Down the Frozen River

Tag: Cam Fowler

  • Bruins bulk up with Lindholm on defense in trade with Anaheim

    Bruins bulk up with Lindholm on defense in trade with Anaheim

    The Boston Bruins acquired defenders, Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran, from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenders, Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore, a 2022 1st round pick, a 2023 2nd round pick and a 2024 2nd round pick on Saturday afternoon.

    The Ducks retained 50% of Lindholm’s salary ($2,602,778) in the transaction.

    Lindholm and the B’s are reportedly working on an eight-year extension that could be finalized Sunday, according to TSN and RDS Hockey Insider and The Athletic writer, Pierre LeBrun.

    TSN’s Chris Johnston tweeted that the average annual value of Lindholm’s extension may be around $6.500 million late Saturday night.

    Prior to the trade, Lindholm’s cap hit with Anaheim was $5,205,556, so the otherwise pending-unrestricted free agent is due for a little bit of a pay raise given his age, status and longevity in the league as a top-four defender.

    The 6-foot-4, 216-pound native of Helsingborg, Sweden was originally drafted by Anaheim in the 1st round (6th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and has 57-165–222 totals in 582 career NHL games since making his league debut with the Ducks in the 2013-14 season.

    Lindholm, 28, has five goals and 17 assists (22 points) in 61 games this season and set a career-high 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists) in 78 games in 2014-15, before recording a career-high 13 goals in 69 games in 2017-18.

    He suffered a fractured wrist last season and was limited to 18 games as a result– recording two goals and four assists (six points) in that span.

    He also leaves Anaheim with 743 blocked shots– ranking third in franchise history– and was one of three defenders to reach 200 points in Ducks history, alongside Scott Niedermayer and Cam Fowler.

    In 55 career Stanley Cup playoff games, Lindholm has 4-17–21 totals, including 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 16 games in Anaheim’s run to the 2015 Western Conference Final, as well as four points in 17 games in the Ducks’ 2017 Western Conference Final appearance.

    He’ll likely land a role alongside Charlie McAvoy on the first defensive pairing and on Boston’s penalty kill as a more traditional shutdown defender to McAvoy’s two-way style.

    Lindholm arrives at a time when the Bruins could use a little more insurance on the blue line in the event of injuries down the stretch and in the long run, despite producing solid numbers as one of the league’s more effective defenses and having a more pressing need for a second line center in another transaction.

    Curran, 32, had 1-15–16 totals in 37 games for the San Diego Gulls (AHL) this season and is destined to become the oldest defender in Providence upon his arrival to the Bruins organization.

    The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Calgary, Alberta, joined the Ducks as an undrafted free agent on June 3, 2020, after parts of five college seasons at the University of Calgary from 2010-15, a stint with the Hartford Wolf Pack and Greenville Swamp Rabbits from 2015-16, and four seasons in Europe from 2016-20, before spending parts of the last two seasons in San Diego.

    He had 7-27–34 totals in 81 career games for the Wolf Pack and Gulls before the trade.

    Curran carries a $1.000 million cap hit and is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

    The Bruins have about $1.230 million in cap space by the end of the season as a result of the trade and will have about $6.152 million to work with at the trade deadline itself on Monday as General Manager, Don Sweeney, seeks to find a second line center and/or more.

    Vaakanainen, 23, has four assists in 15 games this season while with Boston and has been sidelined for at least 17 games due to injury/illness having most recently suffered an upper body injury on Feb. 1st against Seattle and exiting warmup on Feb. 21st prior to a matchup against Colorado.

    The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Joenssu, Finland has six assissts in 31 career NHL games– all with the Bruins– since he was drafted in the 1st round (18th overall) by Boston in 2017.

    In 23 games with the Providence Bruins (AHL), he had 1-7–8 totals this season– bringing his American Hockey League career totals to 11-28–39 in 118 games in Providence.

    Vaakanainen has yet to appear in a Stanley Cup playoff game and is a pending-restricted free agent at season’s end with a cap hit of $894, 167.

    Moore, 31, meanwhile, appeared in seven games for Boston this season and has been out of the lineup with an upper body injury since Jan. 28th.

    The 6-foot-3, 207-pound native of Winnetka, Illinois has 38-80–118 totals in 544 career NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Arizona Coyotes, New Jersey Devils and Bruins, including 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 97 games over parts of the last four seasons with Boston.

    In 11 games with Providence this season, Moore had six points (one goal, five assists) prior to the trade.

    He was originally drafted in the 1st round (21st overall) by Columbus at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and has four assists in 49 career Stanley Cup playoff games.

    Moore is signed through the end of the 2022-23 season with a $2.750 million cap hit.

    Anaheim will undoubtedly benefit from Vaakanainen’s development– provided he can stay healthy and avoid further career derailment due to traumatic brain injuries– as well as from the acquisition of three draft picks from the Bruins in as many years in the first two rounds (2022 1st round, 2023 2nd round and 2024 2nd round).

    Retaining half of Lindholm’s salary is a small price to pay for the Ducks with the added benefit of attaining about $11.631 million in cap space by the end of the season.

    As a result, Anaheim will have about $58.154 million in deadline cap space to work with to facilitate trades or broker any potential three-team deals as the Ducks sit on the outside of the cutoff line looking in for the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Anaheim’s General Manager, Pat Verbeek, is ready to sell assets and commit to a rebuild with a plethora of picks at his disposal.

