What to expect from the offseason additions by the Anaheim Ducks

When free agency opened at the beginning of July, Ducks fans were eager to see which players Pat Verbeek would add to the roster and improve the team. However, the anticipation was met with silence as the Ducks did not sign any players on the opening day of free agency and the highly coveted players were already on their way to other teams. The only free-agent additions the Ducks made were signing depth forwards Jansen Harkins and Carson Meyer. 

Although free agency was quiet for the Ducks, they made two trades and acquired veteran defenceman Brian Dumoulin, and middle six winger Robby Fabbri. 

For this article, we are going to evaluate the trades and look at what these two players will add to the team in the fall. 

Brian Dumoulin

Dumoulin was acquired from the Seattle Kraken for a fourth-round pick. He is an eleven-year veteran of the league with two Stanley Cups under his belt from his time in Pittsburgh. The left-shot defenceman is not known for bringing the offence, but rather a strong defensive presence and good transitions out of his own zone. He can also kill penalties well and provide a physical presence. 

Adding Brian Dumoulin to the roster is an interesting move because he is a left-shot defenceman. Currently, the Ducks roster only has Radko Gudas as guaranteed right-handed defencemen in the lineup. With Luneau still becoming a full-time NHLer, the Ducks’ backend is going to be stacked with left shots. While this is not a bad thing, it is always better to have defencemen playing on their natural side. We will have to see how the lines shape up for the opening night, but most likely he will be playing with one of the younger defencemen to give some more stable defence to the pairing.

One more thing to note with Dumoulin being on the team is that he is on the last year of his contract. Assuming the Ducks are outside of a playoff spot, it is likely that Pat Verbeek will be able to get a similar return for what he traded to get Dumoulin. Dumoulin is not a long-term investment for the team, but someone who can help the Ducks be stronger defensively and help be a leader for the young Ducks on the back end. 

Robby Fabbri

Robby Fabbri was sent to Anaheim from the Detroit Red Wings in return for goalie prospect Gage Alexander. The Ducks have a handful of solid goalie prospects, so trading one of them for some more depth offence is not a bad decision.  

Fabbri is a 28-year-old forward who has had injury troubles most of his career, but when he’s healthy he is scoring at around a 40-point pace. Fabbri brings some good skill and speed that will be a boost to the bottom six. Because the Ducks did not resign Max Jones and Benoit Olivier-Groulx there is a need for some more depth scoring. Placing Fabbri alongside Ryan Strome on the third line is an improvement to the previous season. If Fabbri can stay healthy it would be really interesting to see the numbers he can put up. Depending on who he has good chemistry with or if injuries happen, he can play in the top six and contribute there.

Similar to Dumoulin, Fabbri is also in the last year of his contract, so he could also be a trade deadline asset for the Ducks to use to get more picks.

Conclusion

While the Ducks may not have made a big splash in the offseason to add a top player, adding these supporting pieces will help the budding young core that Anaheim already has. The team is not in need of a top player, but rather their young players to improve to become top players in the league. 

Dumoulin and Fabbri may not be top contributors on the team next year, but they will add steady depth at their positions to help this team improve beyond a league bottom feeder and closer to a playoff team.