The Anaheim Ducks 2017-2018 campaign was over a few weeks ago. Allowing time for the anger and adrenaline to subside, Pucks of a Feather is handing out our end of season grades. We start with Management, specifically Randy Carlyle and Bob Murray.
Randy Carlyle: B
Randy Carlyle‘s second stint with the Anaheim Ducks in now two seasons old. He has a regular season record at 90-48-26. He has garnered one Pacific Division title, and two trips to the playoffs, this time around.
Those post-season trips have culminated in a 4-2 loss in the 2017 Western Conference Finals and a 4-0 sweep in round one this season. This season wasn’t pretty but the Head Coach earned his keep.
Carlyle was forced to deploy a line-up for the first half of the season that had the likes of Derek Grant and Chris Wagner as the top two centers because mainstays Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler dealt with lengthy injuries.
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On November 30, he received help in the form of Adam Henrique in a deal with the New Jersey Devils. Fortunately, Rickard Rakell led the team offensively with an All-Star worthy effort to keep the team afloat.
The Anaheim Ducks finally got healthy as the calendar flipped to 2018. Carlyle guided them to a second place finish in the Pacific Division. A surprise because it looked possible they could miss the post-season entirely.
Must Adapt
He had a lot on his plate, but numerous times throughout the season and especially in the playoffs he showed an ineptitude to play in the style of the “New NHL”. This isn’t 2007 anymore, the style and tactics he used to bring a Stanley Cup to Anaheim won’t work anymore.
Carlyle needs to get away from a grinding, dump-and-chase style. He must allow his team as a unit to have more flow and creativity. He piloted a team with significant injuries to a post-season birth. It was enough to earn him another season behind the Anaheim bench. Expect a short leash going forward.
Bob Murray: C
Bob Murray has shown a great ability to make impact trades and quality draft selections. Over the last few years, he has made some head-scratching decisions. This season was more so than any other in his time as Anaheim Ducks General Manager.
“Big Deal Bob” did acquire Adam Henrique at a time the Ducks were decimated by injuries. Henrique was a shot of life to a floundering team. With him, the Ducks three deep down the middle with Getzlaf and Kesler ahead of him. Hopefully, Murray can lock up the center long-term as he will be a free agent in the 2019-2020 season.
But Murray’s low grade on the season is due to what happened (or didn’t) down the stretch. As the trade deadline approached and the Ducks were spinning in circles Murray was asked, by the media, what he had planned to help this team down the stretch.
He responded; “Our team play is not good, It hasn’t been. It’s been so inconsistent all year. We played a home game the other night against San Jose and they played the night before. It looked like it was the other way around.”
“We’re not the only team in this situation, There’s a whole bunch of us that are, as I call it, stuck in the middle of nowhere. We’re not in, we’re not out. I’m still kind of waiting for them to show me something and they’re not. We’re very inconsistent. We’re very up and down.”
Think Twice
They were true comments, but not something the GM should say outright to the media and to the world. It should have been a behind closed door conversation. He is smart enough to know better.
Murray ultimately did make a couple moves; signing 37-year-old Chris Kelly and acquiring Jason Chimera from the New York Islander in exchange for Chris Wagner. Those moves didn’t help his team, it only served to raise the average age of the team and slow them down.
This was Murray metaphorically throwing in the towel and while I do praise him for not sending high draft picks or prospects in a year of inconsistent hockey, he should have done nothing at all as opposed to these moves.
Murray’s exit interviews seem to suggest he’s learned his course of action was a mistake. He now recognizes the need to get faster and play the style 90% of the NHL is now playing.
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His redemption will come in how he orchestrates the draft and off-season, but this was a down year for Murray.