Articles in Anaheim Ducks

Jack Hughes can send the game to overtime by scoring on a penalty shot with 2 seconds on the clock.

via the YouTube page of the NHL Network,

The biggest blockbuster of the season so far went down between the Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers. NHL Now brought in Elliotte Friedman to talk about the trade.

The Ducks felt they tied the game in the 3rd period, but no dice. They lost to Florida 2-1.

Below, coach Cronin on the play and a longer video added 12:06pm,

from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

There’s a resoluteness to Ducks coach Greg Cronin that has rubbed off on his players and made them believers in him and in themselves.

It’s early in the season, as he frequently says, but his influence was evident Sunday in the Ducks’ impressive 4-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights at Honda Center, another jewel in a shiny six-game winning streak built on gutsy comebacks against some of the NHL’s premier teams.

Maybe Cronin’s patience comes from having toiled for so long in the minor leagues, in college rinks and as an NHL assistant coach, a journey that didn’t bring him an NHL head coaching job until he was 60. Maybe his firmness comes from his instincts to be a teacher and to be fair, to not play favorites and stick to his principles when he easily could give in to superstars who have greater job security than most coaches do.

When creative young forward Trevor Zegras played shoddy defense in a game at Columbus last month, Cronin didn’t hesitate to bench him for the third period. When dynamic center Mason McTavish made a bad decision during four-on-four play Sunday that gave Vegas an outnumbered rush, Cronin made sure McTavish — a cornerstone of Ducks’ future — knew he had goofed.

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from the Anaheim Ducks,

The Ducks have signed center Trevor Zegras to a three-year contract extension through the 2025-26 NHL season.

Zegras, 22 (3/20/01), has scored 49-90=139 points with 150 penalty minutes (PIM) in 180 career games with Anaheim after making his NHL debut in 2020-21. Zegras recorded a career-high 23-42=65 points with 88 PIM in 81 games in 2022-23, setting new career highs in assists and matching his personal best in goals. He led Anaheim in points, assists and power play points (4-13=17), and co-led in goals (also Troy Terry). He was the third-youngest NHL player (22 years) to lead his team in points, trailing only New Jersey’s Jack Hughes (21) and Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle (21).

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via the NHL's website,

Alex Killorn is expected to be out 4-6 weeks for the Anaheim Ducks because of a fractured finger.

The forward was injured in a 4-2 preseason win against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. He played 19:59 and had two shots on goal.

Killorn signed a four-year contract with the Ducks on July 1 after spending the first 11 seasons of his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.

Killorn had NHL career highs in goals (27), assists (37) and points (64) in 82 regular-season games last season and five points (three goals, two assists) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.

from David Dwork of The Hockey News,

The 33-year-old defenseman has played 682 games in the NHL and spent the past three seasons with the Florida Panthers.

They were three of his best in the league, and entering free agency, Gudas was one of the more coveted blueliners on the open market.

He ended up signing a 3-year, $12 million deal with the Anaheim Ducks, which was a hefty increase from the 3-year, $7.5 million contract he had signed with the Panthers back in 2020.

The contract brings a well-deserved raise for Gudas, who recently spoke with iSport in Czechia about his new deal.

"I'm not the youngest anymore, I knew that this was one of the last contracts for me," Gudas said, through translation. "We have four children, I also had to look at the financial side. I have considered all the factors. When I talked with my agent and my wife, Anaheim got along the best of all."...

Gudas was a player several teams were targeting and the Panthers were not in situation where they could get into a bidding war, as the team was only looking to add short-term, reasonably priced contracts.

As for the teams who expressed interest in Gudas, he mentioned three Canadian clubs: Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto.

"I was surprised how many teams contacted me," Gudas said. "I was glad they were interested. The season, actually the last two or three, were successful, and I'm glad that they noticed it elsewhere. I could basically choose, and I think I chose as best as I could. When I put everything together, from the contract to housing, the team, and what is wanted of me, Anaheim was the best option for me."

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AAV is $7M.

via the Anaheim Ducks,

The Ducks have agreed to terms with right wing Troy Terry on a seven-year contract extension through the 2029-30 NHL season.

