Our standard Western Conference offseason activity analyst is sitting this one out so that he could have a neutral voice do the work on this particular entry. It may be difficult to give a real assessment, as there have been relatively few transactions made by Anaheim at the time of writing. As such, this will likely stray from the standard, more conventional format/structure that these offseason transaction grades will typically be using and place more emphasis on non-player personnel than others and be more draft-centric than other entries (there certainly is much to talk about there, however).

This offseason, the Anaheim Ducks find themselves in a curious position. Truthfully, top to bottom, their roster this past season had a significant amount of talent, at least playoff worthy, but it would appear that coaching was a particular point of ineptitude, therefore effectively neutralizing what should have been a competitive group. It does not seem as though their bottom rankings in the league standings (58 points), league worst goal differential (-129, the worst in the NHL since the 1999-00 Atlanta Thrashers), and league worst 5-on-5 CF% (42.67), amongst other demerits could be attributed primarily to the core group. As such, it seems as though the decision not to allow Dallas Eakins to return as head coach would appear to be a step in the right direction. It should be intriguing to see how new hire Greg Cronin fares in this position. This will be Cronin’s first NHL head coaching job. The Arlington, MA native is bringing a plethora of NCAA, minor league, US NTDP U-18, and assistant coaching experience to the table, however. His NCAA record is worth examining; his time at the University of Maine was truncated, limited to effectively an interim job while the late, controversial Black Bears icon Shawn Walsh was serving a yearlong suspension due to various NCAA rules violations. This brief stint did, however, include an appearance in the Hockey East finals. Cronin’s stint at Northeastern University lasted six seasons. While his overall record as Huskies bench boss was poor due to Northeastern largely being on the lower end of competition in Hockey East as has been the case throughout much of their history, he did bring some noteworthy success to the program, including a 2008-09 season which yielded a 25-12-4 overall record (conference record of 18-6-3), second place in Hockey East, and a trip to the NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinals. Cronin was selected by his peers in Hockey East as that season’s Bob Kullen Coach of the Year Award recipient. His tenure was not untouched by its own controversy, however, as he served a six-game suspension in 2011 for possible recruitment violations. In any event, his experience and resume could very well be beneficial to Anaheim at this crossroads the franchise finds itself at.

The Ducks notably also hired all-time leading scorer, longest tenured captain, and franchise icon Ryan Getzlaf as player development coordinator. This will be Getzlaf’s first job post-retirement and he is certainly bringing a great history of success (having a list of accomplishments alongside his individual accomplishments that includes a Stanley Cup championship and two Olympic Gold Medals) and familiarity with the franchise that he spent his entire professional career with to the table. This is a gut feeling perspective (at least to a degree), but it seems fair to intuit that he will be entering this job fresh enough from his retirement to be able to understand the tendencies of younger players and the current modus operandi of the game and will assuredly be wanting to carve out the team’s future with pride in the webbed D crest as he administers that area of hockey operations.

The highlighted signing in free agency this year would be the four-year deal given to Alex Killorn. I would personally say I am a fan of the move for the most part. This is the addition of a proven capable 25 goals-a-season scorer who was a contributor to the most recent (mini-)dynasty in the NHL, in the process acquiring two Stanley Cup rings with said Tampa Bay Lightning squad. He is by all accounts a very likable figure and will contribute to a positive dressing room culture. Age is a bit of a question mark (as ClutchPoints fairly pointed out that he is already 34 and will be 37 by the deal’s end and his style inevitably wears him down, meaning his productivity will be declining towards the end), but for at least the first two seasons, this should be very beneficial, as the aforementioned ClutchPoints article notes, their cap situation lends itself to spending a bit freely. Defenseman Radko Gudas was also given something of a hefty deal for a player his age, being given 3 years with an AAV of $4 million. This one is a bit more questionable; sure, Gudas is bringing veteran poise and plenty of physical presence, but that alone is not enough to justify this deal. This is definitely on the weaker end of the spectrum. Further, defensive depth moves were made in the form of a one-year deal for Robert Hagg and a one-year, two-way contract for Trevor Carrick. Not much to say about these moves other than it is good they did not overpay for either, both coming in at $775k. Second round pick from 2022 Noah Warren was also signed to a three-year ELC, firmly locking up his position with the franchise. I would be remiss not to also mention second overall pick Leo Carlsson’s three-year, $12.6M ELC which includes a $950K cap hit and an AAV of $4.2M, but we will cover him more in depth later on.

At present, the Ducks have resigned RFAs G Lukas Dostal and C Benoit-Olivier Groulx, but are, at the time of writing, in arbitration with star RW Troy Terry and appear a few million dollars apart and, also very notably, have yet to resign C and likely future franchise player Trevor Zegras. The topic of Zegras is an interesting one. While controversial for some of his on-ice behavior and attitude, Zegras is the second-highest point scorer at 139 (behind only first overall pick by NJD, Jack Hughes, who currently sits with 207) from the 2019 NHL Entry Draft class. Locking down this piece is very likely essential to the team’s future trajectory. We shall see what occurs on this front.

Also pertinent to the future of the team is their performance in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. The most notable pick was of course their second overall selection of Swede Leo Carlsson from Orebro HK, which defied the expectation that the team would draft general consensus second overall pick Adam Fantilli of the University of Michigan. Truthfully, though, you could argue that Carlsson would be a first overall pick in many other draft classes. He has a fairly large frame, is a capable two-way player, versatile enough offensively to facilitate or score (a potent demonstration can be found by way of his performance with Sweden’s U-20 national side this past season, wherein he totaled 10 g-7 a-17 p in 13 games played) and can play both center and wing. He just had the somewhat unfortunate fate of being draft eligible in a year loaded with generational talents. The foundation he can set as a forward core member is going to be very useful.

Anaheim’s day 2 picks included LW Nico Myatovic, C Carey Terrance, G Damian Clara (a very likely steal – The Italy native seems to have flown under the radar somewhat, only just landing in Sweden this past season, and putting up impressive numbers for Farjestad BK’s under-20 team, including a 2.79 GAA and a .903 GAA), RW Coulson Pitre, and RW Yegor Sidorov. Of this crop, I imagine more of them than not are capable of making an impact on the franchise as it takes its next steps. The draft was the undeniable highlight of the offseason for Anaheim to this point. Pat Verbeek and his team got an exceptional haul that puts some great pieces in place for the future.

In conclusion, and in firm overall assessment of the relatively quiet offseason for Anaheim to this point, I am inclined to give a grade of a B. The personnel moves were respectable and some solid pieces were put in place, but many questions remain unanswered. The Gudas deal is also an undeniable eyebrow raiser mostly for the wrong reasons. That said, Verbeek and the front office absolutely slam dunked in a draft that was stacked but certainly had its winners and losers. The Ducks came out of the draft an undeniable winner, and that raises their grade above the likely C range that it would have been otherwise.

Citation for referenced analysis:

https://clutchpoints.com/grading-alex-killorn-4-year-25-million-contract-with-ducks-nhl-free-agency