The Anaheim Ducks aren’t exactly in the greatest position right now, and General Manager Bob Murray is tasked with completing this rebuild that hasn’t shown much progress. Will the 2021 NHL Draft be remembered as a changing point for the Ducks?
Although it isn’t the most pleasant to admit, the Anaheim Ducks went from winning the Pacific Division five years in a row to finishing towards the bottom of the league for three straight seasons. Finishing 30th in the 2020-21 season, they drafted 3rd overall in the recent 2021 NHL Entry Draft. However, the current downside of being the 2nd worst team in the league is much more noticeable than the upside of a draft pick that might not play for another season or two.
Despite some good draft performances by Murray and co. over the past three seasons, a lot of the picks that were impressive have yet to play a single game in Anaheim: Jacob Perreault, Brayden Tracey, Jackson LaCombe, Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Henry Thrun, the list goes on.
Sure, not all prospects are anywhere near ready to play at an NHL level, but a lot of these prospects came from drafts that were two or three years ago now. Only two of those prospects are still playing at a college level as well, the rest are already in the AHL. To see some kind of progress towards a potential NHL stint would be nice, but Murray insists on building teams that he knows will tank.
Even with a lot of potentially team-changing prospects not up with the NHL club, the 2021 NHL Draft could have made a big difference for the franchise without those players. The Ducks snagged the 3rd pick, and Murray made a risky pick to get center Mason McTavish, a player that wasn’t projected to be picked much higher than the 9th pick. Defenseman Olen Zellweger might also make a difference quicker than most Anaheim Ducks prospects, but that is yet to be seen.
The main question remains to be whether the 2021 NHL Draft will make a quicker difference than the drafts of the past. Although “When will this draft matter?” seems like a strange question, the picks won’t make a difference, or “matter” as players in a sense, until they finally make it and start contributing to the Anaheim Ducks as a team.
In order to get a better grasp of whether these prospects will help make a quick turnaround for the Ducks or not, let’s give a bit of analysis to each of them and see where they are now and where they might be in a year.