  • Ducks snap Bruins’ win streak at five in, 4-3, loss

    Ducks snap Bruins’ win streak at five in, 4-3, loss

    The Boston Bruins fell behind by a pair of goals before the end of the first period, rallied to tie the game early in the third period and lost it in the dying seconds as the Anaheim Ducks bookended power-play goals Tuesday night at Honda Center in a, 4-3, victory for the home team.

    John Gibson (17-14-8, 2.84 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in 39 games played) made 31 saves on 34 shots against in the win for Anaheim.

    Boston goaltender, Linus Ullmark (17-9-1, 2.80 goals-against average, .908 save percentage in 28 games played), turned aside 24 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins fell to 32-18-4 (68 points) on the season and remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as in command of the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference as a result.

    The Ducks improved to 26-21-9 (61 points) overall, but stuck in 5th place in the Pacific Division as a result of the win.

    Anaheim also swept the regular season series against Boston 2-0-0.

    Bruce Cassidy made no changes to his lineup from Monday night’s, 7-0, shutout win in Los Angeles to Tuesday night’s action in Anaheim as the Bruins remained without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) and Curtis Lazar (upper body).

    Jack Ahcan and Anton Blidh remained in the press box as Boston’s healthy scratches against the Ducks.

    Nick Foligno and Sam Carrick kicked the night off with a burst of energy as the two exchanged fisticuffs at 2:20 of the first period– yielding five-minute majors for fighting in the process in what was the 18th fight of the season for Boston and second in as many nights.

    A few minutes later, Brad Marchand was sent to the box with a minor infraction for cross checking as the Bruins veteran illegally used his stick on Derek Grant at 5:35 of the first period.

    It didn’t take Anaheim long to convert on the ensuing power play as Derek Forbort gave it away to Ducks defender, Jamie Drysdale, at the point in Boston’s own zone.

    Drysdale slid the rubber biscuit along the blue line as the puck found its way to Trevor Zegras before Zegras set up Ryan Getzlaf for a clear shot on goal that rebounded off Ullmark to Rickard Rakell as Rakell (15) crashed the net and buried it.

    Getzlaf (26) and Zegras (27) tallied the assists on Rakell’s power-play goal and Anaheim went ahead, 1-0, at 6:33 of the first period.

    Less than a couple of minutes later, Boston responded with a goal of their own– this time on a redirection as Foligno (2) changed the course of a shot from the point by Brandon Carlo through his own legs and that of Gibson’s five-hole– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Carlo (5) and Tomáš Nosek (8) had the assists on Foligno’s goal at 8:15 of the first period as the two teams swapped momentum in the first half of the opening frame.

    Towards the end of the period, however, everything came up just ducky.

    Cam Fowler fired a shot on Ullmark that Isac Lundeström (13) gathered with ease and pocketed on the rebound to put the Ducks back in front, 2-1, at 17:53.

    Fowler (21) and Jakob Silfvergberg (16) tallied the assists on the goal.

    Less than two minutes later, Adam Henrique (10) received a pass from Troy Terry and unloaded on a catch and release shot to give Anaheim a two-goal lead at 19:03.

    Terry (19) and Getzlaf (27) were credited with the assists as the Ducks took a, 3-1, lead into the first intermission.

    Anaheim led in shots on goal, 9-7, after one period and held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5), takeaways (4-2), hits (10-6) and faceoff win percentage (58-42), as well.

    Boston led in giveaways (4-2) through 20 minutes, while only the Ducks had seen any time on the power play and went 1/1 entering the middle frame.

    Grant tripped Nosek and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 2:51 of the second period, but Boston’s ensuing skater advantage was cut short at 4:03 when Taylor Hall interfered with Lundeström away from the play as the two collided in the neutral zone at 4:03.

    After 48 seconds of 4-on-4 action, the Ducks went on an abbreviated power play that the B’s managed to kill off without issue.

    Midway through the middle frame Carlo (5) sent a shot from the point that had eyes as it bounced off of Gibson and squeezed its way under his arm into the twine– pulling the Bruins to within one goal in the process.

    Nosek (9) and Foligno (7) tallied the assists as Boston trailed, 3-2, at 11:15 of the second period– giving Foligno his first career Gordie Howe hat trick in the process as No. 17 in black and gold wracked up a fight, goal and an assist in Tuesday night’s effort.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Anaheim led, 3-2, on the scoreboard despite Boston holding the advantage in shots on net, 21-16, including a, 14-7, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bruins also led in blocked shots (11-9) and hits (17-14) heading into the second intermission, while the Ducks led in takeaways (5-3), giveaways (6-5) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Boston was 0/1 and Anaheim was 1/2 on the power play entering the final frame.

    David Pastrnak took a hit in the neutral zone as the puck rolled off his stick into the attacking zone while Hall raced to retrieve it.

    Hall sent a pass back to Pastrnak (29) as the B’s leading goal scorer broke into the zone and blasted a shot from the point off of Carrick and behind Gibson while Erik Haula acted as a screen amidst the net front traffic.

    Pastrnak’s goal tied the game, 3-3, as Hall (28) and Haula (15) picked up credit for the assists at 1:52 of the third period.

    The Bruins had swung momentum in their favor and dominated possession in the offensive zone for the better part of the third period until the Ducks began to surge late in the action.

    Charlie McAvoy got caught behind a play and hooked Getzlaf in front of Boston’s own net, yielding a power play to Anaheim at 19:14 of the third period.

