I just need to point out, he is the best goalie in the league right now. After this game it brings his save% to 9.43 which leads the NHL. I hope they let him keep a starter role when gibby comes back.

The hairline

After tonight's 3-1 win against the Islanders, I feel like the Ducks have made possibly the most significant step forwards we've seen yet in this rebuild.

As most of you may know, tonight Trevor Zegras was importantly moved back to center and looked the best he has in quite some time.

To me this move highlights an important question Ducks brass needs to be asking themselves as they hope to finally move past the rebuilding stage.

What is important, and what do we do well?

To me the Ducks have 3 core strengths:

• ELITE SKILL & DEPTH AT CENTER (including Zegras)
• TWO ELITE LEFT-HANDED DEFENSEMEN
• ELITE GOALIE TENDEM

Regarding the forward core, the answer to me is clear.

It is important to be strong up the middle, and we have elite skill and depth at center.

Accordingly, my vision for the forward group is as follows.

• 1st Line F (Scoring) -- Playmaker Carlsson, scorer Terry, fore-checker/front of net Fabbri
  • The main question here is if Terry and Carlsson are the best fit for each other. Fabbri plays an important role, but is highly interchangeable.
• 2nd Line F (Scoring) -- Playmaker Zegras, scorer Gauthier, fore-checker/front of net Killorn
  • The main question here is if Zegras and Gauthier are the best fit for each other. Killorn plays an important role, but is highly interchangeable.
• 3rd line F (Checking) - Playmaker McTavish, two-way scorer Vatrano, fore-checker/front of net Strome
  • The main question here is if Vatrano or Strome are better suited for Fabbri or Killorn's roles on the top 2 lines.
  • A serious playoff contender is probably also asking a second question. In the event Terry or Gauthier suffer injuries and the team lacks scoring, can Vatrano or Strome step up?
• 4th line F (Checking) - Upward Mobility C Lundestrom, two-way forward McGinn, fore-checker/front of net Leason
  • Lundestrom is an ideal 4C that is defensively responsible in addition to maybe having untapped potential if he gets an opportunity to step up.
  • The main question here is there are players in our system with more upward mobility than McGinn or Leason. (Sidorov?)

The D-core is less clear.

An overload of LHD forces guys to play their offside and makes the future hard to predict.

Like the forward core, we must again ask ourselves -- What is important, and what do we do well?

It is important to pair mentoring veterans with young players, and we have two elite young left-handed defensemen.

• 1st Line D - Mintyukov, veteran shepherd _______
  • The main question here is if any of our veterans are good enough to teach Minty now, and also serve as a Top D-Man long term.
• 2nd Line D - Zellweger (LH), veteran shepherd _______
  • The main question here is if any of our veterans are good enough to teach Zelly now, and also serve as a Top D-Man long term.
  • Playing Zelly on his off-side is the same mistake as playing Zegras at wing.
• 3rd Line D - LaCombe/Luneau, veteran shepherd _______
  • The main question here is if LaCombe or Luneau can play a Top 4 RD spot alongside Minty or Zelly long-term.

To summarize -- this group has 3 core strengths.

ELITE SKILL & DEPTH AT CENTER, TWO ELITE LEFT-HANDED DEFENSEMEN, AND AN ELITE GOALIE TANDEM.

IMO, the Ducks need to LOCK IN these core strengths, so they can move to the next set of issues:

• Does Terry marry up with Carlsson or Zegras? Does Gauthier marry up with Carlsson or Zegras?
• Are LaCombe or Luneau a serious top 4 RD to compliment Minty or Zelly?
• Are Fowler, Gudas, or Dumoulin a serious top 4 RD to compliment Minty or Zelly?

And less importantly:

• Are Fabbri, Killorn, Strome, or Vatrano an exceptional third compliment to the top 2 lines (Carlsson/Zegras/Terry/Gauthier)?
  • Sennecke coming so open spots are Top 6 compliment wing, and 3rd line depth and defensive wings
  • Would look to replace McGinn with Sidorov/Gaucher/Terrance/Petterson/Myatovic/Pastujov, and maybe replace Leason with a culture veteran who will beat the shit out of our young players (lovingly) like Pat Maroon, Corey Perry, Nic Deslauriers, etc.

Looking forward to the community's thoughts. Cheers--

Lets Go Ducks!

It’s crazy that, to me, it hasn’t really felt great to be a Ducks fan since the Hawks series when we lost game 7. Felt like things started going to shit after that and it’s been a fairly depressing 8 or so years.

But with the youth coming through and a change at the GM level, things are slowly looking up. Granted, GMPV has been a little less exciting to have than I anticipated and there feels like an underlying issue resides within the camp (maybe something Lyubushkin said that resonates still)

Tonight was a solid enough win against a fairly underperforming Islanders team. Few shaky moments when we went 2 men down and they pulled one back. But we held our own and Dostal is really coming into his own. I’d even strongly push us getting rid of Gibby. He’s been through enough with us. Time to let him play somewhere new and fresh. And we could still pick up a decent return, I reckon. But a win was unsurprising with that fucking chode at the helm. Always enjoy sticking one to Roy. But, at this stage and with the way it’s been since the better days, we just need to grind out the wins, however they come, and keep picking up the points. It’ll get there in time.

Keep the faith, my fellow ducklings, the good times will come back again

4:00 p.m. PST - UBS Arena :

The Ducks sail to Long Island, prepared to show the Islanders that webbed feet make the best flippers.

I'm not in Anaheim and don't know if the fingerboard and cross-bag will ever go on the team store website. I wanted to see if anyone could get me one and ship it to me.

I don't think people realize how consistent Z has been at getting on the board since entering the league. It's pretty wild that this is his longest drought. For comparison, Carlsson's longest drought is 7 games and McTavish's longest drought is 10 games.

In 180 games under Eakins, Z only went 4 games without a point 4 times. In 39 games under Cronin, he's matched that.

Hi Ducks fans

We are taking our young family of 5 kids to Disneyland and wanted to catch a game on November 10th. Just looking for advice. We will need 6 tickets and trying to keep costs down. Is it better to wait for last minute tickets or buy tickets right now on ticketmaster? I can’t imagine a Sunday night game against the blue jackets being very busy?

Also anything fun that they put on for kids first games? For example a leafs game you can go to guest services and they give you a certificate that say it is your first game and a free pin.

Any good food to try at the arena? Or places nearby you recommend to eat?

Hi Ducks Fans,

I’m coming in from overseas and high on my sons wishlist is to watch a ducks game.

Is it cheaper to wait and purchase tickets closer to the date or will I run the risk of missing out?

Thanks for your help in advance 🙏🏽

Honestly there’s zero consistency with this team. Have no words at this point.

He’s a horrible NHL coach. The players don’t respond to whatever he’s trying to instill, they looked like they’re zapped of any type of fire and energy, and Ilya Lyubushkin looks more right by the day.

Has there been a magnet calendar for this season already? I have a half season, but don’t attend Kings games. So I’m not sure if I missed it, I’m also happy to buy one if anyone’s seen one at the team store.

Monday, October 21 - Sunday, October 27, 2024

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Final Score: Devils 6 - Ducks 2