from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of Yahoo,

Kesler is the key part of the Ducks’ plan. The Ducks don’t care where they finish in the regular season, as long as they make the playoffs and prepare themselves along the way. They are creating a leadership group, so Getzlaf and Corey Perry aren’t carrying the whole load. They want to distribute ice time more evenly, so the top players are fresh for the spring and the Ducks can roll four lines against deep division rivals like L.A. and the San Jose Sharks.

The Ducks now have a premier pain-in-the-butt on each of their top two lines – Perry on the first, Kesler on the second. They now have someone else to go against the likes of Anze Kopitar and Joe Thornton. When there’s a draw in the defensive zone, coach Bruce Boudreau doesn’t need to send out Getzlaf as often, freeing Getzlaf for more offensive situations.

“It gives us better options,” Boudreau says. “As far as matchups go, when a team was really matching up on Getzlaf’s line, we didn’t have that other big center that you needed to maybe match up against maybe their No. 1 line.”

“I’ve started a lot, a lot of faceoffs in the defensive zone,” Getzlaf says. “Having another guy here who is responsible in our zone and can play those minutes is going to help me in some aspects of the offensive side – and just overall.”

more