    It didn’t take long for the Ducks to capitalize on the resulting special teams advantage after head coach, Dallas Eakins, used his team’s timeout to drum up a plan with 45.9 seconds left on the clock.

    Anaheim sent the puck around the horn while on the power play until Getzlaf sent the rubber biscuit to Drysdale, who then found Zegras (14) for the final blow on a shot from the outer edge of the circle with Sonny Milano screening Ullmark’s view as the puck rang the inside of the post and went in on the glove side.

    Drysdale (20) and Getzlaf (28) notched the assists on what would be the game-winning power-play goal from Zegras at 19:38 of the third period and the Ducks led, 4-3.

    Boston pulled their goaltender for an extra skater with about a dozen seconds left, but couldn’t establish enough of a zone presence to muster a last-ditch shot on goal as the seconds ticked down and the final horn sounded.

    Anaheim had won, 4-3, despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 34-28, including a, 13-12, advantage for the Bruins in the third period alone.

    The Ducks left their own ice with two points and another victory in the regulation win column, while leading in blocked shots (16-14), giveaways (9-8), hits (24-23) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Anaheim went 2/3 on the power play, while Boston went 0/1 on the skater advantage Tuesday night.

    The B’s fell to 10-11-3 (4-5-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-11-2 (0-5-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 3-14-2 (0-6-1 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.

    The Ducks, meanwhile, improved to 22-7-4 (13-2-2 at home) when scoring first, 17-2-2 (11-0-2 at home) when leading after one period and 18-2-1 (11-0-1 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins visit the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night (9 p.m. ET on ESPN) before wrapping up their six-game road trip (3-1-0) in Columbus on Saturday night.

    Boston returns home to host the Los Angeles Kings next Monday (March 7th).

  • Ducks down Bruins in first meeting since 2019

    Ducks down Bruins in first meeting since 2019

    Hampus Lindholm had three assists in a, 5-3, victory for the Anaheim Ducks as they beat the Boston Bruins on the road Monday night at TD Garden.

    John Gibson (14-10-6, 2.55 goals-against average, .919 save percentage in 30 games played) made 23 saves on 26 shots faced in the win for Anaheim.

    Boston goaltender, Tuukka Rask (2-2-0, 4.29 goals-against average, .844 save percentage in four games played), stopped 22 out of 27 shots against in the loss in his first consecutive start of the season.

    The Bruins fell to 24-13-2 (50 points) overall, but remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while the Ducks improved to 21-16-7 (49 points) and took command of 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

    As a result of the ongoing pandemic, the two clubs hadn’t played each other prior to Monday night since Oct. 14, 2019, when David Pastrnak scored all four goals in a, 4-2, win for Boston on home ice.

    The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), John Moore (upper body), Anton Blidh (upper body) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) on Monday.

    Moore and Blidh took part in morning skate ahead of the game, but were not well enough for game action.

    Meanwhile, Mike Reilly returned from the league’s COVID-19 protocol and was utilized in his usual spot on the second defensive pairing alongside Brandon Carlo.

    As a result of Grzelcyk being out and Reilly returning, Urho Vaakanainen was promoted to the first pairing with Charlie McAvoy.

    Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup from Saturday afternoon’s, 3-2, win against the Winnipeg Jets to Monday night’s action.

    Frederic, Moore, Steven Fogarty (taxi squad), Jesper Frödén (taxi squad), Grzelcyk, Tyler Lewington (taxi squad), Zboril and Blidh comprised the long list of Bruins that were out of the lineup for one reason or another against the Ducks.

    Less than a minute into the opening frame, McAvoy hooked Rickard Rakell and presented Anaheim with the night’s first power play as a result 44 seconds into the first period.

    The Ducks weren’t successful on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    About midway through the opening period, Oskar Steen checked Nicolas Deslauriers with force from behind at an awkward angle, yielding a five-minute major for boarding initially.

    In accordance with league rules, the on-ice officials reviewed the play and rescinded Steen’s major and instead issued a minor infraction on the play– yielding a two-minute power play to Anaheim as a result at 9:09 of the first period.

    50 seconds into the skater advantage, Ryan Getzlaf unloaded on a blast from outside the faceoff circle to the left of Rask that was tipped by Derek Grant (7) in the slot to give the Ducks a, 1-0, lead.

    Getzlaf (23) and Lindholm (12) tallied the assists on Grant’s power-play goal at 9:59.

    Anaheim’s goal marked just the eight shot combined on the night as the Ducks held a, 7-1, advantage in shots on net as Grant opened the scoring.

    Heading into the first intermission, the Ducks led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and held an, 11-5, advantage in shots on goal.

    Anaheim also led in blocked shots (6-1), while Boston led in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (5-2), hits (11-8) and faceoff win percentage (59-41).

    The Ducks were 1/2 on the power play after one period and the B’s had yet to see any action on the skater advantage. That would change quickly in the middle frame.

    Trevor Zegras slashed Patrice Bergeron and worked his way over to the penalty box as the Bruins went on their first power play of the night 17 seconds into the second period.

    Unfortunately for Boston, the ensuing skater advantage was not kind to them.

    Isac Lundeström (9) broke free and crashed the net on a breakaway, sliding the puck under Rask either via the five-hole or under a leg where Rask couldn’t quite get a feel for it as the rubber biscuit trickled through and made its way over the goal line.

    Lindholm (13) tallied the only assist on Lundeström’s shorthanded goal and the Ducks led, 2-0, at 1:28 of the second period.

