Ducks Season in Review

[I wanna be like Miikka]

Season Review:
Well heading into the 2010-2011 season as runner-ups from the year before, it is safe to say expectations were quite large. The team started out slow just like they did in 09/10, however regardless of how many trades we made no combination of players was ever able to get this team winning. It really didn't matter who was playing, when players came to Anaheim their sim chemistry just plummeted. The Ducks never really held a playoff position all season. Even when we were top 8 in points, usually we only held a playoff spot by 1 point and about 4 teams below us had 5 or so games in hand. In the last month the team just collapsed with something like 2-3 wins in the last 5 weeks of the season. At the end of the year the Ducks finished last in the West and I think 7th last in the entire league. Given the talent seen on our roster we were obviously extremely disappointed.

Coaching:
Similar to his NHL tenure, John MacLean stunk up the joint big time and with 3 games remaining in the season he was fired. We searched through the list of coaches available, looking to find a veteran coach who could bring a bit of leadership and stability to the organization. To our surprise, Darryl Sutter as available and he was signed to a deal for the remainder of this season through the end of next year.



Projected Roster for 2011-12:
Perry (7.5) - Crosby (8.5) - Iginla (10)
???? - Duchene (1.35) - ????
Cooke (2.81) - Talbot (3.0) - Helm (0.83)
Backlund (1.00) - Boyce (1.25) - Hall (1.35)

Weber (7.5) - Giordano (6.0)
Doughty (1.35) - Letang (2.50)
Daley (3.25) - Campoli (2.0)
Schlemko (0.75)

Kipper (9.5)
????

Projected Cap Hit:70.44
Projected Cap:78.4

It is undecided if Hall will be signed or not but that decision will be maded a lot later in the summer. For now we have a full roster outside of 2 2nd line wingers and a backup goalie (although Auld is available from our AHL squad). We feel as though we have a lot of defensive depth so likely we will add a 2nd line forward by moving out someone like Daley. We have approximately 8 million in cap space to fill out the roster. Most of the big name players are expected to remain on the team as a bulk of this core was part of the squad that went all the way to the finals last year. Even though guys like Crosby, Perry, Iginla struggled this past season, we believe and them and expect a very strong rebound from each of them next year.

Picks:
1st BOS
1st COL
2nd ANA
3rd TOR
4th CHI
4th NAS

Our 2 first round picks are both later in the round but given the depth of the draft we are quite happy as we feel we can get two very good prospects matching the potential of other plays taken between 7-20.

Prospects:
Matt Duchene (will be signed)
Taylor Hall (might be signed)
Tim Erixon
David Rundblad
Thomas Hickey
Mikhael Backlund
Leland Irving
TJ Brodie
John Ramage
Ryan Howse

Overall we like our prospect depth, we have some big names up front that are ready to join the main squad. On D we really like both Erixon and Rundblad and are hoping both of them can make an impact at the NHL level next season. We are also hoping that maybe Hickey/Brodie can sneak in and see some NHL action. The rest we will continue to be patient with.

At the end of the day this season was a giant failure. Having said that, we love the make-up of this team and expect that with a new coach and a few new players this team will be ready to compete for the cup next year. We will be back stronger and better next season, look out CPHL!!

[Da_Chief]

You're setup nicely for next year. I absolutely love your top 4 on defence. I think you'll be back on top of your division next year.

[Swayze11]

I really like the coaching change. This team is too good to miss out on the playoffs next year.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

Well the first move of the offseason has come for the Ducks as we traded the 23rd overall pick in the draft for a top 6 forward in Simon Gagne as well as 2.8 million in cap space. Gagne is signed at 8.5 through the end of next season so it was key getting a fair chunk of cap in return. He immediately will slot into our top 6 maybe even top line depending on how Perry does in the sim. New roster as of right now:

Projected Roster for 2011-12:
Gagne (8.5) - Crosby (8.5) - Iginla (10)
Perry(7.5) - Duchene (1.35) - Pominville (7.0)
Cooke (2.81) - Helm (0.83) - Glencross (5.5)
Backlund (1.00) - Boyce (1.25) - Hall (1.35)

Weber (8.5) - Giordano (6.0)
Doughty (1.35) - Letang (2.50)
Daley (3.25) - Schlemko (0.75)


Kipper (9.5)
????

Projected Cap Hit:86.44
Projected Cap:85.25

[I wanna be like Miikka]

Pominville comes in along with 2.75 in cap to fill out our top 6 forwards. Going back to Philly was Rundblad, 27th overall pick and Damigo. Tough to lose so much youth but key to have our top 6 forwards filled out. Cap is a little tight right now but with a couple moves we'll be gold again .

[I wanna be like Miikka]

Well the Ducks pulled the trigger to bring in a guy with a ton of speed and a ton of heart. Finally after months of pursuing him the Ducks were able to trade for Curtis Glencross. Going back to LA is the 36th overall pick this year as well as the PHI 1st 2012. It was a big price but we are thrilled to add Curtis to the squad, welcome to Anaheim!

[I wanna be like Miikka]

The Ducks have made a tough trade to make as they trade away the Colorado 1st 2011 (27th overall) for a bundle of cap space. Coming back to the Ducks is 2.75 in cap this year and 1.50 in cap for next season. Basically this move allows us to sign all of the players on our roster at the contract lengths we prefer (assuming we predicted most ratings correctly). We now have about 1.50 left to go sign a backup goalie or trade for one.

Good on Curtis taking advantage of the market and maximizing his return for cap space but from our perspective this move was key. The market for players like perry, pominville, etc is garbage. We felt it was better to go about it this way and secure our lineup for next year while only losing a late 1st. We now have 4 excellent forward lines and we really like our D pairings heading into next season. Most importantly this move has allowed us to keep all of crosby, weber, perry, iginla and kipper heading into next year

Projected Roster for 2011-12:
Gagne (8.5) - Crosby (8.5) - Iginla (10)
Perry(7.5) - Duchene (1.35) - Glencross (5.5)
Cooke (2.81) - Helm (0.83) - ?????
Backlund (1.00) - Boyce (1.25) - Olesz (2.50)

Weber (8.5) - Giordano (6.0)
Doughty (1.35) - Letang (2.50)
Daley (3.25) - Schlemko (0.75)


Kipper (9.5)
????

Projected Cap Hit:80.59
Projected Cap:86.00

[simmer2]

The Ducks did a smart move here...they sacrificed a late 1st to keep their entire team entact when values around the league are really low for CPHL'ers. So while it may have been overpayment for the draft pick, it's a much smarter move in the big picture.

Thanks Ravi for the deal.