After weeks of draft and free agency talk, mid-July is one of the quieter times on the NHL calendar. The Anaheim Ducks surprised the hockey world by selecting Beckett Senneke with the third overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, but things have been relatively quiet since then.
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The Ducks are going six years without a playoff appearance, the longest in franchise history, and despite a string of losses in recent years, there is hope for a more successful future. Anaheim is one of a handful of teams currently undergoing a rebuild, a process that involves parting ways with old and expiring assets in exchange for promising players and draft capital.
After years of rebuilding, it's natural to wonder how much longer the process will take. There is no set timeline for the rebuild, and patience varies from front office to front office. The Ducks appear to be doing all the right things to build a competitive roster, but the results have yet to come. Today, we'll look at why the Ducks needed a rebuild and the steps the organization has taken in the years since.
How did the duck get here?
The Ducks' current six-year playoff drought comes on the heels of the most successful era in franchise history. From 2005-06 to 2017-18, Anaheim made the playoffs in 11 of 13 seasons. Early in this era, the team won its only Stanley Cup in 2007, but showed unparalleled consistency in the years that followed. The Ducks won the Pacific Division for five straight seasons from 2012-13 to 2016-17, before that streak ended at the hands of the newcomers, the Vegas Golden Knights.
The 2010s saw several dynasties: the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings won eight Stanley Cups in a nine-year span from 2009 to 2017. As a result, the Ducks failed to win a second Stanley Cup.
Maintaining a Stanley Cup-caliber roster became impossible over time, and cracks began to show. Corey Perry's performance plummeted. Second-line center Ryan Kesler was an annual Selke candidate at his peak, but never fully recovered after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in the 2017 offseason. The Golden Knights' expansion draft that year exposed flaws in a defense that was believed to be strong. Kevin Bieksa's no-relocation clause left young player options vulnerable, and general manager Bob Murray essentially brought in Shea Theodore to avoid losing Sami Vatanen, Brandon Montour and Josh Manson.
Mismanagement of assets and an aging core characterized the next few seasons. Instead of acknowledging the need to rebuild the club, Murray preferred to retool on the fly. The strategy relied on renewing the player base with draft picks, a tough task at a time when Anaheim was drafting players in their mid-to-late 20s every year. Jacob Larsson, Max Jones, Sam Steele and Max Comtois needed to become NHL-caliber players. They didn't, and the Ducks finished the 2017-18 season with 101 points before plummeting to just 80 the following year.
Building Through Draft
The draft is the most important aspect of any rebuilding organization. Replacing aging talent with young talent is a typical process in rebuilding, but accumulating young talent gives the team more leverage to make trades based on the team's needs. The ninth pick in the 2019 draft was Anaheim's Trevor Zegras. Zegras has built a mixed reputation, but he has made a huge impact for the Ducks both on and off the ice. The playmaking center has been one of the most consistent performers since his 2021 debut, and his wizard-like puck skills have frequently appeared in highlight reel footage.
Anaheim has spent a lot of its draft capital on centers and defensemen over the past five years. Along with Zegras, the Ducks used first-round picks on centers Mason MacTavish (3rd overall in 2021), Nathan Gaucher (22nd overall in 2022) and Leo Karlsson (2nd overall in 2023). After nearly depleting their shelf of defensive prospects to stay competitive, they have rebuilt to have one of the strongest pipelines in the league. Jamie Drysdale (6th overall in 2020) and Pavel Minchukoff (10th overall in 2022) were their only top-10 selections, but subsequent picks such as Jackson Lacombe, Tristan Luhnow, Oren Zellweger, Noah Warren and Tyson Hines have reached the NHL or are expected to reach it soon.
With a surplus of defensemen in the organization, the Ducks bolstered some of their weaker groups. Despite being the highest draft pick and most experienced defenseman on the team, Drysdale was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Catter Gauthier. Gauthier, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 draft, is a power forward with a knack for scoring. The trade not only addresses the team's need on the wing, but also directly addresses their biggest weakness on the ice. The Ducks were 30th in goals allowed last season and 32nd the year before.