    Almost midway through the period, Tomáš Nosek worked a pass across the slot to Pastrnak (20) for a one-timer goal that cut Anaheim’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Nosek (6) and Nick Foligno (6) were credited with the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 7:47 as No. 88 in black and gold reached the 20-goal plateau for his sixth consecutive season– tying Bobby Orr for the most consecutive 20-goal seasons (six) under the age of 25 in Bruins franchise history.

    Overall, Pastrnak is tied for the eighth-most consecutive 20-goal seasons, trailing Johnny Bucyk (10), Rick Middleton (nine), Brad Marchand (nine), Phil Esposito (eight), Bergeron (8), Peter McNab (seven) and Orr (seven).

    Marchand reached his ninth consecutive 20-goal season this season and Bergeron currently has 12 goals in 2021-22.

    Less than a minute later, during a commercial break, Gibson shoved Foligno as the Bruins forward appeared to have been chirping the Anaheim bench.

    A scrum ensued, though nobody received any minor infractions.

    Shortly after play resumed, Foligno and Sam Carrick exchanged fisticuffs as the Ducks defended their goaltender.

    Both players received fighting majors at 8:55 of the second period.

    Foligno and Carrick’s fight marked the 14th fight this season for Boston and the eighth since Jan. 1st.

    Moments later, Getzlaf (3) entered the attacking zone and ripped a shot over Carlo, as well as over Rask’s right shoulder on the blocker side to extend Anaheim’s lead, 3-1, at 11:04 of the second period.

    Rakell (9) and Lindholm (14) had the assists on Getzlaf’s goal as the Ducks retook a two-goal lead.

    A few minutes later, Josh Mahura hooked Steen at 14:59 and presented Boston with another power play.

    This time the Bruins were sure to take advantage of the skater advantage as Marchand sent a shot pass to the slot where Taylor Hall (9) redirected the puck off the far right post and into the twine behind Gibson.

    Marchand (25) and Bergeron (20) notched the assists as Hall’s power-play goal brought Boston back to within one– trailing, 3-2, at 15:52 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Ducks led the Bruins, 3-2, on the scoreboard and, 20-15, in shots on goal, despite Boston amassing a, 10-9, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

    Anaheim held the advantage in blocked shots (11-1), giveaways (10-7) and hits (19-16), while Boston led in takeaways (5-3) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Vaakanainen caught Rakell with a high stick 26 seconds into the third period and presented the Ducks with another chance on the power play, but Boston made the kill.

    Moments later, Troy Terry (23) entered the attacking zone before curling and dragging the puck for a snap shot over Rask’s blocker side to give Anaheim another two-goal lead, 4-2, at 6:12 of the third period.

    Kevin Shattenkirk (16) and Cam Fowler (16) had the assists on Terry’s goal as the Ducks continued to dominate the evening.

    Midway through the period, Mahura lost an edge while chasing a loose puck in the low slot and crashed into the left post– requiring an extra minute or two with the assistance of a trainer to get off the ice.

    With about 13 minutes left in the game, the Bruins tweeted that Foligno would not return to the action with an upper body injury, joining Deslauriers and Mahura in the pile of injuries on the night.

    Greg Pateryn (1) blasted a shot from the point over Rask’s blocker side with traffic in front of the net to make it a four-goal lead for the Ducks at 10:58 of the third period.

    Zegras (20) and Rakell (10) had the assists on Pateryn’s goal– his first in 44 games– as Anaheim extended their lead, 5-1.

    Erik Haula (4) answered back late in the third with a one-timer goal courtesy of 49 seconds worth of zone time in Boston’s attacking zone as Pastrnak worked the puck deep to Reilly for the backhand behind the back pass through the slot to Haula to bring the Bruins to within two goals.

    Reilly (6) and Pastrnak (17) tallied the assists on Haula’s goal and the B’s trailed, 5-3, at 16:28.

    With 3:02 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker.

    After a stoppage with 15.1 seconds left on the clock, Cassidy used his timeout to rally his players for a chance at a double-miracle that ultimately went by the wayside.

    At the final horn, the Ducks had won, 5-3, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 27-26– despite Boston holding an, 11-7, advantage in the third period alone.

    Anaheim left TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (23-3) in addition to two points in the win column, while the Bruins exited their own arena leading in giveaways (13-11), hits (30-25) and faceoff win% (59-41).

    The Ducks went 1/3 and the B’s went 1/2 on the power play on Monday.

    The Bruins fell to 9-8-2 (6-5-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-8-1 (4-5-1 at home) when trailing after one period and 3-10-2 (3-6-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

    Anaheim, meanwhile, improved to 17-6-3 (6-4-1 on the road) when scoring first, 14-1-2 (4-1-0 on the road) when leading after the first period and 15-2-1 (5-2-0 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    Boston went 5-2-0 in their seven-game homestand and will hit the road to finish the month of January with a three-game road trip.

    The B’s visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET on TNT), Arizona Coyotes on Friday and Dallas Stars on Sunday before returning home to host the Seattle Kraken in their first ever matchup on Feb. 1st.

