Anaheim Ducks Season Grades – Defensemen Part One

We continue our series on Anaheim Ducks Season Grades. Team management and goalies started the series. Today we start on the defensemen and conclude tomorrow.

Part One of Anaheim Ducks defenseman season grades.

The Incompletes

This group of defensemen didn’t play enough games to qualify for a grade.

Korbinian Holzer

Pucks of a Feather doesn’t have a vendetta against the 30-year-old native of Munich, Germany. He is what he is. That would be a stopgap defenseman to be used in a pinch for a game or two here or there. When he’s up with the Ducks, instead of occupying minutes in San Diego, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in his locker behind a pane of glass that reads “break in case of emergency.”

This year Holzer played 16 games for the Ducks. He didn’t score any points and averaged 11:36 of ice time per game. He is what he is.

Jaycob Megna

The younger of the two hockey-playing Megna brothers, participated in14 games wearing an Anaheim Ducks sweater last season. Megna was a key part of the Ducks team to start the season when Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen were out of action. He averaged 15:43 of ice time per night and chipped in an assist.

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Megna is 6’6” 219 lbs, that’s much bigger than anyone else among the Ducks top six blueliners. He can be the snowplow in front of John Gibson that removes would be goal scorers from the crease. Large defensemen tend to develop a little slower than those of average size. If he continues on his current path, Megna could be a better version of Clayton Stoner.

Andy Welinski

Welinski played only seven games for the Ducks this season. He added two helpers to the cause while averaging 16:10 of ice time per night.

Unfortunately for the Duluth, Minnesota native, his specialty offense, and puck moving is something the Ducks have in abundance. He is already behind Cam Fowler and Brandan Montour in offensive skill. Additionally, Marcus Pettersson or Hampus Lindholm move the puck through the neutral zone very well. Andy Welinski will have to round out his defensive game if he wants to stick around next year.

Part Timers

Sami Vatanen: B

He should probably be in the “incompletes” because he only played in 15 games as an Anaheim Ducks player. It would have been more had he not missed the first month of the season recovering from shoulder surgery. Vatanen still managed to pick up four points with two coming on the power play. He also added 24 hits and 26 blocked shots.

Vatanen’s greatest contribution to the Ducks and the reason why he has a grade has nothing to do with any of the above. The “Finnish Flash, 2.0” was dealt on November 30, 2017, to New Jersey for center Adam Henrique. It was a trade that saved both franchises seasons.

Marcus Pettersson: C

His grade would have been higher if played a little longer for the Ducks. Pettersson was just starting to find himself when the regular season ended. Once Randy Carlyle and Bob Murray figured out that any combination of Francois Beauchemin, Kevin Bieksa, and/or Korbinian Holzer in the same game couldn’t work, Pettersson was brought up.

That happened February 15 and the former 38th overall draft selection (2014) never looked back. He played in 22 games and scored four points. More importantly, he finished at +5 and had 27 blocked shots.

Pettersson’s game is, for lack of a better term, “Lindholm Lite.” He is a well-rounded player who is responsible in his own end and has some offensive skill. If his brief stay this year was an appetizer, Ducks fans will be looking forward to the main course.

Kevin Bieksa: D+

Half the people reading this will think Bieksa should have received a higher grade. The other half would give him a big “F” for the year. D+, slightly above poor, seems about right. The feisty (nasty) player from his time in Vancouver and his first season with the Anaheim Ducks is gone.

Father time catches up with everyone, with the possible exception of Tom Brady, and Bieksa couldn’t fight him off. His 37-year-old wheels couldn’t keep up with younger, faster skaters. He was caught out of position more than ever before, which led to his career-worst -13, in only 59 games played.

To further illustrate his decline, Bieksa had his lowest point total (8), and average time on ice (18:01) since his rookie year in 2005-06. The fact he spent two stints on IR with a hand injury, didn’t help his cause. When a defenseman has trouble keeping up with opposing forwards and has issues grasping his stick, its a recipe for disaster.

Bieksa is an unrestricted free agent come June 1. It’s hard to imagine the Ducks would bring him back next season. Then again it was unfathomable Murray didn’t ask him to waive his no-movement clause before the expansion draft. The only way he is a member of the team next year is if he accepts both a minimum contract and a “Korbinian Holzer-esque” role among the defensemen.