Anaheim Ducks: Draft Floor Trade Ideas for Bob Murray

The Anaheim Ducks have two first-round picks, but could a trade bring in more assets for their future rebuild?

Picture this: You’re the General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks. You likely slept in this morning, but it’s time for lunch and you’re scrolling through your phone to check all the hot gossip around the league. You’ve probably worked the phone a little the past few weeks yourself.

You’ve seen some trades amongst your peers. You’ve even been given a gift, seeing as though San Jose has really leaned into being terrible for the next season or so, with their goalie tandem. But, you’re a little stumped for ideas yourself. Well never fear Mr… well I’ll just call you Murray Roberts for now. Right, back on track. Well never fear Mr. Roberts, for I, your most humble servant, have just the bait for your to burley up the waters with.

TRADE #1a- Back to the Future

The 2011 draft was pretty ok for the Anaheim Ducks. It’s a little weird to say given it was a relatively mediocre draft in terms of the number of NHL’ers to come from it. Yet, the Ducks made a deal with Toronto that turned into one of the better trades in franchise history. Specifically, the Ducks traded the #22 draft selection to Toronto for their 30th and 39th selection in the same draft. Those players famously became John Gibson and Rickard Rakell.

Why do I bring that up now? Well, it turns out this particular draft appears to be an intriguing one which may rival some of the previous super drafts in terms of pumping out NHL players. Thus, for a rebuilding team, it might be really interesting to acquire more draft picks to maximize your chances of speeding up a rebuild.

Thus, Bob Murray, I propose you revisit that old well and trade down to acquire more assets. Firstly, the low-risk option of trading the Boston Bruins 27th selection acquired in the David Backes contract acquisition. Who would be intrigued by this type of trade? A number of teams come to mind.

Would the Detroit Red Wings consider trading their 32nd and 45th selection for it? The draft slots aren’t too dissimilar (although lower) than the Toronto trade and maybe a player like Jacob Perreault is available and exciting to them. Is there a player the San Jose Sharks want to acquire? If there is then maybe they should consider packaging their 31st, 34th, and 54th pick for the Ducks 27th and 36th selection.

With the chances of Noel Gunler and Tyson Foerster potentially available in the early part of the second round, the Anaheim Ducks could “buy” two lottery tickets with the potential to win big in the goal-scoring sweepstakes.

TRADE #1b- Big risk in Little Virtual World

Hey, this trade down idea, worked once at the back end of the draft, why not right up front as well? Sure it would take some testicular fortitude to take a gamble of this magnitude given the talent on offer, but it’s not inconceivable. Naturally, if for some reason Quinton Byfield or Lucas Raymond are still available then the Anaheim Ducks jump all over them like a fat kid ambushes a cupcake. But if they’re not, then perhaps there is some leeway to move about.

Would the Minnesota Wild trade their 9th, 39th, and 100th selections for the Ducks prized 6th pick? Depending on how Montreal feels about things, would they go a little off base and trade their 16th, 47th, 48th, and 56th selection for the Anaheim Ducks 6th?

Trading back only a few draft spots could still net the Ducks a star, like Anton Lundell as well as potentially a few other assets. Trading back to the middle of the round, however, that might take just a little more convincing.

TRADE #2- Blow it Up

What if Hampus Lindholm wasn’t untouchable? After all, he’s coming off of two down years and will be a UFA in but two short years. It isn’t often an optimal decision to trade players after down years as it tanks their value somewhat. However, the Ducks made the decision to hire the coach that they did, so they must have worked this into their plans.

It would be unlikely that the Ducks could swing a top 10 selection for him, but what about a middle of the table draft pick? Would the New Jersey Devils consider a play of 18th and 20th draft selections for Lindholm and the Ducks 103rd draft selection? Having six selections over two seasons is a major influx of talent that would likely be used to propel a team forward all at one time. It’s intriguing if not some kind of smart.

TRADE #3- Scorched Earth Strategies

Well, you’ve just considered trading away Lindholm, so why not have a punt on moving Josh Manson for picks as well. Go crazy and trade both! Sure you could trade Manson all by his lonesome and possibly secure the Toronto Maple Leafs 15th overall selection. It might even be a straight-up trade, which would be a pretty great benefit. But that’s just a little bit boring don’t you think?

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Trade them both. Go crazy. Lindholm and Manson packaged as a defensive unit to backstop an up and coming cup team. Who goes for that? Can anyone? The Buffalo Sabres just might be crazy enough to try it. All of a sudden they find they have a shutdown second pairing that has some skill and a little snarl. Is that enough to push them forward given the defencemen they already have in the fold? It just might be. At the very least it’s worth trying something to keep GM Eichel happy.

Does the 8th overall selection, and Rasmus Ristolainen do it for the Anaheim Ducks twosome? They get a clear upgrade on defense and remove a player who’s been bandied about in trade talks for a while now, whereas the Ducks take on a younger reclamation project and a score another top 10 draft selection with which to drive a rebuild. Don’t lie you’ve been tossing up which player to go for in that top 10, but with multiple choices, maybe you can have both!

I’m Just Asking Questions

I’m not saying the Anaheim Ducks need to do anything here. They picked up a couple of firsts last year and now they have two more again. Taken together, those 4 picks will go a long way to rebuilding one of the weakest prospect pools in the NHL system. However, it may be time to give in to the inevitable and rebuild in earnest. I don’t know if the Anaheim Ducks can do such a thing, but if you were Mr. Bob Murray wouldn’t you want to maximize the chances of acquiring that elusive scoring star? I think I would.

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