What the Quack Happened?

As usual, the Ducks were a force to be reckoned with. Since the tenure of GM VideoJ began in the Summer of 2018, (he thinks, there’s been a lot of liquor consumed since then) he has taken the team to the playoffs each season, remaining a perpetual contender. Despite being one of the winningest teams over the last 5 seasons, they have not proven to be the playoff beast that they should be. After last season’s embarrassing loss in the finals, this season’s playoffs were supposed to be a redemption. A reprieve from the laughter that was last June. They made one of the largest splashes at the trade deadline, not only landing John Carlson to bolster their D corps, but trading for Boone Jenner to strengthen their top 6. And after making the deadline deal to bring in the veteran centre from the Sharks, essentially weakening their first round foe, that already seemed like easy sweep, everything was looking up.

Unfortunately after a powerful 7-1 performance in game 1, the Ducks lost traction, losing two games in overtime to the hungry Sharks. While they took it to 7 games, they only scored a total of 9 goals across the final 6 games. Bringing in John Carlson seemed to have adverse effects, after they sent centre Max Domi,  a 20254 1st, and a 2025 3rd to help with some offense from the blueline. Carlson finished the season with the Ducks with a mere 3 goals in 31 games, and a minus 8. Things didn’t look any better in the playoffs, as he went pointless and was a -3. 

The acquisition of Boone Jenner wasn’t much more help, as he failed to provide the scoring punch they sought after in the regular season, finishing 3g, 3a in 19 games. He did however seem to be a bright spot in the playoffs, scoring 2 goals and leading all forwards at plus 3. Despite those efforts, the rest of the forward group outside of the top line of Marchand, Bergeron, and Debrincat just didn’t show up to play. Perhaps the line should have been broken up by VideoJ, but with the back and forth nature of the series, he was apprehensive to make any drastic changes. 

The poor play by the forwards was most unfortunate for Tristan Jarry, who had a stellar performance the entire series. He posted a .946 save percentage, 1.56 GAA, and a shutout through the 7 game series, keeping the team in every single game. I’m sure he had some grave frustrations with this forward group that left him nearly single handedly keeping them in this series. The defensive side of the series as well, kept the Ducks in it. The team had a plus 20 overall. The team generated 222 shots for compared to 204 against. They also only let in two powerplay goal on 7 chances and had a potent powerplay with two goals on six attempts. More evidence that the team simply struggled to put the puck in the back of the net at even strength.

So, what's next for this juggernaut roster that is the envy of any red-blooded RHL GM? Drastic changes? Stay the course? Time will tell...