Anaheim Ducks: The Good, The Bad and Things Fans Want to Forget – Part 2

Another NHL season is officially in the books. Kenny Marcial takes a final look back at the Anaheim Ducks in 2017-18 with his three-part series. Today, Part 2 – The bad.

A hockey season has its ebbs and flows, and the Anaheim Ducks 2017-18 season was no exception. In part 1 of this series, I went over the good from this past season. In today’s second part, I am going to highlight some of the negatives. There was much to choose from, so if something doesn’t make it into this article, it will likely be addressed in “Part 3: Things Fans Want to Forget.”

Making the Playoffs

Eric Stephens, from the OCR, captured Anaheim Ducks General Manager Bob Murray’s thoughts on making the playoffs, “I think it’s remarkable that we made the playoffs. But in making the playoffs, did we screw up some other things? That’s where I’m trying to get my head around. Sometimes it’s better to miss (the playoffs).” 

As difficult as it is to hear, his point rings true. Tanking is bad business, but the new lottery system is making fringe playoff teams reconsider being “buyers.” Since the top 3 picks are now up for grabs, missing the playoffs can really benefit teams. 

Both the Devils and the Flyers failed to reach the playoffs in 2016-2017. In a stroke of good luck, they won the lottery and acquired elite talent. Their “down” year has them poised for consistent success. 

For the Ducks, getting a player like Rasmus Dahlin or Andrei Svechnikov would help ease the concerns of the championship window closing. Even if the lottery didn’t fall our way, we still would have a top 15 pick and several highly talented players should be available there.

Chris Wagner for Jason Chimera

Acquiring Chimera was supposed to make the Anaheim Ducks a “Faster” team, but the trade made them a less talented one. It was frustrating to watch Murray trade a solid young player for someone who’ll be spending next year at some golf course in Florida. The Ducks didn’t need only speed, they needed someone with speed and talent, the latter of which Chimera lacked. 

Wagner was a “jack-of-all-trades.” If a center went down, he filled in admirably. If we needed a grimy goal, he did that as well (he scored some key goals during the WCF march in 2016-17 like this one). Wagner was also good on the PK and could change momentum with a thunderous hit. It’s hard watching players like Wagner and Stefan Noesen leave for no particular reason. They are guys who easily could have brought long-term consistency to our bottom six forwards.

The Second Line

Ryan Kesler missed almost the first half of the season, it was expected the Anaheim Ducks second line would struggle in his absence. Jakob Silfverberg was off his game and left some fans wondering if he was playing through an injury. How else does Silfverberg, arguably one of the best shootout players in the game’s history, take only five shootout attempts all season? 

Related Story: Anaheim Ducks: The Good, The Bad and Things Fans Want to Forget – Part 1

Andrew Cogliano does so many things well and is a key member to the second line when everyone is healthy. He is a third line player who plays in the top six because he has chemistry with his linemates. When Kesler or Silf struggle, Cogs is out of place and the line comes to a grinding halt offensively.

Kesler returned from his injury the day after Thanksgiving. It was obvious the Ducks didn’t get the same player back. He filled his role of shut down center admirably; however, he relied heavily on his ability to read the play in lieu of skating. Consequently, he struggled against faster teams like the Sharks.