Anaheim Ducks: End of Season Grades for 2020-21 Defensemen

Just because the Anaheim Ducks opted against playing defense this season doesn’t mean we can’t grade them. Harshly.

Jokes aside, however, trying to answer whether a particular player succeeded or failed against pre-season expectations in the system Head Coach Dallas Eakins implemented is a lesson in futility. As one of the poorer NHL coaches of any generation, with a storied history of underwhelming defensive schemes, succeeding under the tutelage of the man who implemented “the swarm” was always going to be a tall order for any of the Ducks blueliners.

The results of the team as a whole show this to be as true as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west on the spring and autumn equinox. Nonetheless, the Anaheim Ducks iced 12 defensemen this past season and by some cruel twist of fate, my editor has decided that without casting a single stone, I am to bring the hammer of judgment down upon them like an unforgiving god of mythology.

With that in mind, I’ve chosen to provide both a raw grade and a bell-curved adjusted grade, based on having Dallas Eakins as a coach. Like all bell curves, this can improve grades, or torpedo them. So without any further delay, I present my grades for the Anaheim Ducks 2021 blueliners.

Cam Fowler

Raw Grade: C+

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: B+

It feels just a little odd to say, but Cam Fowler just kind of went about his business this season. Statistically, he was one of the better Ducks blueliners, yet overall, many of his results fall in line with those of his previous seasons.

Of the numbers that did stand out in a positive fashion, points per 60 minutes of play were once again higher than his career norm. For an offensively driven player, this is a positive sign. Defensively, shot attempts against him were at a career-low, although not to a statistically significant degree.

Nonetheless, despite all other numbers being within a margin of his career averages, walking away with a near career-best scoring rate (second only to last season) and with career-best shot suppression numbers, is a positive step for Fowler. It seems that playing for Dallas Eakins has agreed with Fowler.

Hampus Lindholm

Raw Grade: C+

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: C+

Hampus Lindholm had a bit of a rough road this season, being able to suit up for only 18 of the Ducks’ 56 games. Within those games, he proved that he was the Anaheim Ducks’ best defensive player and perhaps most important player on the blue line. He also perhaps proved that injuries are taking a toll on his body.

Lindholm’s quantifiable results typically line up with the rest of his career within a margin of error, however, the typically mistake-free player, definitely made a few lapses of judgment that perhaps we have seen much of in past seasons.

Errant passes, fumbling the puck, amongst other little things, raised their heads at various points in his game. Nothing major, and nothing really worth discussing, other than to note that Lindholm has missed games in nearly every season he has played. In only 4 of his 8 seasons, has Lindholm played in excess of 70-games, this season included (obviously far less than 50% of games played).

With that said, Lindholm’s value is such that they couldn’t possibly be considering him as trade bait. Once again, he put in an excellent season, abridged as it was. Not excellent enough to be in Norris considerations, but excellent enough to be an invaluable tool for the Ducks moving forward. However, the shortened nature of this season has hamstrung his grade.

Josh Manson

Raw Grade: C

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: C+

What can we say about Josh Manson? A one-time fan-favorite turned poster child for the “burn the crops, poison the wells, salt the earth and copy the Buffalo Sabres and half-heartedly trade everyone but never commit to anything rebuild style” crowd, Manson was a tale of two seasons.

For one, he was injured for most of the season. This threw the Ducks’ best-laid plans out the window. For this alone his grade should be incomplete. When he did play, however, he was a long-time partner for the rookie, Jamie Drysdale.

For the most part, Manson was the whipping boy and took the blame for pretty much every error his young partner made. In that sense, he fulfilled his duty by protecting the young player from the notoriously fickle fandom. On the other side of the coin, however, well, to be frank, Drysdale wasn’t very good. But more on that later. Nonetheless, as his partner, Manson takes a fair chunk of the blame.

Away from Drysdale is Manson’s “other season.” For the most part, he performed like an NHL player, or at least he showed a remarkable improvement when given an NHL-ready partner. With the crowd out of the stands, it was also a semi-regular occurrence to hear one of his big hits through the TV instead of the noise of the crowd. That physical play is why the Anaheim Ducks hierarchy loves him and why there’s a good chance he will be extended at the end of his current contract.

Taken together, I think the player should be given some grace for his injuries, a negative mark for not carrying a too-young-for-the-NHL rookie partner, and some positive marks for his play outside of that scenario. Of all the older players the Ducks will hold onto for too long, I suspect Manson will be one of the few who age relatively well. However, that is will be proven or not in the future. This season, well this season he scraps through with a pass.

Andy Welinski

Raw Grade: C

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: D+

I’m as surprised as you are that Andy Welinski is a Duck. I thought he was long gone, but apparently, he only went for a short holiday in… wherever Lehigh Valley is? No don’t look it up, it matters only as much as the team that’s based there. Not. At. All.

