Anaheim Ducks: Early Season Report Cards, Forwards Part 2
At Pucks of a Feather, we have been handing out our early season report cards for the Anaheim Ducks. So far, we’ve graded our first group of forwards and the goalies. Today, we will be picking up right where we left off with our second group of forwards.
The Anaheim Ducks ended the month of October with a 5-6-3 record. This is less than ideal and there are a lot of players who need to step up as we get further into the month of November. Last week, we graded our first group of forwards and our goaltenders.
Chris Bushell put on his analytical cap and graded our first six forwards. Players like Ryan Getzlaf, Pontus Aberg, and Carter Rowney came out on top, all earning passing grades. Adam Henrique received an average grade. Then, we had players like Brain Gibbons and Joseph Blandisi received criticism for their less than average performances, earning a D and an F respectively.
Our resident goaltender, Jake Robles, used his talented in taking the charge in grading our masked men. John Gibson received due praise, earning himself an A- for the month of October. Our reliable back-up earned himself a decent grade as well. Although he did not play as much, or as well, as John Gibson, he still received an above average grade with a B.
Now, we’re moving on to our second group of forwards. In this article, we will examine the performances of Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg, Nick Ritchie, Andrew Cogliano, and Rickard Rakell. Keep in mind, this is completely based off of their performance for the month of October.
Ryan Kesler
Grade: B+
Ryan Kesler entered his fifth season as an Anaheim Duck this year. He has been nothing less than a consistent and key player for the team. Nevertheless, after the issues with his hip became almost too much to bear, it was speculated that Kesler may sit out the entire 2018-19 season.
However, he has come back early in the season with a vengeance. His goal? To prove everyone who doubted him wrong. He made his season debut on October 10, 2018, against the Arizona Coyotes.
Although he only produced 5 points in the span of 10 games, he is looking so much better than he did during the 2017-18 season. His first point came during his first game. He scored the very first goal off of a rebound after Antti Raanta lost the puck.
He also scored two goals that helped the Anaheim Ducks win their contest against the New York Islanders. An assist in the game against the St. Louis Blues snatched the Ducks another win.
Kesler has been one of the most consistent players in the faceoff. With a 58.7% success rate, he won 118 out of the 201 faceoffs he participated in. This gave the Ducks plenty of opportunities, that without Kesler, they would not have had. Nevertheless, the current state of the team kept them from capitalizing on these opportunities.
Since his return, the entire team has been struggling to be a cohesive unit. Kesler, on the other hand, has had a decent performance. Especially considering that he has been bounced around between the first and second line due to the injury of Ryan Getzlaf.
We have been given a glimpse of the defensive, strong-willed, gritty leader that we all have come to admire. With, hopefully, more consistency from the entire team, and the opportunity he has had to reunite with the shutdown line we should see him producing more in the following months.
His hip is definitely a concern, but the good news is, it seems as though he’s listening to his body this season. Let’s hope he doesn’t overwork himself and sits out when he needs to rest. I hope that the state of his team doesn’t cause him to jeopardize his own health.
Jakob Silfverberg
Grade: B+
Jakob Silfverberg missed two weeks of the regular season in October due to a broken finger. Due to his injury, he missed five games with the Anaheim Ducks, all of them ending in a loss but one. Nevertheless, despite his absence, he was still been one of the team’s leaders in points so far this season, with three goals and four helpers.
One might assume that because he had one point less than Rickard Rakell, he would receive a similar grade. However, Silfverberg’s injury kept him sidelined for two weeks. During these two weeks, he continued to be the leader in points. No one else on the team produced enough points to surpass him in the standings.
It is a contract year for the 28-year-old Swedish native, and he’s been making a pretty good case for his extension. There is still a lot of hockey left to be played, and we’ve yet to see him so much during the month of November, but he’s been one of the most enjoyable players for me to watch so far this season.
His CF% (Corsi for percentage) definitely leaves a lot to be desired, with a dismal 36.8%. Most of the time stats are a good indicator of how a player is performing. However, he has still managed to make one of the most significant impacts while he is on the ice.
One of my biggest concerns for Silfverberg going into the new season was the unfortunate separation from his linemates, Ryan Kesler and Andrew Cogliano. This was going to be the biggest test to see exactly what kind of a player he was, and he passed the test with flying colors.
Carlyle has trusted him with the responsibility of mentoring a handful of different rookies. We’ve seen him play alongside Max Comtois, Isac Lundestrom, and Sam Steel so far this season. He’s remained positive about his new role, even though he’s lacked stability.
He continues to be the talented two way forward with a high hockey IQ. He has still remained the same humble played we have come to know over the past six seasons.
The talented two way forward continues to play with humility and inspires with his keen hockey skills and tenacious attitude. I expect great things from him this season. Not because he’s in a contract year, but because he truly is a talented player. He hasn’t earned a place on the second line the past few seasons for no reason, and I think we tend to forget that.
