With the Anaheim Ducks season-ending last Friday against the Los Angeles Kings, the next thing we as Ducks fans have to look forward to is the draft. Let’s take a look at the possible players the Ducks could take in their draft range, and rank them.
The Anaheim Ducks season unceremoniously ended Friday against the Kings, it’s been a long, painful season with far more disappointments than bright spots. But as the season mercifully comes to an end the next course of action is to turn our attention towards the draft. The Anaheim Ducks finished in the 8th worst spot in the league.
The draft lottery means that the top 3 selections are all determined by the lottery. This means that the Ducks could move into one of those top 3 spots, or on the more upsetting side of things, they could move back as far as 3 spots. So with the Ducks finishing as the 8th worst team, the Ducks could pick in the following spots. 1st overall, 2nd overall, 3rd overall, 8th overall, 9th overall, 10th overall, or 11th overall depending on the results of the lottery.
Today what I want to do is look at the top 10 ranked prospects the Ducks could draft and rank them according to how I feel they will be according to the Anaheim Ducks organizational needs as well as the likelihood that they’re selected. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 10th and 9th overall prospects
Number 10- Vasili Podkolzin (St. Petersburg (MHL))
Vasili Podkolzin is considered by most scouts to be the consensus 3rd overall selection in the upcoming draft. A responsible player on both offense and defense, the young Russian winger plays with a tenacity that can’t be taught and is a bigger body than most of the others in the top 10. He’s a good skater, has soft hands, good vision and uses his size to his advantage.
By that description, one would think that he would be near the top of the Ducks scouting report. The reason he’s ranked 10th overall is his nationality. Whether a conscious effort or sheer coincidence, Ducks general manager Bob Murray appears to be allergic to Russians.
As a matter of fact, since Murray took over as the GM of the Ducks, only two Russian players have suited up for the Ducks, Anton Khudobin played 9 games as the Ducks backup goaltender in 2015-16, and Evgeny Artyukhin managed to suit up for 37 games for the Ducks before being traded the same season he was acquired in a trade for Drew Miller. It seems unlikely that the Ducks would use one of their highest picks in a decade on a player who Bob Murray seems to shy away from
Team Fit- 8/10, Great fit for the Anaheim Ducks on paper due to play style, Ducks need a center more than a winger however
Likelihood- 1/10, I simply don’t see Murray taking a Russian player this high in the draft. I’m not sure why Murray avoids them, but history would say it’s not likely to happen.
Comparable- Hard to pin him down to one, he has soft scoring hands like a Artemi Panarin but is more defensively inclined, not quite to the levels of a Patrice Bergeron or a Pavel Datsyuk, but higher than most scorers of his stature.
Number 9- Philip Broberg (AIK J20 (SuperElit))
There are a few defensemen who fluctuate in this area, Philip Broberg and Victor Soderstrom seems to be the two who flirt with the top 10 the most outside of another DMan who will be mentioned later. I’m going to focus on Broberg more as he’s currently ranked higher on Bob McKenzie’s mock draft.
I’ll briefly touch on Soderstrom here, he’s a Swedish defenseman (Like Broberg) who is right-handed, plays a solid two-way game and is mostly compared to Jared Spurgeon when discussing his play style. He’s more offensively inclined than Broberg and is a smaller body. But back to Broberg, the Swede is a bigger body, standing 6’3 and pushing 200lbs, he’s one of the more physically developed of this draft making him a more physically ready prospect than someone like a Soderstrom.
However Broberg is rough around the edges, he’s great physically, not afraid to throw his body around and skating quite fast for his size, he is sometimes careless with the puck which leads to some frustrating turnovers. He’s been criticized for his lack of hockey IQ and that’s not something that usually meshes well with the Ducks, paired with the fact that the Ducks have a pretty great defense as it is and a few younger guys who are already struggling to hit the lineup due to the established guys, it seems unlikely that they would select a defenseman in this spot.
Team Fit- 2/10- Ducks already have Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Brendan Guhle, Jacob Larsson, Josh Mahura, with a top 10 pick you’re looking for someone who can slide into a key part of your lineup sooner than later, and the Ducks have far more pressing needs up front than on the back end. I could see the Ducks using their 2nd first round pick on a defender.
Likelihood- 2/10- Again, the Anaheim Ducks don’t really need a defender unless there’s someone who really really catches their eye, neither Broberg or Soderstrom is that guy for me. There are about 10-12 forwards who I would select before either of them.
Comparable- Mattias Ekholm, a big-bodied guy who can play physically, solid skater, doesn’t leap off the page or catch your eye. Likely a solid top 4 Dman but not one you build your roster around.