Pucks of a Feather
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The Anaheim Ducks Blueline Depth Debacle: Too Many Players, Too Few Spots

By Jacob Robles

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 16: Jacob Larsson #51 of the Anaheim Ducks skates against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on October 16, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Islanders defeated the Ducks 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 16: Jacob Larsson #51 of the Anaheim Ducks skates against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on October 16, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Islanders defeated the Ducks 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM, CA: Andrej Sustr #62 of the Tampa Bay Lightning battles for position against Rene Bourque #14 of the Anaheim Ducks on February 18, 2015. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Square Pegs in Round Holes?

To be blunt, they don’t at the moment. They are likely to be the seventh and/ or eighth defensemen, much like Korbinian Holzer in years prior.  Marcus Pettersson and Jacob Larsson both are set to make the jump to the NHL full time this season. That means the Anaheim Ducks defense corps is rounded out by the rookies on the bottom pairing. Not to mention they’re also going to have to fight for a roster spot alongside Andy Welinski who was just re-signed.

I feel Schenn and Sustr will be severely underutilized since they are depth pieces meant to replace one of the rookies if they’re not able to make the jump. I think  Murray signed these two veterans partially due to the injury scare from this past year. While this might be a tinfoil hat theory,

I believe GMBM is being a little cautious and purposely stocking up on depth talent. I don’t blame him one bit. Losing as many key players to injuries like the Ducks did in 2017-18 was hard to watch as a fan. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like being in his shoes.

At least he doesn’t have to worry about the Ducks being shorthanded this time around. Is the price of roster depth worth taking precious ice time away from the young players? It remains to be seen.

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