I'm pretty surprised at Anaheim being so far down on people's rankings, pretty much across the board.
The only old players on that team are Kesler, Perry, and Getzlaf. They finished with 101 points last year despite Getzlaf missing 30 games, Perry continuing his decline, and Kesler missing 40 games, and also being terrible when he was playing.
I don't see too many people predicting declining seasons for Giordano and Smith who are even older than the Duck's oldest players. I think we all tend to do this a bit as fans. We will give the benefit of the doubt to our own teams, but not to others.
An interesting thing about Anaheim is that they didn't have a single player last year that played 82 games.
They had major injury troubles pretty much across the board. Kesler 40 games and terrible when playing. Getzlaf 30 games. Eaves entire season. Fowler, Lindholm, and Vatanen all missed substantial time. All these injuries and they still had a 101 point season, which was their worst in five seasons.
They have a great young goalie, a strong and deep D-core, and they have some talent upfront like Rakell who scored 69 points last year.
I'd have the Ducks pegged for top 2 in the division, even if I don't like them. And honestly, no one likes them. They play like a bunch of jerks.
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