  • Anaheim Ducks 2021-22 Season Preview

    Anaheim Ducks 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 17-30-9, 43 points

    8th in the Honda NHL West Division

    Missed the postseason for the third-straight year

    Additions: F Danny O’Regan, F Buddy Robinson, D Greg Pateryn, D Brogan Rafferty

    Subtractions: F Andrew Agozzino (signed with OTT), F Danton Heinen (signed with PIT), F Chase De Leo (signed with NJD), F Andrew Poturalski (signed with CAR), D Haydn Fleury (expansion, SEA), D Andy Welinski (signed with CGY), G Ryan Miller (retired)

    Still Unsigned: F David Backes, F Carter Rowney

    Re-signed: F Max Comtois, F Ryan Getzlaf, F Max Jones, F Isac Lundestrom, F Sam Steel, D Josh Mahura

    Offseason Analysis: All three California-based NHL teams missed out on the playoffs for the second year in a row (and third time overall since 1996), but there’s hope for 2/3 of the California teams in terms of turning things around a lot sooner rather than later.

    Both of them happen to be in southern California.

    Though the Ducks are behind the Los Angeles Kings by a year or two in both time spent in their ongoing rebuilds– as well as when they’re expected to be a playoff contender once again– Anaheim’s trending in the direction of a younger team with a tinge of experience gained from last season as Max Comtois led the way in scoring on the roster with 16-17–33 totals in 55 games.

    Troy Terry solidified a spot on the NHL roster and won’t have to spend any time fluctuating back and forth between the Ducks and the San Diego Gulls (AHL) after he managed to amass 7-13–20 totals in 48 games.

    Though Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg are often the subjects of trade rumors out of Anaheim, Rakell led the Ducks in assists last season with 19 helpers in 52 games, while Silfverberg had a more pedestrian season– notching 16 points in 47 games.

    At the very least, they’re two veterans that head coach, Dallas Eakins, can lean on as Anaheim’s youth continues to emerge and Ryan Getzlaf’s aging body wears down over time.

    That’s not to say that Getzlaf’s 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 48 games didn’t mean much for the Ducks, but rather that they won’t have to count on their 36-year-old captain for nearly as much as they used to get out of him– especially as his production is projected to continue to decline.

    Getting a full season on defense from Jamie Drysdale is likely to be a difference maker as the 19-year-old managed to put up 3-5–8 totals in 24 games from the blue line last season in his league debut after being selected 6th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.

    His offensive contributions from the defense– at the very least as a two-way defender– should spark more rushes from a team that got stuck playing catch-up while attempting to bear hug their opponents from night-to-night in recent years.

    Cam Fowler and Josh Manson are set to turn 30 during the 2021-22 season, while Kevin Shattenkirk is currently the oldest defender on the roster at 32-years-old, but Hampus Lindholm and Jacob Larsson are familiar names that are just entering the cusp of their defensive primes, so really the Ducks just need to hit the back of the net more– as if that wasn’t already evidenced enough by their minus-53 goal differential last season.

    Granted, that does mean they’ll have to shore things up in their own end somewhat, but yeah, score more goals than the other team, win the game. Who would’ve thought?

    Don’t overplay John Gibson in the crease (seriously, no goaltender should be facing more than, like, 55 games in an 82-game schedule) and give Anthony Stolarz a chance to be a legitimate backup goaltender in the league– something in the Ducks’ coaching staff is working for him in the last two seasons.

    Gibson went 9-19-7 in 35 games with a 2.98 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage and three shutouts in that span, which was better and worse than his 20-26-5 record in 51 games in 2019-20, in which he had a 3.00 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage– as well as one shutout.

    With the exception of last season’s 56-game schedule, Gibson hasn’t faced fewer than 1,500 shots against since the 2016-17 season, which featured a run to the Western Conference Final for the Ducks.

    A drop in goals for production has hurt Gibson like a lack of run support spurns a starting pitcher in baseball.

    Meanwhile, Stolarz took on a bigger role as Anaheim’s backup towards the tale end of the season– forcing Ryan Miller into an early retirement, even though Miller earned the honors of the last game of the season.

    Stolarz put up a 4-3-0 record in eight games played and had a 2.20 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage and one shutout in that span, which was much better than Miller’s 4-8-2 record in 16 games to go with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage.

    Ideally, Anaheim would find a way to give both Gibson and Stolarz about 41 games each to generate healthy competition, but that’s not likely– especially with Gibson’s high profile around the league as one of the better goaltenders that’s just stuck in the unfortunate rut of a rebuilding team.

    Ducks General Manager, Bob Murray, had one thing to do this offseason and that was to not do anything, so he did (nothing, that is).

    Let things play out on their own and Anaheim will either show forward progress or get a chance to speed up their rebuild with another top-10 draft pick in 2022.

    At best they’ll be 6th in the Pacific Division and ahead of their counterparts in northern California– the San Jose Sharks. At worst they’ll be stuck in 8th.

    Offseason Grade: C

    If subjectivity had any influence on an offseason grade, Murray and the Ducks would get an “A” for doing what was recommended– virtually nothing. Seriously.

    It’s time for Anaheim to figure out what they have, where they still need to make a few improvements and otherwise to let their youth get experience and grow in their game.

    The Ducks recognize their situation and they have enough patience for now to be smart about things.

    With about $14 million to spend in cap space this season, Anaheim can be a trade deadline broker flipping and retaining salary on expiring or short-term contracts while yielding the profits of prospects and draft picks– that is how you rebuild.

    Even better, they’ll have about $44.4 million to spend next offseason, though with Getzlaf, Rakell, Lindholm and Manson headlining their pending-unrestricted free agent class.

  • DTFR Podcast #199- Cheese!

    DTFR Podcast #199- Cheese!

    Colby’s back, Jack.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify.

