>Still, there isn’t a lot that adds up to retaining Eakins. And Eakins knows this. According to team sources, there has been no communication between him and Verbeek about his future and the GM isn’t going to discuss that until after the season. But some sort of determination on that is likely coming soon after they meet.
mkhart
I think the team next year looks pretty different.
– Eakins is gone, I don’t know how he couldn’t be. I know Verbeek said the thing about him being assessed on the young players development, but what else is GMPV supposed to say? If you bring back the coach who set team records for losses, negative goal differential, and loss streak, on the back of ‘young player development’ (which eakins also did poorly imo) then you won’t be GM for long.
– Grant definitely is, and (I think) Comtois also is probably gone. Silfverberg is a buyout candidate, though the only reason to do so would be to open up cap space next year which I don’t think we need to do. Henrique is huge trade bait this offseason if we get offered a late first I could see us taking it. We have a high pick this draft and all of Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are considered to have the skill level and/or size/strength to make the NHL next year. The forward group will likely be similar ish with maybe a few side-pieces moved around to mix it up and replace the guys we lose.
– Defense will be super different next season I think. Drysdale and Fowler might be the only guys back. Shattenkirk has an outside chance as getting a very short term deal as a locker room presence, and maybe benoit/vaak are kept in the mix as warm bodies to fill in holes. Hinds and Zellweger graduate to the AHL next season – both could make a fight for playing time if they make San Diego look easy. Mintyukov, Luneau, and Warren are all strong possibilities for 9 game tryouts if the impress in preseason. Lacombe and Helleson, will probably start in the A but could push if they look good there. There are going to be a ton of young guys fighting for spots.
– Dostal will be full time, and hasn’t looked out of place this year so far, there’s a good chance we have a 1a/1b situation if he continues to challenge gibson for playing time.
The_G_89
And that’s the bottom liiiiiiiine……..
dracomaster01
he’s definitely correct. coaching all season long has been horrendous, our defense core is an absolute joke right now and our bottom 6 has too many non-nhl caliber players on it.
ShowYourHands
Rico really said ‘enough of this bum, we’re trying to win games and make money here’
Unsound_Science
Tbh I wouldn’t be incredibly surprised if we don’t see a huge amount of change between these last couple of games and next season’s opener in terms of the roster.
On the blue line, they’ve already included some younger players and I think with Drysdale back, that probably covers the roster spots for youth there. I do think they extend Shattenkirk, since he’s a good locker room guy and despite the hate he gets he’s a reasonable 2nd/3rd pairing offensive D. It won’t be a well-constructed D, but that’s going to take time, and given most of the Ducks better blue line prospects are offensive D, they’re going to have to get used to playing that way anyway.
In net, Gibson will be back & no doubt will be the starter again, but with Dostal getting more games than Stolarz did. So no real change there.
Up front, the Ducks simply don’t have much coming that will be ready for next season, and more than a few of the players people might want to see go are still signed for next season. I do think they let Comtois walk of the RFA’s and I wouldn’t be surprised if they extend Grant or Megna for some veteran presence. Groulx is a little harder to figure out since he’s at the end of his deal and hasn’t really been given a shot. I wouldn’t be surprised which way he goes. Other that that, here doesn’t really seem to be any help coming from the Gulls up front and I imagine Gaucher wont be a Duck immediately. Depending on who they get at the draft, they could also no be instant Ducks (which is generally the better move for development anyway).
UFA pick ups are certainly feasible as will be trades, but it’s hard to imagine they go all in on either. With the UFA’s you’d think they want to remain flexible until they’re ready to compete seriously, and with trades, their best trade capital are the prospects they would be thinking about trialling over the next season. It’s not impossible they start shuffling out prospects Murray drafted to fit in Verbeek’s guys, but I don’t really see them making big impact trades just yet.
As for Eakins… I guess it depends on who else is available. The younger players mostly improved this season, and if next season (and possibly the season after) are going to be considered rebuilding/development season, he could actually stick around. If they’re aiming to start winning with some conviction then he’s gone. I’m just not sure next season is what when they’re going to do that. It’s a big turn around from historically bad to playoff considerations. Might be he sticks as a filler coach for another year or two.
With that said I also wouldn’t be surprised if they blow everything up and go crazy. Verbeek has been here over a calendar year now, he needs to start making some moves of meaning.
ChiefBobbert
But how do we get better next year? Defense gets mostly swapped out, but we need to do some real free agency work. Lots of new young faces, but doesn’t guarantee better play.
Ducksfan182
My favorite thing about Verbeek is he is decisive. If someone doesn’t perform, or doesn’t want to sign an appropriate deal, they’re gone. Unlike GMBM spending years waiting for people to come around. We need results, and we need them fast
8 Comments
Part of the longer Athletic article on Eakins.
