Anaheim Ducks: 2021 Outrageous Trade Deadline Extravaganza

There’s almost a month, to the day, before the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline. With that in mind, I thought I’d take advantage of puckpedia.com GM mode, put on my fancy GM-for-a-day cap, and see what kind of Anaheim Ducks super-team I could create with some— dare I say it— shrewd and insightful moves.

Firstly, I think it’s worth noting that my basis for all of these moves is that the current team is not very good. Shocking, I know. Yet, I believe we do need some reality mixed in with all the “playoffs are possible” comments from the Ducks themselves over the past 6 months.

Certainly, if the entire division self-destructs, the Anaheim Ducks should be able to sneak their way into the playoffs the same way that Australian legend, Steven Bradbury, stole a gold medal in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. But, to win their way there on their own merits? Laughable.

Thus, I thought to use the ever-strong tank strategy to lay the foundations of a future super team. Feel free to critique the absolute ever-loving hell out of the moves below. After all, the exercise was all just a little bit of fun!

Gibson, Out!

The first cab off the rank is setting John Gibson free. He’s struggled mightily this season, to rank 34th of the 65 netminders to play 100 minutes in expected goals saved above average (GSAx) and 40th in actual goals saved above average (GSAA). Both numbers are in the negatives. Similarly, the difference in saves between unblocked shot attempts and expected unblocked shot attempts ranks him in the negatives and in the bottom half of the league.

This isn’t to suggest that Gibson is a poor player by any stretch of the imagination. His expected goals-against are the second-highest amongst all netminders, which simply suggests the team in front of him is a trainwreck defensively. Which is something I think we can all agree is certainly the case.

What this does highlight, however, is that Gibson cannot win enough games on his own merits to drag the team into playoff contention. Hockey Jesus certainly knows he’s tried, as he sits equal second in the league for shutouts this season.

What Gibson does have is the aura about him, that suggests he’s a great netminder. One team that could use that big goalie energy is the Colorado Avalanche. Philipp Grubauer is certainly a decent netminder, but he has a history of injuries. Behind him the Avs have nothing. Adding Gibson to a roster, that already looks like a team destined for post-season success, could be the ticket to another Stanley Cup banner being hung high in the Colorado rafters.

Gibson, of course, won’t be cheap to acquire. He is a star player in his own right and, at only 27 years of age, has a number of years left in the tank. To this end, the Anaheim Ducks trade proposal begins with Bowen Byram and the Avs 2022 1st round draft pick.

In addition, the Avs also include netminder Pavel Francouz and the remaining four years of his salary ($2 million AAV). This is, in part due, to helping the Avalanche manage their money moving forward, and that the Ducks would like a netminder moving forward to mentor Lukas Dostal as he comes into the league in future years.

No Skin Off My Nose

Sometimes you have to risk it to get the biscuit. So buckle up, this one could get a little wild. My fantasy Anaheim Ducks are going to acquire Jeff Skinner and the remaining 6 years on this $9 million AAV contract. What’s more, I’m even going to give up the Ducks’ best trade piece, Rickard Rakell, to do so.

Crazy like a fox? Or just plain old crazy?

To make the money work going both ways, the Ducks will need to add a relatively significant salary to the mix. We’re going to have both Adam Henrique, Rakell, and a 2nd round pick (2023) heading towards Buffalo. From the Sabres perspective, this gives them a useful third-line combo forward (Henrique) who comes in at a far lower AAV and is signed for fewer years.

Most importantly, he’s still a useful player as he’s shown that over the past few games. Henrique is less than a calendar year removed from being the Ducks’ highest-scoring forward and has 4-points (2G, 2A) in the five games since he’s been back in the Anaheim Ducks lineup.

However, the big-ticket item on this list is Rakell. At 27-years-old, the former 30 goal scorer is still a dynamic offensive threat as both a facilitator and goal scorer. More to the point, he comes in at an absolute song, costing less than $3.8 million for the remainder of this season and next.

For a  Sabres team wishing to build around Jack Eichel while he’s still in his prime, these pieces are invaluable both for their on-ice contributions and for the flexibility they provide should the Sabres wish to make further trades. However, there is some risk involved for the Sabres as well. Namely that my Ducks want a big-time payout in return.

Alongside Jeff Skinner, who we only hope can contribute to the on-ice efforts at this stage of his career, my Ducks want Dylan Cozens, and a 1st round selection in each of the next three drafts.