  • Pastrnak scores all four in Boston’s, 4-2, win over Anaheim

    A four-goal afternoon– the first of his career– for David Pastrnak was enough to lift the Boston Bruins over the Anaheim Ducks, 4-2, Monday afternoon at TD Garden.

    Jaroslav Halak (2-1-0, 1.69 goals against average, .951 save percentage in three games played) made 30 saves on 32 shots against for a .938 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Ducks goaltender, John Gibson (3-2-0, 1.82 GAA, .941 SV% in five games played) stopped 19 out of 23 shots faced (.826 SV%) in the loss.

    Pastrnak became the 19th Bruin in franchise history to have a four-goal game. Prior to Monday, Patrice Bergeron had the most recent four-goal game in franchise history in a, 7-1, win at home over the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 6, 2018.

    Bergeron and Pastrnak are the only members on the current roster for Boston to have scored four goals in a game.

    No. 88 in black-and-gold became the first Bruin to score four in game in the month of October since Dave Andreychuk had a four-goal effort in a, 7-3, victory on home ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 28th, 1999.

    He (Pastrnak) was also the first to score all four of his team’s goals in a game in the win.

    Boston improved to 5-1-0 (10 points) on the season and temporarily moved up to 1st in the Atlantic Division while the Buffalo Sabres were in action against the Dallas Stars Monday afternoon.

    Meanwhile, Anaheim fell to 4-2-0 (8 points) and dropped to 3rd in the Pacific Division by virtue of the Vegas Golden Knights holding the tiebreaker in the standings (goal differential), since the two teams have the same record and have not faced each other yet this season.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup from Saturday night’s matchup with the New Jersey Devils, scratching Connor Clifton in favor of Steven Kampfer on defense.

    Kevan Miller (knee) and John Moore (shoulder) missed their sixth game of the season due to lingering injuries from last spring, while Par Lindholm, David Backes and Clifton were healthy scratches for the Bruins.

    Prior to the game, the Bruins held a moment of applause and celebration for former blue liner, Ted Green, who died on Oct. 8 at the age of 79.

    Shortly after being on the receiving end of an open-ice hit from Kampfer, Ducks defender, Michael Del Zotto slashed Bruins forward, Brett Ritchie, and was charged with a minor infraction at 4:10 of the first period.

    Eight seconds into the ensuing power play, Pastrnak (3) scored with a one-timer on a pass from Bergeron from the faceoff dot to Gibson’s right side.

    Boston cycled the puck from the initial faceoff, which led to Pastrnak’s appearance in the open for the goal.

    Bergeron (4) and Torey Krug (2) had the assists on the goal at 4:18 and the Bruins led, 1-0.

    Late in the period, Bergeron slashed Ondrej Kase and was sent to the penalty box with a minor at 17:16. Anaheim did not convert on the resulting power play.

    Heading into the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 11-8. The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (1-0), giveaways (4-3), hits (11-10) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while both teams had four takeaways aside.

    Anaheim was 0/1 on the power play after 20 minutes, while the Bruins were 1/1 on the skater advantage entering the second period.

    David Krejci left the action during the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return to the game.

    Early in the middle frame, Pastrnak “tripped” Maxime Comtois and the Ducks went on the power play at 4:40 of the second period, but Anaheim wasn’t able to capitalize on the phantom call.

    Moments later, Kampfer took a trip to the sin bin for a legitimate hooking penalty against Max Jones at 9:28, but again the Ducks were unsuccessful on the skater advantage.

    Shortly after killing off Kampfer’s minor, Boston pounced at even strength on a rush.

    Pastrnak (4) received a pass from Brad Marchand and released a one-timer past Gibson to give the B’s a two-goal lead, 2-0, at 11:38.

    Marchand (4) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game.

    About a minute later, Sam Steel was penalized for holding Joakim Nordstrom at 12:50, but the Bruins weren’t able to take advantage of their second power play of the day.

    Late in the period, Rickard Rakell (2) snapped a shot wide of Charlie McAvoy and past Halak on the far side to cut Boston’s lead in half and get Anaheim on the scoreboard, 2-1, at 17:52.

    Adam Henrique (1) and Cam Fowler (1) had the assists on Rakell’s goal.

    A minute later, McAvoy sent the puck clear over the glass and received an automatic delay of game penalty at 18:53.

    Boston would be on the penalty kill heading into the third period.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and were being outshot by the Ducks, 24-17– including a, 16-6, advantage in shots on goal for Anaheim in the second period alone.

    The Ducks also led in blocked shots (8-4), takeaways (5-4) and hits (18-17) entering the second intermission, while Boston held the lead in giveaways (8-4) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    Anaheim was 0/4 on the power play and the B’s were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Pastrnak (5) scored his hat trick goal in Monday afternoon’s action off a faceoff in the attacking zone after the Ducks iced the puck.

    The puck bounced off an Anaheim skater right in front of Pastrnak for the unassisted effort at 2:20 of the third period and the Bruins led, 3-1.

    Almost 100 seconds later, Comtois was guilty of holding Charlie Coyle and sent to the penalty box at 3:37.

    The Bruins capitalized on their third power play of the day as Marchand sent the puck through the low slot for Pastrnak (6) to redirect while getting his stick in the crease upon the puck’s entrance into the blue paint for his fourth goal of the game.

    Marchand (5) and Krug (3) tabbed the assists on the power play goal at 4:34, as Boston took control of the game, 4-1.

    Late in the period, Halak misplayed the puck behind his own net, leaving the goaltender defenseless as Nick Ritchie fished the loose puck to his teammate.