Additionally:
>Still, there isn’t a lot that adds up to retaining Eakins. And Eakins knows this. According to team sources, there has been no communication between him and Verbeek about his future and the GM isn’t going to discuss that until after the season. But some sort of determination on that is likely coming soon after they meet.
I think the team next year looks pretty different.
– Eakins is gone, I don’t know how he couldn’t be. I know Verbeek said the thing about him being assessed on the young players development, but what else is GMPV supposed to say? If you bring back the coach who set team records for losses, negative goal differential, and loss streak, on the back of ‘young player development’ (which eakins also did poorly imo) then you won’t be GM for long.
– Grant definitely is, and (I think) Comtois also is probably gone. Silfverberg is a buyout candidate, though the only reason to do so would be to open up cap space next year which I don’t think we need to do. Henrique is huge trade bait this offseason if we get offered a late first I could see us taking it. We have a high pick this draft and all of Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are considered to have the skill level and/or size/strength to make the NHL next year. The forward group will likely be similar ish with maybe a few side-pieces moved around to mix it up and replace the guys we lose.
– Defense will be super different next season I think. Drysdale and Fowler might be the only guys back. Shattenkirk has an outside chance as getting a very short term deal as a locker room presence, and maybe benoit/vaak are kept in the mix as warm bodies to fill in holes. Hinds and Zellweger graduate to the AHL next season – both could make a fight for playing time if they make San Diego look easy. Mintyukov, Luneau, and Warren are all strong possibilities for 9 game tryouts if the impress in preseason. Lacombe and Helleson, will probably start in the A but could push if they look good there. There are going to be a ton of young guys fighting for spots.
– Dostal will be full time, and hasn’t looked out of place this year so far, there’s a good chance we have a 1a/1b situation if he continues to challenge gibson for playing time.
And that’s the bottom liiiiiiiine……..
he’s definitely correct. coaching all season long has been horrendous, our defense core is an absolute joke right now and our bottom 6 has too many non-nhl caliber players on it.
Rico really said ‘enough of this bum, we’re trying to win games and make money here’
Tbh I wouldn’t be incredibly surprised if we don’t see a huge amount of change between these last couple of games and next season’s opener in terms of the roster.
On the blue line, they’ve already included some younger players and I think with Drysdale back, that probably covers the roster spots for youth there. I do think they extend Shattenkirk, since he’s a good locker room guy and despite the hate he gets he’s a reasonable 2nd/3rd pairing offensive D. It won’t be a well-constructed D, but that’s going to take time, and given most of the Ducks better blue line prospects are offensive D, they’re going to have to get used to playing that way anyway.
In net, Gibson will be back & no doubt will be the starter again, but with Dostal getting more games than Stolarz did. So no real change there.
Up front, the Ducks simply don’t have much coming that will be ready for next season, and more than a few of the players people might want to see go are still signed for next season. I do think they let Comtois walk of the RFA’s and I wouldn’t be surprised if they extend Grant or Megna for some veteran presence. Groulx is a little harder to figure out since he’s at the end of his deal and hasn’t really been given a shot. I wouldn’t be surprised which way he goes. Other that that, here doesn’t really seem to be any help coming from the Gulls up front and I imagine Gaucher wont be a Duck immediately. Depending on who they get at the draft, they could also no be instant Ducks (which is generally the better move for development anyway).
UFA pick ups are certainly feasible as will be trades, but it’s hard to imagine they go all in on either. With the UFA’s you’d think they want to remain flexible until they’re ready to compete seriously, and with trades, their best trade capital are the prospects they would be thinking about trialling over the next season. It’s not impossible they start shuffling out prospects Murray drafted to fit in Verbeek’s guys, but I don’t really see them making big impact trades just yet.
As for Eakins… I guess it depends on who else is available. The younger players mostly improved this season, and if next season (and possibly the season after) are going to be considered rebuilding/development season, he could actually stick around. If they’re aiming to start winning with some conviction then he’s gone. I’m just not sure next season is what when they’re going to do that. It’s a big turn around from historically bad to playoff considerations. Might be he sticks as a filler coach for another year or two.
With that said I also wouldn’t be surprised if they blow everything up and go crazy. Verbeek has been here over a calendar year now, he needs to start making some moves of meaning.
But how do we get better next year? Defense gets mostly swapped out, but we need to do some real free agency work. Lots of new young faces, but doesn’t guarantee better play.
My favorite thing about Verbeek is he is decisive. If someone doesn’t perform, or doesn’t want to sign an appropriate deal, they’re gone. Unlike GMBM spending years waiting for people to come around. We need results, and we need them fast