Anaheim Ducks Should be All In on Patrik Laine
On February 6th, 1996 the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim made a trade that would change the course of their history forever, and now, in 2019, 23 years later, the Anaheim Ducks have a chance to do it again… And they should
When you picture a Mt. Rushmore of Anaheim Ducks players I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a single person who wouldn’t include Teemu Selanne on it, he holds the records for most points in franchise history, most goals in franchise history, most goals, and most points in a season in franchise history. But Selanne didn’t start out as a Duck, he was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets and spent 3 1/2 seasons with them before being traded to the Ducks. Selanne came into the league like a man possessed, scoring a staggering 76 goals and finishing with 132 points in his rookie campaign, considered by many to be the best rookie campaign in league history. Following that rookie campaign, Selanne was still a very effective player, but his production slowed down a bit, he had an injury as well as a lockout-shortened season, Selanne found himself unable to replicate his storybook rookie season, but that certainly doesn’t mean he was not useful, he still managed over a point per game in the following 2 seasons but big picture he was not able to match his rookie numbers in both seasons combined. The following season Selanne had a bit of a rebound season, putting up 72 points in 51 games (the most he had during any season since his rookie year) before being traded to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
Once being traded Selanne found his groove again, posting 50 goal seasons in each of his first two for the Mighty Ducks and putting up 107 points in his 3rd. Selanne had a long journey for the remainder of his career, playing for a few other teams but never for very long and he kept finding his way back to Anaheim. Finishing his career playing 15 seasons for the Ducks with 457 goals for the Ducks and 988 points in a Ducks uniform. So what does this have to do with anything? Well, Selanne’s beginning to his NHL career is quite similar to that of another Finnish forward, who is considered the best Finnish goal scorer since Selanne, Patrik Laine, and there are talks that his time in Winnipeg might be coming to an end just like the Finnish Flash’s did in 1996.