    Henrique (2) scored while Halak struggled to get back in front of the net and the Ducks cut the lead to two goals.

    Brett Ritchie’s brother on the opposing team, Nick Ritchie (2) had the only assist on Henrique’s goal at 16:08 and the Bruins still led, 4-2.

    With about three minutes left in the action, Anaheim’s head coach, Dallas Eakins, pulled Gibson for the extra attacker.

    Almost 90 seconds later, Eakins used his timeout after a stoppage to instruct his players what to do in the event of anything in effort to try to comeback and tie the game, but it was to no avail.

    Boston’s defense stood tall and things got a little out of hand when Ryan Getzlaf lost his composure and got into a tangle with Chris Wagner after a stoppage at 19:41.

    Both players received roughing minor penalties and the teams finished the game 4-on-4.

    At the final horn, Halak and the Bruins picked up the, 4-2, win on home ice over the Ducks, despite trailing in shots on goal, 32-23.

    Anaheim left TD Garden leading in hits (26-24), while Boston finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (12-10) and giveaways (13-7).

    Both teams were split even (50-50) in faceoff win%.

    The Ducks went 0/4 on the power play, while the Bruins were 2/3 on the skater advantage.

    Boston wraps up their three-game homestand (2-0-0) against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday before the Bruins travel to Toronto for a home and home series on Oct. 19th at Scotiabank Arena and Oct. 22nd at TD Garden.

    It will be Boston and Toronto’s first meeting since their 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup.

  • DTFR Podcast #168- 2019-20 Season Preview: Pacific Division

    DTFR Podcast #168- 2019-20 Season Preview: Pacific Division

    The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2019 was announced, a major shakeup in the Board of Governors may be ahead, extensions were signed, Jake Gardiner joined the Carolina Hurricanes and it’s time for our DTFR Podcast season previews (starting with the Pacific Division).

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Anaheim Ducks 2019-20 Season Preview

    Anaheim Ducks

    35-37-10, 80 points, 6th in the Pacific Division

    Missed the postseason for the first time in seven years

    Additions: F Andreas Martinsen, F Blake Pietila, F Andrew Poturalski, D Michael Del Zotto, D Jani Hakanpaa, D Chris Wideman, G Anthony Stolarz

    Subtractions: F Adam Cracknell (KHL), F Kalle Kossila (signed with TOR), F Corey Perry (bought out, signed with DAL), F Kevin Roy (signed with FLA), F Ben Street (signed with NJD), D Jake Dotchin (signed with STL), D Jaycob Megna (signed with VGK), D Trevor Murphy (KHL), D Andrej Sustr (KHL), D Andy Welinski (signed with PHI)

    Still Unsigned: D Keaton Thompson, G Chad Johnson

    Re-signed: F Chase De Leo, F Justin Kloos

    Offseason Analysis: The Anaheim Ducks have about $8.500 million in cap space currently with no restricted free agents unsigned and not a worry in the world.

    Well, except for the fact that their core is aging, Ryan Kesler may be shelved on the long-term injured reserve for the season and there’s a new head coach in town to try to spur a bounce back after the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

    After Corey Perry’s offense dried up, injuries piled up and a dismal season carried on, General Manager Bob Murray made the difficult decision to return to his front office post only and leave the double duties as GM and head coach in the past.

    Dallas Eakins returns to the NHL head coaching scene after posting a 29-44-9 record in 2013-14 with the Edmonton Oilers, prior to a 7-19-5 start in 31 games the following season before being fired.

    The Oilers were 6th in the Pacific Standings at the time of Eakins’ dismissal in the 2014-15 season, which was technically better than their 7th place finish in the Pacific a season prior.

    Eakins turned his career around enough to earn this second chance behind the bench of an NHL team after coaching the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim’s AHL affiliate) since the 2015-16 season– leading them to a 36-24-5-3 record last season and an appearance in the Calder Cup Playoffs’ Western Conference Final against the Chicago Wolves.

    Though the Gulls lost in six games to the eventual runners up to the Calder Cup champion, Charlotte Checkers, Eakins carries the deep postseason run coaching experience and much of the same young players with him to the big show on the Ducks roster.

    Anaheim is at a crossroads.

    John Gibson is too good of a goaltender to go through a rebuild, while the rest of the roster screams “wild card at best”.

    Cam Fowler, Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm are all that remains from the days of one of the most underrated defenses from year-to-year, while Anaheim’s offense is going through growing pains.

    This team will either exist in mediocrity as they did last season or be worse until it gets better. There doesn’t see to be much indication otherwise, based on the lack of moves made in just one offseason.

    The Ducks acquired Nicolas Deslauriers– a bottom-six forward that’s probably better suited in the top-six in San Diego– in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens that saw Anaheim sending a 2020 4th round pick to the Habs in return.

    Perry’s buyout costs Anaheim $2.625 million against the salary cap this season, $6.625 million next season and $2.000 million from 2021-22 through 2022-23.

    At least if things get tight and Kesler isn’t good to go the LTIR will eat up Kesler’s $6.875 million cap hit through 2021-22 (if his career is in jeopardy as it very well might be).

    For now, the Ducks are hoping for Troy Terry to have the breakout season everyone’s waiting for, as well as the emergence of Max Jones, Sam Steel and Maxime Comtois as NHL regulars (hopefully) sooner rather than later.

    Anaheim needs more speed, skill and most importantly more goals for and fewer goals against.