Essentially, the breakdown is this: A single first-round pick in value for each of the seasons that Skinner is signed for after the end of the Henrique contract; the salary differences for the rest of this season and the first three seasons of the Skinner/Henrique swap (~$12 million dollars) are added to the Rakell portion of the trade and used to acquire Cozens. That is to say Rakell and a cap dump of ~$12 million dollars for a former top-10 draft pick.

The risk for the Sabres is that they would be buying heavily into Eichel’s present-day abilities and the chance to win a cup now. They do still have Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Quinn as young up-and-comers, but other than that would be sacrificing their future.

The risk for the Anaheim Ducks is that rebuilding this roster would assume that they would be very competitive in 3-4 seasons time, with Cozens and Trevor Zegras hitting their primes, and would potentially be looking at a significant increase to their salaries. Skinner would still be a rostered player and very likely to be a significant drag on the team assuming current results continue.

Oh Kaapo, My Kaapo!

There would be very few people who have read any of my writing over the past few years who don’t know of my love for Kaapo Kakko and that, despite writing for a Ducks blog, am a proud shirt-wearing, sticker-plastering member of the “Church of Kakko.” Luckily GMs always get to trade for players they wish they drafted but didn’t.

I’m going to try to pry him out of the hands of the Rangers, by leveraging his rookie season— one of the statistically worst years in NHL history— alongside the big D energy that the Anaheim Ducks can provide. Initially, I would have loved to move Lindholm in this deal, however, with his significant injury, Josh Manson becomes the Ducks who shifts to the New York team.

To make the money work a little more smoothly, the Ducks will be retaining half of Manson’s salary as well as taking back Jack Johnson for the remainder of this season. Essentially, this gives the Rangers a significant upgrade on the blue line for a playoff push this season. Perhaps more importantly, it adds to next season, which is likely to be a much better season as their younger players progress.

Of course, that won’t be enough to push this acquisition over the line. Thus the Ducks will be adding former 1st round draft selection, Brayden Tracey, the aforementioned Buffalo 1st rounder (2021), and the Ducks own 2nd rounder (2021).

It’s a bit to ask for both parties, but given Kaapo’s struggles last season and subsequent turnaround into a solid role player, there is some hope he’ll continue to grow. On the flip side, Tracey also looks to be struggling in his development and the 2021 draft is a little bit of a lottery with many young players not participating in a lot of hockey this season. Given the previous trades made above, the Ducks have a surplus of picks going forward, thus are in a position to attempt to roll the dice here.

It may be an overpayment or it may be a steal. Sometimes you need to risk it, and with the assets gained above, the Ducks should be able to take some risks with their younger players and draft selections this coming draft.

Committing To Isac Lundestrom

With the expansion draft coming up this summer, the Anaheim Ducks are going to need to make some decisions on certain players. They simply won’t be able to protect everyone they like. With that in mind, the Ducks are going to double down on Isac Lundestrom in that third-line role.

This will make Sam Steel somewhat expendable. Certainly, the Ducks will like his increasingly solid prowess in the faceoff circle, however, at 23 years old, Steel is in his statistical scoring prime and is simply not scoring.

Detroit is another rebuilding team that would use young talent. In a 2021 season with a somewhat weaker and uncertain draft, they are comfortable in moving two of their 3rd round draft selections for a young and proven NHL player.

In doing so they get a little younger in their forward group without radically altering their rebuilding plans. The Anaheim Ducks, on the other hand, shore up their draft stocks for this season and receive compensation for one of their young players who may have been considered lost to the expansion draft.

Making Room For Josh Mahura in the Anaheim Ducks Lineup

The Ducks seemingly have a lot of younger defencemen of the same quality, although differing styles. While in practice they appear to be leaning towards Jacob Larsson, whom I like, moving into the future, I think Josh Mahura may be a more effective use of that roster spot.

Thus, I will attempt to move Larsson within the division, to the Arizona Coyotes, who have quite an aging blueline of which many are unrestricted free agents next season. Ducks fans will know Larsson is a former first-round draft selection and that he’s signed for a further three seasons. Something that could fit in nicely with the Arizona team. Further, his first-round pedigree could go some way towards bridging the gap they’ve had with missing draft selections.

The Anaheim Ducks would look at receiving a modest package of draft picks in return. Given the Coyotes are missing their first-round selection this season, the Ducks will be kind enough to delay the picks coming in return to the 2022 and 2023 season. In effect, strengthening their draft positions in those future drafts.