pair him with Sami Vatanen. Vatanen is as offensively minded as they come and Manson is just the opposite. Manson could be the stabilizing force to let Vatanen loose and be able to better hold the fort than Stoner ever could. Manson is faster, hits harder, and would contribute more offensively than Stoner and the Ducks would be significantly better with Manson in the top 6.
So there it is, the lines that will bring the Ducks a Stanley Cup. What do you think? Do you think the lines should be mixed up? Will someone from San Diego come up and steal the show? Let us know what you think in the comments and on Facebook/Twitter!
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