Pucks of a Feather
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Bench Boss Benny’s First Interview

By Ben Thomasian

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Carter Rowney #24, Ryan Getzlaf #15, and Jacob Larsson #32 congratulate Nicolas Deslauriers #20 of the Anaheim Ducks after his goal during the first period of a game against the Ottawa Senators Honda Center on March 10, 2020 in Anaheim, California. Deslauriers scored a hat trick in the first period. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Carter Rowney #24, Ryan Getzlaf #15, and Jacob Larsson #32 congratulate Nicolas Deslauriers #20 of the Anaheim Ducks after his goal during the first period of a game against the Ottawa Senators Honda Center on March 10, 2020 in Anaheim, California. Deslauriers scored a hat trick in the first period. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 11: Christian Djoos #29 and Jakob Silfverberg #33 congratulate Jani Hakanpaa #28 of the Anaheim Ducks (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Wrapping It Up

CD: It seems that the defense, as well as the forward group, has a lot of competition for places.

BL: Yeah it really does. There are no doubt some salary-cap concerns with that, however, that is out of my hands and not necessarily a concern for the coaching staff. For the moment we can only work with what is in front of us, and right now we think that the competition for spots can only be positive.

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For instance, we’ve spoken a lot about team construction during even-strength play. However, the Anaheim Ducks’ special teams weren’t solid last season. It may be that a particular player can create a niche on one of those special teams that we simply can’t say no to.

Right now, we have tentatively penciled Kev-dawg onto that first power-play unit and moved Fowler to the second unit. This is no slight to Cam, it’s just that we’re likely to run a four-forward, one-defense, system for much of this season.

We’re flirting with a five-forward set-up given we may want to use Deslauriers shot from the point without disrupting the balance of the forwards, but for now, we’ll stick with the tried and true methods. That leaves some space for players to develop that niche toolset. We simply don’t have enough one-timers to use with the man advantage.

Similarly, do we want to exhaust Getzy on the penalty kill? He’s been a fixture there for a while and there are no complaints about his performance there. However, I can’t help but imagine that fewer minutes might help his offense spark back up. Do we have a group of forwards that we absolutely trust to take those minutes? Can Troy (Terry) step up? What about Max (Jones)?

Having all of these players to experiment with I think is a great boon for us as a coaching staff. There’s really no excuse for us to come up with a subpar mix of players.

CD: Thanks for the chat and the smoke Benny. We’ll all no doubt be watching along at home pulling for you to really build upon last year’s effort. Hopefully, we can catch up and do this all over again later in the year.

BL: Absolutely C-Bomb. Always up for a chat. Any time.

Next. Predicting the Opening Night Lineup. dark

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