Anaheim Ducks: 2020 Trade Deadline in Retrospect

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Sonny Milano #22 of the Anaheim Ducks reacts to his goal with Ryan Getzlaf #15 and Christian Djoos #29, to take a 1-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers, during the first period at Honda Center on February 25, 2020 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Sonny Milano #22 of the Anaheim Ducks reacts to his goal with Ryan Getzlaf #15 and Christian Djoos #29, to take a 1-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers, during the first period at Honda Center on February 25, 2020 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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Anaheim Ducks
Christian Djoos #29 of the Anaheim Ducks (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Daniel Sprong for Christian Djoos

Fail… I’m telling you right now, this trade is getting an F! There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. At the time, this trade seemed great, but hindsight is always 20/20 and that’s why we’re looking at these trades over a year later.

Daniel Sprong was acquired by the Anaheim Ducks from the Pittsburgh Penguins in December of 2018 in exchange for Marcus Pettersson. You, the fans, even voted him as the best acquisition of the 2018-19 season. He was fast, intuitive, had a dangerous shot, and posted almost 20 points in his 47 games campaign with the Ducks in 2018-19.

However, going into the 2019-20 season, Sprong suddenly became the odd man out and found himself spending a majority of his season in the AHL, something he had hoped to avoid when moving to Anaheim. He worked closely with Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen to round out his game in hopes of making the leap to the big league. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t play more than 8 games with the Ducks.

In order to improve their blueline, the Ducks would send Daniel Sprong to Washington in exchange for Swedish defenseman, Christian Djoos. Djoos really seemed to fit in as a bottom pairing defenseman for the Anaheim Ducks. He was small but showed real potential. Over the offseason, the Ducks offered him a one-year extension, and he even took a pay cut to stay with the Ducks.

However, in order to be Cap compliant at the start of the 2020-21 season, the Anaheim Ducks had to shuffle the deck and move some money around. So, they opted to keep a cheaper contract up with the big club and put Christian Djoos on waivers. And who swooped in and stole him from right under our noses? Well, none other than the Detroit Red Wings.

This was another case of asset management gone wrong on Bob Murray’s part. To add insult to injury, Daniel Sprong has been playing well with the Washington Capitals this year. He has 12 points in 26 games, including 7 goals, which would have him tied for third on the current Ducks team with the likes of Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, and Troy Terry.

Big yikes for Bob Murray and another failing grade. That was the end of the Marcus Pettersson trade tree and things did not go the way we planned.

Final Grade: F

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