The theme of strengthening weaknesses continued through last month's draft. The Ducks need an impactful right winger, and Senneke could be the answer. Ducks fans will be keeping an eye on his upcoming season with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League. The 6'3″ forward will need to continue to grow to fit his size, but is already considered a solid two-way player. Anaheim's second selection in the first round was defenseman Stian Solberg. Solberg is not a big scorer, but he does have size. He shares some similarities with Radko Gudas, giving the Ducks even more options to combine a puck-carrying defenseman with a traditional home defenseman.
The Pat Birbeck Era
In November 2021, Bob Murray stepped down as general manager of the Ducks, a position he had held since 2008. Four months later, Pat Verbeek became the seventh general manager in franchise history. Verbeek had a fascinating career as a player, recording 522 goals and 2,905 penalty minutes (PIM), and is the only person in NHL history to reach both 500 goals and 2,500 penalty minutes. Since retiring as a player, he has held front office positions under Steve Yzerman with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings.
When Verbeek arrived, Anaheim lacked a noticeable identity on the ice. Longtime captain Ryan Getzlaf, the last remaining player from the 2007 Cup team, was nearing retirement. Zegras is fun to watch score with his Michigan-style wraparound, but he's the only one on the team who can do it, so there's no identity to be had. Instead, Verbeek has spent the last few drafts and offseasons building his team around a few themes. One of the most obvious themes is size. Power forwards Karlsson, Gaucher, Gauthier and Senneke are all at least 6-foot-2.
Size isn't the only factor, and Verbeek and the consensus tend to stray from here. With the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, most pre-draft speculation had Adam Fantilli heading to Anaheim. But Verbeek chose Karlsson, in part because Karlsson was an established two-way player with pro-level experience in Sweden and a good hockey IQ. Senneke fell even further from the expected. He fills Anaheim's biggest need along the right wing, but he'll need to continue to develop to meet expectations. If the growth pans out across the board, the Ducks see a top line of Gauthier, Karlsson and Senneke as one of the most physically imposing lines in the NHL.
Free agency in the Verbeek era has been a mixed bag. The first offseason saw the addition of Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano, teammates with the New York Rangers. Vatrano filled the role of a top-six quick-thrower well, scoring 59 goals the past two seasons and a career-high 37 goals last season. Strome, however, was on a more expensive, longer-term contract and effectively settled into a third-line role. The next offseason saw the addition of Alex Killearn and Gudas, both players who grew up in the Tampa Bay system when Verbeek was in the front office. The signings drew criticism due to the older players, but a year later both look like better deals. Gudas has been a great mentor to Anaheim's young defense on the blue line, and his hard-nose style of play is beloved by fans and teammates. Killearn's debut season in Anaheim was marred by injury, but he is still expected to play a top-six role while the team's prospects continue to develop.
The rebuilding picture is promising but unproven
The Ducks have made great strides toward building a competitive team. Their prospect pool is often considered the best in the league, and there are signs that they could return to the postseason within the next few years. That said, there are no guarantees in a rebuild, and Anaheim's return to the playoffs will depend on whether these prospects reach their potential and fit Verbeek's vision for the club.
Verbeek was an attractive hire for the front office because of his connection with Yzerman and the track record he had with Tampa Bay's players. The two then worked together on a rebuild in Detroit, but the team folded when Verbeek was hired in Anaheim. Rebuilding the Red Wings was a huge undertaking, but Yzerman came with trust and great bona fides as the franchise's icon. But Detroit's playoff streak stretched to eight seasons. They came the closest they've ever been last season, but their incredible shooting luck wasn't enough to make up for the players' weaknesses and they fell out of the playoff zone on the final day.
Rebuilding takes time, but there's no set time frame. The more time that passes, the closer the organization is to Verbeek's vision. For better or worse, this is his team now. It's too early to label anything a failure, but the on-ice performance hasn't improved in the last five years. The Ducks have been quiet in free agency so far, which could create an opportunity for a young player to make the roster out of camp. The 2024-25 season will be the most important season in Anaheim's rebuild. At some point, the on-ice performance needs to improve. It's hard to imagine the young core staying put if the players start to show signs of stagnation.