Anyway, Welinski managed to sneak into 9 games with the Anaheim Ducks this season, and to be honest wasn’t particularly noticeable. What is at least interesting is that Welinski saw the Ducks’ highest on-ice save percentage and has the highest PDO (108%) since Colby Robak small-sample-sized his way to a 113% PDO in 5-games, way back in the 2014-2015 season.

Either way, he wasn’t very good, and he wasn’t particularly bad by the 2021 Anaheim Ducks standard. Nine games of relative invisibility are probably as good a result as the AHL journeyman could have hoped for.

Jani Hakanpaa

Raw Grade: C

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: A-

“Coaches award for most improved player”

Very few players have captured the Anaheim Ducks broadcaster’s hearts as much as Jani Hakanpaa appeared to do this season. Not a single game went by that Ahler’s or Hayzie weren’t pulling themselves off doing cartwheels about the commentary booth, talking about some blocked shot or otherwise innocuous play that Hakanpaa had made sometime in the past month of games.

In itself, that presents a clear improvement from a player who was quite simply a “never was.” Drafted to the NHL, yet playing his career in Europe, he wasn’t able to really crack the Anaheim Ducks lineup once he signed with them. However this past season, he went from discard pile afterthought to top-pairing defenceman, playing foil to Cam Fowler.

To be frank, Hakanpaa’s on-ice results aren’t particularly glowing. He played a physical game and more often than not, was not on the team that was holding onto the puck. In many ways, the Ducks system of turning the puck over seemingly played to his strengths, and perhaps, playing under Eakins did quite a bit for this NHL career. At least enough that the Carolina Hurricanes have elected to acquire him.

On that note, Hakanpaa was largely underwhelming in the few regular-season games in Carolina. It perhaps showed that the Eakins system suited him. Yet, since the playoffs have commenced, Hakanpaa has been a monster.

Of the 111 blueliners who have laced up skates in this season’s playoffs, Hakanpaa ranks 8th best for on-ice shot attempts against, 5th best for scoring chances against, and 7th best for expected goals against. Those are some fine results given the series he’s playing in has been so closely contested, and that he primarily begins his shifts outside of the offensive zone.

Taken together, all I can say is that while Eakins may have given Hakanpaa his chance in the NHL, moving to another team has paid dividends for Hakanpaa’s career.

Kevin Shattenkirk

Raw Grade: B

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: A-

Coming over from the Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup team, the expectations that Kevin Shattenkirk would be a top-4 premier puck-moving offensive player were sky high among the Anaheim Ducks faithful. Without being overly critical, it didn’t take long for fans to turn on him for perceived lapses in his defensive play.

In fact, Shattenkirk was both of these things. He showed poise on the offensive end, to the point that some of the goals the Ducks did eventually score this season can be attributed to his deft passing and reading of the opposition defensive schemes.

Similarly, on the defensive end, his missed assignments were a frequent viewing pleasure of opposition fans and ill-advised behind the net passes to center ice created more than a few turnovers and a boatload of work for Sir John Gibson. However, the question should be asked how much of that to pin on the defensive scheme the Ducks played under.

Nonetheless, Shattenkirk was and still is, on a song of a contract. Perhaps such a deal leaves him open for future trades, but that is supposition for another day. What I can say is that I would grade Shattenkirk as a solid B. Offensively he was more than fine for his contract value, and while I would certainly have appreciated a stronger defensive player, that’s a tough ask in the Anaheim Ducks current coaching environment. In the end, he was exactly what he was advertised to be.

Haydn Fleury

Grade: B+

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: A

Moving from one of the best teams in the league with a sound defensive structure, to one of the worst and without any grounding in solid defense, isn’t typically as easy as Haydn Fleury made it look. Certainly, his performances kind of declined as he grew accustomed to being out of position, as was dictated by the coaching staff, the longer his tenure in Anaheim went. However, not even the sheer woeful incompetence of the Anaheim Ducks defensive planners could easily wipe away the poise and class of the young blueliner.

In some ways, it’s astounding that the Carolina Hurricanes were willing to let the young man go for such a nominal return, but that they did should be considered a boon of the highest order, by all within the Ducks fandom. Fleury may not have put in the performances that Devon Toews has in Colorado, yet the magnitude of the trade shouldn’t be considered in too different a light. It was a steal and one of the best trades of Bob Murray‘s career.

I can only give Fleury a B+ grade due to his coachability, fitting into the Ducks defensive scheme. Should he take that attitude to another team, with even a borderline NHL caliber coaching staff, this grade would easily slot into the “A’s.” He was really, really good, and I’m not sure that enough people are talking about him as one of the Anaheim Ducks’ top-4 blueliners for the next decade.

Ben Hutton

Raw Grade: D

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: D-

Look, the most notable thing about Ben Hutton was that he was Jamie Drysdale’s partner in Drysdales first NHL game. He also absolutely savaged the Anaheim Ducks when he was eventually traded to Toronto and that somehow, for some reason, Toronto actually thought it was a good idea to trade an actual draft pick to acquire him. Those are some weird career-high watermarks, but since the calendar turned over to January back in 2020 it’s been a weird wild world.

