Anaheim Ducks: The Controversy Surrounding Veteran Players

The Anaheim Ducks have acquired some very questionable veteran players during the off-season. General Manager Bob Murray’s decisions have definitely caused a lot of heads to spin. However, he has brought in players in seasons past that have offered proof that a veteran presence can be valuable to the line-up.

There was a man who walked into my bakery this morning. He was wearing a red shirt that donned the phrase, “practice like a champion.” However, in the center of the word practice, which was written in blue, were three letters highlighted in white. These three letters spelled the word “act.”

Now, this is not something I would normally take notice of while I am on the job. Especially considering I spend most days elbow deep in cookie dough. Nevertheless, looking up at the most inopportune moment served to benefit me. I found so much inspiration in this simple, yet profound phrase.

It was a reminder of the age-old saying, “actions speak louder than words.” If you want to be a champion, you don’t only practice it, you act like it. That right there was one of the Anaheim Ducks major disconnects during the 2017-18 Conference Quarterfinals.

It’s understandable, and we will give them the benefit of the doubt, that the team was plagued by injuries. Losing key members of the team led to quite a bit of inconsistency on the ice. Nevertheless, they pushed themselves hard to make the postseason. Yet, come playoff time, we did not see a team that was playing like champions. We saw a team that was tired and didn’t seem to have much fight left in them.

Out With the Old?

There are many issues that can be contributed to the entire team as a whole. However, there are also issues that can be contributed to playing some of our veterans. I have tremendous respect for players like Kevin Bieksa, Francois Beauchemin, Jason Chimera, and Chris Kelly, but it is unarguable that these are players who were way past their prime last season. They tended to cause more issues than solve them.

Ducks Nation was a little relieved when Bob Murray made several statements regarding the future of the team at the beginning of the off-season. It seemed as though maybe GMBM had a revelation:

“We have to play faster, and that’s a team thing,” he said. “Some teams have started to play faster, and they look faster. We have a couple guys that, let’s face it, were never great skaters. How do we improve that? We have to watch how some of these other teams play. New Jersey did a great job of it. We’re well aware of that. We know we have to make some changes.” Bob Murray to NHL.com

When he jumped on the “speed is key” bandwaggon, we were hopeful that he would take the opportunity to bring in a new wave of youth. However, he did the exact opposite, and it has ruffled some tail feathers. Murray has sent mixed messages to his fan base concerning his off-season acquisitions. This has led many of us to ask the question, “Where did the real Bob Murray go?”

Although a few of Bob Murray’s decisions have been questionable, he has been in this business much longer than most of us have been hockey fans. GMBM has this job because he knows what he is doing. With every sport, there are risks have to be taken. Sometimes they work out in your favor. Other times, they come back to bite you in the behind.

Don’t let the defeat of last season leave a bad taste in your mouth. Murray has had a plenty of success bringing in veteran players throughout the years and sticking with other Ducks veterans. That should keep Ducks Nation hopeful that the team could have some success with the newest veterans added to the roster this summer.

Ryan Kesler

After the 2013-14 NHL season, the Vancouver Canucks were in a rebuild. They were looking for younger, faster skaters who might have the potential to win the team a championship. Ryan Kesler, however, didn’t see that happening anytime soon. He waived his no-trade clause in order to be traded to a team that had a better chance of making it to the Stanley Cup before his career was over.

He asked that he either be traded to the Chicago Blackhawks or the Anaheim Ducks. Cankucks management made it no secret that they didn’t want a player on their team who didn’t want to be there. With their eyes on Nick Bonino, Vancouver agreed to trade RK17 to the Ducks.

The organization came to a contract agreement with Kesler on June 27, 2014. At this point in his career, Kesler was 29 years old. Just a few weeks after the trade, the calendar turned another page and Ryan Kesler turned 30.

RK17 has now spent a total of four seasons with the Anaheim Ducks. That is an adequate amount of time to judge whether or not the return rate on his contract was worth it. Kesler, over the past four seasons, has racked up a total of 172 points. Since his acquisition, he has led the Anaheim Ducks shutdown line, playing with Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg.

Kesler has also been a great addition to the Ducks powerplay unit, scoring 20 goals and netting 23 helpers in four seasons. Another benefit to having Kesler on the Ducks is his ability to win in the faceoff circle. In the past four seasons, his faceoff percentage (FO%) has not dropped below 53 percent.

Granted, Kesler started the 2017-18 season healing from an invasive hip surgery. That kept him out of the line-up for a majority of the season. Although he was only able to contribute 14 points (8g, 6a) in 44 games, that is pretty reasonable for a player who was skating around on one hip for most of the season.

Patrick Eaves

Last season, the Anaheim Ducks acquired two veteran players as rentals. Unfortunately, Ducks Nation was disappointed when they didn’t deliver the “speed” they were promised. Speed aside, the pair only contributed one goal and three assists during their time with the Ducks. However, things were much different at the 2016-17 trade deadline, when the Anaheim Ducks acquired the 32-year-old winger, Patrick Eaves, from Dallas.

The Anaheim Ducks adamantly pursued the player close to the trade deadline. Why? In 59 games, Eaves had managed to net 21 goals and an additional 16 helpers. The 37 point season was shaping up to be a record-breaking year for Eaves. During his 14 season career in the NHL, Eaves hadn’t scored more than 32 points since he was 22, in 2006-07.

That in itself is rare for a veteran player. Players usually begin to decline the older they get. The fact that Eaves was on the up and up made him an enticing option for the playoff-bound Anaheim Ducks. Not only were his stats attractive, the cap hit was as well. “The Beard” was only making a mere $1M for the season.

Eaves made his first appearance with the Ducks on February 25, he went on to benefit the team tremendously. In 20 games, he netted 11 goals and added three helpers. As the Duck advanced to the playoffs, he scored four more points for the team (2g, 2a.)

Unfortunately, Eaves spent most of the 2017-18 season on the injured reserved list with what was, at the time, considered to be symptoms Guillain-Barre syndrome. Murray has since come out and said that the team can expect Eaves in the line-up on opening day.

The unfortunate thing is, we do not know to what extent the illness has affected him. What we do know, is that Patrick Eaves and the Anaheim Ducks are confident that he will be able to adequately contribute to the team in 2018-19.

Adam Henrique

The one good trade to come from the 2017-18 season was the trade to get 27- year-old Adam Henrique. As a baker, I compare Henrique to the likeness of an almond croissant. If you don’t know anything about how almond croissants are made, let me educate you.

An almond croissant was traditionally created by French pastry chefs to get some use out of stale, day-old croissants that they could no longer sell. However, if you add simple syrup to rehydrate the croissant and pipe in a delectable almond cream, you’ve created a whole new masterpiece.

My whole point is, Adam Henrique needed a little revitalization. The Ducks were stuck between a rock and a hard spot when they were hurting for players to play at center. Henrique had been a solid point producer for the New Jersey Devils since the 2011-12 season. However, he seemed as though he was struggling to find his footing at the beginning of 2017-18 as New Jersey was developing 2017 first overall draft pick Nico Hischier at the same position. In 24 games, he had only 14 points (4g, 10a.)

Henrique was a breath of fresh air for a hurting Anaheim Ducks team. His 36 points in 57 games with the Ducks shows that maybe Henrique needed the change just as much as Anaheim did. He found his chemistry with the team quickly, scoring six points in his first four games for his new team. He was the perfect guy to serve as the veteran presence on a line with young Ducks, Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie.

Due to his outstanding efforts to save the drowning Anaheim Ducks, Henrique was rewarded with a five-year, $29.1M contract, that extends into the 2023-24 season.