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

Greg Cronin was busy being Greg Cronin the last 30-plus years, immersed in the day-to-day and shift-to-shift details of coaching, not particularly fixated on or concerned about his career arc.

Then along came Pat Verbeek, general manager in Anaheim, who just six weeks ago smashed the NHL’s wash-rinse-repeat coaching cycle and named Cronin the new bench boss of the Ducks. For all his experience, including six seasons (2005-11) as head coach at Northeastern, Cronin, 60, never before was head coach of an NHL team.

In fact, Cronin noted the other day, his meeting with Bruins GM Don Sweeney last summer was the first time he interviewed for a top bench job. He felt he did well in the back and forth, and came out of the meeting (that included Cam Neely and Jamie Langenbrunner) convinced he could handle the role, even if the gig ultimately went to Jim Montgomery.

“When the interview was over, you know, and I didn’t get the job … hey, I’m competitive, and I’m from Boston … I was bull,” acknowledged Cronin, who grew up in Arlington and played college hockey at Colby. “It’s not that I was resentful, or angry at Cam or Don, or anything like that. I was just bull that I missed an opportunity, a lifetime goal.”

Just short of a year later, Verbeek reached out, looking for someone to replace Dallas Eakins, provide a different voice for a team with some promising parts (Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish, Terry Troy, et al) in need of new direction. Verbeek’s interest, in part, was sparked by a recommendation from ex-Bruins goalie Craig Billington. An assistant GM with the Avalanche, Billington watched Cronin’s work the last five seasons as coach of the Colorado Eagles, the Avs’ AHL affiliate.

“Craig called [Verbeek] and said, ‘Pat, you’ve got a rebuild going on there,’” noted Cronin. “I don’t know exactly what was said, but he kinda goosed Pat and said, ‘This Greg Cronin guy with the Eagles, he’s a good coach, real good with development … blah, blah blah.’ I don’t know how much Pat listened to or remembered, but …”

continued plus more hockey topics...

from Eric Stephens of The Athletic,

Within a space of three hours on Saturday, the Ducks were both lauded and lambasted for their free-agent signings of Radko Gudas and Alex Killorn. Some teams make contract terms public now. Most don’t, but they get revealed anyway, and that keeps interest flowing among fans. And it also encourages instant praise and criticism.

How the Ducks’ deals for over-30 veterans Gudas (three years, $12 million) and Killorn (four years, $25 million) age over the next few seasons will either confirm or refute the narratives. Pat Verbeek doesn’t seem to be concerned with narratives. The big picture is always kept in mind, but the Ducks’ general manager is thinking about the impact of those additions right now.

These two, with whom Verbeek has had long associations, have experienced success. Killorn is a two-time Stanley Cup winner who has been to the Cup Final two other times and has played 140 playoff games. More recently, Gudas played a prime role in Florida’s run to the Cup Final last month and was part of the club a year earlier that had a franchise-record 122 points and was the Presidents’ Trophy winner.

As the Ducks try to resurface from the bottom of the league, Gudas and Killorn won’t be tasked with being the main pilots in an ascent. But they’ll be counted on for their knowledge of navigating those turbulent waters.

“Certainly, they have an understanding of what winning’s all about,” Verbeek said. “Not accepting anything. Not accepting losing. And so that standard of compete, that standard of work ethic every day that comes to practice will be shown to all our young guys.

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from Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic.

So on a day when NHL teams went bargain hunting almost from the opening bell, you were waiting and wondering to see if any team might revert to the old free-agent strategy of wildly overpaying for a veteran player, whose best years are, in all probability, behind them. Yes, finally! It took almost two hours for it to happen but it finally did. The Ducks gave the 33-year-old Killorn a four-year contract, with a $6.25 million AAV, after coming off a career-high season in which he scored 27 goals and 64 points. Of course, he scored those points playing in the top six of a Tampa Bay Lightning team that included the likes of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. He’s not going to have that luxury in Anaheim.

