2018 Anaheim Ducks / PofaF General Manager Challenge

Our staff takes the next step in our quests to be Anaheim Ducks GM. In this series, each participant will put together the best Ducks roster they can for next season (and beyond). Jacob Robles is up on day three.

A few weeks ago the staff answered some questions about what we would do if we were Anaheim Ducks General Manager Bob Murray. We all had fun with it. What I realized is that although our contributors agree on many things; we also, like everyone else, have some very different ideas on how to make this team a winner.

Ground Rules

So the Anaheim Ducks GM challenge was born. Just like fantasy hockey, we see which one of us does it the best. Those who take the challenge are required to put together a realistic full roster. They must stay within the parameters of both the salary cap and the Anaheim Ducks internal cap, which is in the neighborhood of about five million less.

Would be GMs are allowed to make trades, re-sign restricted free agents (RFA), sign unrestricted free agents (UFA), and buyout contracts (with cap consequences). We agreed in advance to a salary cap total.

The NHL expects the cap to be around $82M in 2018-19, so we went with $81.5M. Additionally, we agreed how much RFAs get paid on their next contract. The results were Ondrej Kase (bridge deal), Andy Welinski, Kevin Roy get $1M, Nick Ritchie, $1.2M, and Brandon Montour (bridge) $1.5M as salaries for next season.

More from Pucks of a Feather

To see other contributors GM Challenge teams, click on the link:

Ed Stein – June 10, 2018, Chris Bushell – June 12, 2018

Opening Statements

First things first, I want to stress that I am very new to CapFriendly.com and I’m no wizard with numbers so some of my contracts may not be the best. Second, this is just how I want to see the team come together ideally.

I opted to go the safe route and not go absolutely crazy with trades like I would’ve thought I would.

Thr Roster

Forwards

Eaves – Getzlaf – Rakell

Cogliano – Henrique – Silfverberg

Ritchie – Grant – Kase

Roy – Terry – Perry

Defense

Lindholm – Manson

Fowler – Montour

Pettersson – Larsson

Goalies

Gibson

Miller

RFAs Ducks

Let me start by saying nothing drastic was done. I started by moving Ryan Kesler to the LTIR. I strongly believe he’ll be good to go by the beginning of next season, but for sake of having a decent amount of cap space, I moved him.

Next, my only transactions we’re re-signing a few free agents I want to see return. Starting with the RFA’s here, we all agreed on what we thought both Ondrej Kase and Brandon Montour would make for the purpose of this challenge. Kase got a $1M contract, while Montour’s was worth $1.5M.

I don’t think Kase has quite earned the giant big boy contract yet, but I hope Anaheim is able to work something out to keep the young Czech somewhat long-term. He is starting to find his game which led to a breakout year.

Montour, on the other hand, is due for a decent raise. He’s been a great addition to the blueline and I think he’ll be a key member of it for a long time. He won’t log minutes like Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm because they’ve easily been the Anaheim Ducks best pairing, but I think being with a guy like Cam Fowler can really help him develop as a top Defensemen. Imagine both those rockets on the same pairing, oh boy.

Nick Ritchie received a $1.2M contract. Something tells me he’s on the move, especially with John Gibson and Adam Henrique nearing extensions. I think BM will pull a fast one this offseason and trade Ritchie.

RFAs Gulls

Next, both Ducklings, Kevin Roy and Andy Welinski received $1M contracts. It’s hard to really judge these players because I don’t feel like either was properly given enough of an opportunity in 2017-18, but like I’ve done most of the year, I give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt with how crazy the injury situation was.

I think Welinski is ready for the jump, but he needs more minutes to really show us what he’s capable of. Roy should’ve stayed with the team when it was all healthy. He more than proved he can hang with the big boys (He also won me a Ducks Headline shoutout against St.Louis. Thanks Kevin!). I think we’ll see him float around between the two teams this year, but regardless, he deserves another contract.

UFAs

I signed Derek Grant and J.T. Brown to one-year deals. For those that follow my twitter, you know how much I like Derek. Jokes aside, I applaud the guy for the great year he had. Having to step into big shoes like Getzlaf’s for a decent period of time is no easy task. Grant, for his part, handled the pressure greatly and had a career year. As a result, I gave Grant $1,000,000 at one year.

I gave J.T. the same money he made this past year at $1,250,000. We didn’t get to see much from him since he came over at the deadline, but he brings the one thing Anaheim needs; Speed. I see him as a guy who won’t get a ton of minutes but is a solid fourth line choice.

Notes

I didn’t touch on it yet but promoting Jacob Larsson up to the third D-pairing with Pettersson was done mostly for the dual Swede pairing. I think both guys could thrive from playing wi fellow countrymen.

Before I close this out, I want to address my choice to put Perry on the 4th line, forming what I’m dubbing the PerrTerrydactyl line. While I’m still part of the camp that believes Perry is still a good player that’s just struggling to find his game again, I think having him down on a line with two rookies can really help transition him into a mentor for the two. A veteran forward of Perry’s caliber can really help these guys grow as players.

Next: 6 Anaheim Ducks summer predictions

When all is said and done, I finished with exactly $12,175,000 still left in cap space with a $68,825,000 total cap hit. Hope you guys enjoyed my lineup, and thank you for reading!

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2018 Anaheim Ducks / PofaF General Manager Challenge – Day 3