The NHL’s trade deadline is coming up in but a few weeks. This means that Bob Murray will need to make some decisions regarding players on the Anaheim Ducks roster in both the short-term and with the impending expansion draft this season, perhaps the longer term as well.
There are also many comments around removing coach Dallas Eakins from his coaching position. While I have previously made my thoughts on this somewhat clear, a more numerical approach may provide some illumination on the jobs he’s done thus far this season, as well as providing some context on the players whose time as Ducks may presently be up for debate.
With that in mind, this article will only attempt to look briefly at the defensive players who skated with the Ducks last season and this season, as a simple guide to their level of play. While many players such as Jacob Larsson have seemingly taken significant steps backward this season, a numerical approach may find aspects of his play that go unnoticed during live play.
A full deep dive into the analytics would take far too long for all aspects of the game, however, it may not be entirely necessary to do so. The Anaheim Ducks are currently giving up 3.32 goals per game. That is but 0.45 goals under the league median.
One could make the argument that a Ducks team with a healthy Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson could shave half a goal per game off their goals-against average. It may not be world-beating, but it would be enough to win a playoff berth.
Conversely, the Ducks are relatively healthy upfront and are currently scoring 2.23 goals per game. This ranks them as the 30th team for scoring at the time of writing, and 0.74 goals per game below the league median. To create some perspective, over an 82-game season, the Ducks would need to find another ~61 goals just to reach the middle of the league. Based on last seasons scoring numbers, that would be another 3x Jakob Silfverberg‘s or 2x Patrick Kane‘s, just to reach the middle of the league.
Given the above, the Ducks’ focus should be on developing offense, and thus, this article will primarily look at changes in individual offensive stats. With all due respect to time and efficiency, this article will look at the returning blue line players, while another in the near future will delve into the forwards.