The current GM in Anaheim, Pat Verbeek, worked alongside Steve Yzerman for years in Tampa Bay and was with the Lightning as the assistant GM and player personnel director when Killorn broke into the league. So, a lot of familiarity between the player and the manager....

Contract grade: F
Fit grade: C-

more ($) plus Shanya Goldman with her opinion too...

via the Anaheim Ducks,

Ryan Getzlaf was named player development coordinator for the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old will assist director of player development Jim Johnson prepare and educate Anaheim's prospects for a career in professional hockey. He played his entire 17-season NHL career with the Ducks, who selected him in the first round (No. 19) of the 2003 NHL Draft.

via the Anaheim Ducks,

The Ducks have named Greg Cronin head coach. With the announcement, Cronin becomes the 11th head coach in franchise history.

"While we did cast a wide net in searching for the next head coach, it became clear to me that Greg would be the ideal fit for the position," said Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek. "Being a young team, I felt we needed a teacher of the finer points of the game, and someone who has worked extensively over time with talented young players, helping them develop into successful NHL players. Greg has done all that and more, and we are excited to name him head coach of the Anaheim Ducks."

from Matt Weller of the Ducks website,

The GM provided some rare public candor on his team's struggles this year, the details behind his moves at the NHL Trade Deadline and a look ahead to the decisions, strategies and relationships at the crux of his organizational philosophy.

Make no mistake, Verbeek is disappointed at how Anaheim's season has played out. He knew better than any that his team was headed for a rebuilding year and expected the growing pains any young team inevitably experiences, but a bigger priority for Verbeek was establishing the principles he believes should carry the organization: building a big, strong, physical team that opponents know well in advance is a bear to play against.

"I think overall, with the way the team was penciled on paper, I would have expected the team to have done better than what our record is," Verbeek admitted. "I think early on with the team, and you're going to hear me say this a lot, the compete level wasn't at a standard of what I expected. I want us to be really hard to play against, and we were too easily pushed aside. We weren't competing hard enough to win pucks. So I think that kind of contributed early on to the record.

"I think as the season has progressed, we've certainly gotten a lot better in that perspective. There are a lot of things that different players and different teams have to go through, and they had to learn to compete harder."

read on

Running late today, something about a power loss early in the morning.

* David Pastrnak pocketed 3-1—4 and climbed the Bruins’ all-time lists for 30-goal seasons, hat tricks and game-opening tallies.

* The Central Division-leading Stars defeated the Panthers to maintain their one-point lead on the Jets, who prevailed in a turbulent clash with the Canucks to remain at cruising altitude.

* Monday’s slate opens with Rasmus Dahlin looking to follow up his franchise record-tying five-point performance from Saturday and closes with League scoring leader Connor McDavid facing the Kings.

from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

Nearly a third of the way into the season, the Ducks are an NHL-worst 7-17-3. They’ve won in regulation once, a 3-2 decision over the New York Rangers on Nov. 23. They’ve won four times in overtime, including a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, and twice in shootouts. They’re giving up the most goals and shots per game in the league and rank near the bottom in scoring.

The Ducks gave up the lead three times Tuesday at Honda Center before Ryan Strome finished off a two-on-one break to end the team’s losing streak at six. They’ve already endured a seven-game losing streak, in October. They’re well on the way to missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

But they do have something going for them as they plod toward securing the best odds in the draft lottery: Thanks mainly to the brilliance of Terry, Zegras and rookie forward Mason McTavish — and valiant efforts from overburdened goalie John Gibson — the Ducks are the most entertaining bad team in the NHL.

That can’t be much consolation for them. But for the sake of fans, they’ve at least produced some “wow” moments to break up a dreary season and the long wait for their prospects to blossom.

“I thought the record would be a little better, to be honest with you. But hey, it is what it is,” said general manager Pat Verbeek, who was hired last February, three months after Bob Murray resigned in the wake of accusations of improper professional conduct.

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The Ducks were down 3-1 at the start of the 3rd period. This goal would have given the Ducks a 4-3 lead with under 5 minutes to play. The call on the ice was good goal, Toronto challenged.

The Ducks won in OT.