Anyway, whatever. He wasn’t good and now he’s gone.

Jamie Drysdale

Raw Grade: D+

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: A-

I wrote a short piece on Drysdale a little while back that suggested he may have been struggling somewhat in his first NHL season. Now that the season has washed up and been completed, in order to grade him adequately, it’s probably worth considering where he sits versus other rookie defencemen.

“May as well unleash on Quinn Hughes lite or whatever that bland punching bag the Ducks drafted is called.” – Me in our writers slack when told I was grading the blueliners.

Over the past 3 seasons, there have been 93 blueliners to make their debut in the NHL, and 71 of those players have played at least 50 minutes of NHL hockey. Of that cohort of 71, Jamie Drysdale ranks 64th for shot attempts against, 66th for shots against, 68th for scoring chances against, 69th for high danger chances against, and 70th for expected goals against. That is to say that he has been uniquely poor compared to other rookie defensemen over the past few seasons on the defensive side of the ledger.

However, offense is Drysdales calling card so it’s worth saving the best for last. Among that 71-player cohort, Drysdale ranks 55th for on-ice shot attempts, 52nd for shots on net, 54th for on-ice scoring chances, 44th for high-danger chances, and 52nd for expected goals scored. Of course, that is purely on-ice results. As an individual, Drysdale ranked 57th for shots, 54th for expected goals, 39th for shot attempts, 66th for scoring chances, and equal last for high-danger chances (he didn’t create any).

Given the above, I think it’s fair to say that Drysdale’s answers to each question were largely incorrect. However, given his youth and potential upside, that he was in Dallas Eakins system of hockey, that he was only injured once in his rookie season despite being somewhat undersized, and that he somehow managed to get Anaheim Ducks fans interested in a pretty underwhelming year of hockey, I think he can be given a few additional marks for his working out.

I’ll be looking for him to improve dramatically on the ice (and during his interviews) in his sophomore season, yet I’m truly looking forward to seeing what he can do under the tutelage of a coach who isn’t one of the worst of his (any NHL coach in history) peer group.

Simon Benoit

Raw Grade: B-

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: C

Simon Benoit was a little bit of an underground hype machine beloved by some few who have followed the Ducks prospect pool for years on end. Specifically, I can recall a conversation back a couple of years with DefendTheNest blogger John Broadbent in which he was raving about him. At the time I’m pretty sure my response was something along the lines of “I don’t care, he doesn’t matter.”

Fast forward until today and Simon Benoit has finally made his NHL debut. To be fair to everyone involved, he did only play in 6 games at the tail end of the season, collected no points, and ended up with a negative 3 +/- rating. But oh boy can he hit, and he really does matter. Consider this a blanket, and public, apology.

Benoit made an impact physically, finishing only below Jani Hakanpaa on the team for hits per 60 minutes of play (at 5v5) and led the team in blocked shots by the same metric. There is certainly a case to be made that teams that block more shots do so because they have the puck less, and that is certainly a valid point of view, though it bears mentioning that Benoit saw the fewest unblocked shot attempts while he was on the ice.

That is to say, he was one of the best defensive players the Ducks had for suppressing shot attempts, and then he was one of the best for getting into shooting lanes and disrupting opposition shots.

Whether that is a good thing or not is up for debate, as Benoit had the second most goals scored against him of all the Ducks blueliners this past season. Perhaps fewer blocked shots would lead to fewer rebounds and deflections, or perhaps not. Nonetheless, his sheer physicality and good NHL size would suggest that he’s at least worthy of a third pairing slot on most teams. Most teams not being the Ducks. Expect him to slot in next to Fowler next season for reasons.

Jacob Larsson

Raw Grade: D+

Eakins Adjusted Bell-Curve Grade: C-

Jacob Larsson only just manages to sneak into this category and to be frank I really wanted to like Larsson this year. He’s one of those players who I suspect will get traded to another team and instantly become a relevant hockey player.

Unfortunately, this is only a school mark grade based on this past season. As a third-pairing defenceman on a bad team, my expectations aren’t particularly high, and I think most people should probably fall back into that school of thought. 3rd pairing defensemen and 4th line forwards simply shouldn’t be the players that people are desperately harping on to be difference makers.

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In this vein, Larsson achieved probably adequate results for the average third pairing D, and one playing in a completely underwhelming defensive structure. For the most part, he did about what he should be doing in his role. At times he showed flashes of skill and at others, he made the average traffic cone looks like a world-class Norris Trophy winner. This is the duality of third pairing defensemen.

Where he lost marks for mine was that he didn’t really seem to improve on last season’s efforts. I really wanted to see a little more from Larsson. I don’t necessarily expect him to be a physical monster or a high-end point producer. I do want him to be a little better across the board, and to carve out a niche role within the team. As it is, I’m not sure he was able to do that and for that, he lost a few marks in my books.

All statistics are true for 5-on-5 hockey unless otherwise stated. Statistics were sourced from naturalstattrick.com.