Pucks of a Feather
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Anaheim Ducks Season Grades – Defensemen Part Two

By Ed Stein

SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 18: Josh Manson #42 of the Anaheim Ducks warms up against the San Jose Sharks in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 18, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Manson
SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 18: Josh Manson #42 of the Anaheim Ducks warms up against the San Jose Sharks in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 18, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Manson /
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Pucks of a Feather concludes our season grades for the defense. Today, we feature the top four Anaheim Ducks blueliners; Brandon Montour, Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, and Josh Manson.

This is part two of the Anaheim Ducks defensemen season grades. In case you missed them, click on the links for management, goalies, and defense part one.

Brandon Montour: C+

Brandon Montour gets a C+. His season was a good news/ bad news situation. The good news is Montour is developing into a fine NHL defenseman. The bad news is, he is still developing. There is hope.

Montour was forced to grow up in hurry last season. The Anaheim Ducks started the season without stalwarts Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm. Additionally, it ended without Cam Fowler. In those instances, Montour had to log top-four minutes. Those were situations that exposed his deficiencies on the back end.

Had things been different, he would have had more time to develop his game at the NHL level. When the Ducks defense corps was at full strength, Montour played on the third pair. Coach Randy Carlyle could put Montour in situations where he had better chances to succeed.

Watching the offensively minded blueliner with the puck on his stick shows game-changing potential. At his best, Montour makes tape-to-tape as well as any defenseman on the team. His decision making has to improve for him to be a legitimate play-making threat.

His shot needs no improvement. When Montour pinches in the offensive zone and lets the puck fly at the net, he is flat out dangerous.

Throughout the rest of his tenure in Anaheim, he will be compared to former Ducks prospect Shea Theodore. It’s very unfair, but he can blame General Manager Bob Murray for that. Murray sent Theodore to Vegas, and kept Montour, in a move designed to save the integrity of the Anaheim Ducks roster ahead of the expansion draft.

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