    Offseason Grade: D+

    There’s really no pressure heading into this season for the Ducks. They won the Cup in 2007, became dominant in the regular season from 2012-15 (and, as a result, a Cup contender) and have been cooling ever since (with the exception of their 2017 Western Conference Final run– losing in six games to the Nashville Predators).

    Since then, Murray hasn’t done anything to stop nature in its course as age has caught up to the big and burly roster Anaheim crafted to (almost) perfection. That said, there were no major additions or subtractions this offseason– even with the loss of Perry (who’s cap hit left him un-tradable).

  • Anaheim Ducks 2018-19 Season Preview

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    Anaheim Ducks

    44-25-13, 101 points, 2nd in the Pacific Division

    Swept in the First Round by San Jose, 4-0

    Additions: G Jared Coreau, F Chase De Leo (acquired from WPG), F Brian Gibbons, F Anton Rodin, F Carter Rowney, D Luke Schenn, F Ben Street, D Andrej Sustr

    Subtractions: D Francois Beauchemin (retired), G Reto Berra (signed, Switzerland), F Jared Boll (retired), F J.T. Brown (signed with MIN), F Derek Grant (signed with PIT), F Chris Kelly (retired), F Nicolas Kerdiles (traded to WPG), F Mike Liambas (signed with MIN), F Andre Petersson (signed, KHL), F Corey Tropp (signed with San Diego Gulls, AHL)

    Still Unsigned: D Kevin Bieksa, F Jason Chimera, F Nick Ritchie, F Scott Sabourin, F Antoine Vermette

    Re-signed: F Ondrej Kase, F Kalle Kossila, D Brandon Montour, F Kevin Roy, D Andy Welinski

    Offseason Analysis: Despite finishing one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks in the final standings at the end of the regular season, the Sharks took a bite out of the Anaheim Ducks in the First Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. So much of a bite, in fact, it swept the Ducks off their feet.

    Get it? Because they got swept in the postseason.

    Despite winning the Cup with Randy Carlyle behind the bench in 2007, Anaheim needs to recognize just how much has changed in the last 11 years. The Ducks got back with their ex and fell into their old habits in a new-age game.

    Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler aren’t the players they used to be. It’s not that Perry can’t score, it’s just that he’s not as effective. As for the Ryans (Getzlaf and Kesler), one’s still existent (Getzlaf) though he’d be much better on the second or third line– or at least flanked by youth on his wings– and the other (Kesler) has become irrelevant.

    Rickard Rakell would be better at center and well… the key is Carlyle has to revamp the lines, given what General Manager Bob Murray‘s handed to him this offseason (not much).

    Brian Gibbons and Carter Rowney are fourth liners, so depth down the bottom-six is covered, at least. Meanwhile Luke Schenn and Andrej Sustr provide excellent coverage as sixth defensemen fighting for the last spot on Anaheim’s blue line, which is one of two bright spots for the Ducks heading into 2018-19.

    Anaheim’s defensive core is strong with Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Cam Fowler and Brandon Montour as their top-four defenders. As one of the most under-the-radar defensive core, they’ve kept John Gibson‘s workload to a manageable– wait, actually, Gibson faced 435 shots more in eight additional games last season than he did in 2016-17.

    For the record, Gibson faced 1,437 shots against in 52 games (25-16-9 record) in 2016-17, while he faced 1,872 shots against in 60 games (31-18-7) last season. Though the workload increased, Gibson’s save percentage improved from a .924 to a .926. He also won over half the games he played in last season.

    So Anaheim’s main strong point is the best American goaltender in the game, while having one of the better than average defenses in the game. Meanwhile, Nick Ritchie remains an unsigned RFA that Murray has to manage carefully.

    Quintessential to the transition from the 2000s/2010s style Ducks to the 2020s era Ducks, the 22-year-old left winger is Anaheim’s biggest blue chip roster player outside of the crease. Ritchie is just waiting to emerge with a breakout year as Troy Terry joins the fold on offense.

    The fact of the matter remains– play the kids more.

    It can only help manage the workload of the physically worn out Ducks that have been around for the last decade. Perry might still produce, but it’s time to break him free from Getzlaf on the first line.

    Ondrej Kase could move up a line, but Jakob Silfverberg isn’t actually the problem on the second line.

    Anaheim’s in the middle of something– middle of the road, middle of a transition or middle of mediocrity. Whatever it is, they didn’t do much this offseason to fix it this season, but there’s still time to turn things around in the next few years– wait, Perry, Getzlaf and Kesler all have NMCs in their contracts that have three, three and four-years remaining respectively?

    Oh boy.

    Offseason Grade: D+

    No you can’t get an “A” by default after having Francois Beauchemin, Jared Boll and Chris Kelly retire in one offseason from your roster.

    John Gibson might be the closest thing to Dominik Hasek that we’ve seen since Dominik Hasek led the nonchalant 1999 Buffalo Sabres (seriously, look up the scoring leaders for that team, it trails off after Miroslav Satan— shouts Puck Soup) in the dead puck/trap era to the Stanley Cup Final– that’s if Gibson single handedly leads the Ducks to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, mind you, and the mountain looks too steep.

  • DTFR Podcast #124- 2018-19 Pacific Division Season Preview

    DTFR Podcast #124- 2018-19 Pacific Division Season Preview

    Erik Karlsson finally got traded, NHL 19 came out and our official 2018-19 Pacific Division Season Preview just so happened to be this week too. Nick and Connor place their bets on the San Jose Sharks and more.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.