Pucks of a Feather
Fansided

Anaheim Ducks fans are losing confidence in management

By Ed Stein

ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 21: (L-R) Anaheim Ducks CEO Michael Schulman, Executive Vice President and COO Tim Ryan, owner Henry Samueli, Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Murray pose for a photo wearing purple ties in honor of Hockey FIghts Cancer night during the game against the Dallas Stars on October 21, 2011 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 21: (L-R) Anaheim Ducks CEO Michael Schulman, Executive Vice President and COO Tim Ryan, owner Henry Samueli, Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Murray pose for a photo wearing purple ties in honor of Hockey FIghts Cancer night during the game against the Dallas Stars on October 21, 2011 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Anaheim Ducks
ANAHEIM, CA: Director of Player Development Todd Marchant watches from the stands during the Anaheim Ducks’ annual development camp at Anaheim ICE in Anaheim on Friday, June 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan/Orange County Register via Getty Images) /

Outliers

There are six metrics involved in the rankings, four of them are pretty consistent (not good) and two are significantly out of the range. The first area is Drafting and Player Development, where Ducks fans rated the organization third overall.

Look at the roster, all the key players are homegrown. The list includes Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Cam Fowler, and John Gibson. Then there is the talent pipeline. It’s easy to see why fans would be optimistic about this area when players such as Max Jones, Troy Terry, Sam Steel, and Jacob Larsson are on the near horizon.

Contrast that high ranking with where Anaheim Ducks fans put the team in 27th place, Free Agency. Part of the reason for such a low placement may be unjustified. The Ducks don’t spend like a big market team, they have an internal budget, which is several million dollars below the actual cap. That isn’t management’s fault, it’s on ownership.

The other reason for poor marks is squarely on General Manager Bob Murray and company. Because of the internal cap, the Ducks are hamstrung by several long-term contracts for big dollars to older players. While Getzlaf is still at the top of his game, the declining play of Perry combined with a far less than 100% Ryan Kesler has put the team at a spending disadvantage. There have been no significant free-agent adds in quite a while.

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