Nick Ritchie
Grade: B-
Nick Ritchie played just two games during the month of October and we all know why. After Ritchie and the Anaheim Ducks failed to come to contract terms, he remained unsigned for most of the month of October. For a lot of fans, this left a very bitter taste in their mouths. Especially after the 2017-18 season he had.
Ritchie’s reputation is that of an uncontrolled hothead who is undisciplined on the ice. He takes penalties that shouldn’t be taken, and it has resulted in a few losses for the Anaheim Ducks. Yet, despite his inability to come to terms before the regular season started and his reputation from the prior season.
After signing a three-year contract worth $4.6M, Ritchie finally made his debut with the Anaheim Ducks on October 23rd, against the Chicago Blackhawks. He inserted onto the top line alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell.
In his first game, he looked a little rusty. That comes as no surprise seeing as how he missed all of training camp, preseason, and the first few weeks of the regular season. However, it definitely seemed as though he had worked on a few aspects of his game over the summer. The physical style the power forward brought to the game was definitely missing in the Anaheim Ducks lineup until Nick Ritchie stepped onto the ice.
Ritchie’s only other game in October was against the Dallas Stars. He was credited with a primary assist on Ryan Getzlaf’s second goal of the evening. He took his first penalty of the season; a roughing call early in the second period. Many fans were worried about his ill-temper on the ice, but he seems to have, so far, toned it down quite a bit. Knock on wood, there’s still a lot of hockey left to play.
He spent the rest of October and the first week of November on the sidelines after he sustained an upper-body injury. Nevertheless, I truly believe this is going to be a season where we see a different, and better, side of the young left-wing. While Nick Ritchie has not played out of this world, he has added a physical flare that was once missing early in the season. Whether we like it or not, Nick Ritchie is an integral part of this team.
Andrew Cogliano
Grade: C
To be quite honest, I had forgotten that Andrew Cogliano was a part of this team. Now, this wasn’t due to the fact that I’ve felt like my brain was on a different planet for much of October, but because I hardly ever noticed Cogliano on the ice. He seemed, for the most part, invisible.
Not to be too critical, but I expect more out of one of our core veteran leaders. He may not wear the “A”, but he has spent the past eight seasons with the Ducks which makes him as much of a leader as any of the other guys with the “official title.” I don’t put as much blame on his as say Getzlaf or Fowler, but the structural damage that the Ducks have been suffering is due to lackluster performances on the ice.
He had four points for the most of October, so I must give credit where credit is due. His most impressive play of the season so far was the game-winning power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues on October 14th. He also had five shots on goal during that game.
Of course, like most of the team, Cogliano has been struggling to generate shots on goal. However, he sits in sixth for SOG, which is better than the majority of the team. So far this season, he has a CF% of 45.2%. That isn’t terrible, especially considering the rest of the team, but it isn’t outstanding either. It’s average, just like the rest of Cogliano’s performance last month. That is why I have given him an average grade.
Rickard Rakell
Grade: C-
When you think of Rickard Rakell, the words sub par don’t come to mind. Rakell is a strategic, electric, and he knows how to play a pretty dang good game of hockey. He’s enjoyable to watch and the future of the Anaheim Ducks seems bright as long as Rickard Rakell is on the team.
Nevertheless, he struggled to get off to a good start this season. He led the team in points for the month of October, with 8. However, of those eight points, six of them were assists. Normally, this wouldn’t matter. A point is a point, right? But, this is Rickard Rakell we’re talking about.
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Maybe I am being a tad harsh on the young forward, but last season he led the team in goals and points. Last season, we were able to count on Rickard Rakell to pull the team out of tough situations and capitalize on opportunities. He is a goal scorer, through and through.
I know that I’m not the only one who feels this way either. Rickard Rakell was voted by you, our readers, as our Dud of the Month. Instead of writing an entirely different article summarizing exactly what I’m saying here, let’s address it now.
Out of the 144 of you who voted, 49% of you agreed that Rickard Rakell needed to step up. We all know that he can do better. He’s proved it to us in the past! At Pucks of a Feather, we even went as far as sending out an SOS, imploring Rakell to come and save the sinking ship. Yet, he never seemed to show up.
Ryan Getzlaf was out of the lineup for an extended period of time, leaving Rakell to carry a line filled with rookies. I give him the benefit of the doubt, he lost his partner. However, when you play in a sport where the likelihood of injury is exponentially high, you have to be prepared. This was a sure sign that his leadership skills need to be developed.
I wanted to give him a lower grade, but I realized that he didn’t have much of a team behind him either. In a situation like that, it’s really hard to find your way back to normalcy.
Is Average Good Enough?. dark. Next
I have a feeling that we will soon see the dynamic, electric, fun to watch Rickard Rakell we all know and love.