The Anaheim Ducks are coming off a season they would like to forget. Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006-07, they qualified for the playoffs in four of five seasons and had never dropped to worse than 4th place in their division. However, the team did just that last season despite a plethora of high expectations.
With one of the most dynamic offensive lines in hockey and an ever youthful veteran in Teemu Selanne, the team was primed for great things in 2011-12. However, a dreadful start to the season --including a record of two wins, eight losses, and three overtime losses in November and three wins, seven losses, and two over time losses in December -- wound up dooming the team to fifth in the division. The poor start cost Coach Randy Carlyle his job. At the core of their problems was an inconsistent performance from the 2010-11 MVP Correy Perry who had scored 50 goals and 98 points in that season but only managed 37 goals and 60 points last season. The team ended the season well with winning records in January and February after the takeover of new coach Bruce Boudreau but it proved to be too little. The season was also plagued by locker room controversy revolving around budding star Bobby Ryan who openly stated that he was upset about the trade circulating around him and that he would prefer to be traded.
2012-13 Roster
If the 2012-13 season gets underway, the Ducks will enjoy the return of Teemu Selanne who led the team in scoring in 2011-12. Selanne has stated that he will retire if the season is cancelled. The Ducks were relatively be busy this offseason. They went out and signed Sheldon Souray who saw his career rejuvenated in Dallas last season. They also added defenseman Bryan Allen from the Carolina Hurricanes to help bolster their blueline. Both of these players make up for the loss of defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky who was traded to the NY Islanders for a draft pick in the 2013 draft. Brad Staubitz was another addition as the replacement for enforcer George Parros.
Perry, Ryan, and Captain Ryan Getzlaf all improved immensely in the second half of the season and they will continue to be depended on offensively. The supporting cast of forwards is not a particularly explosive group. Other than Perry, Ryan, Getzlaf, and Selanne no other forward scored more than 40 points. More importantly, outside of those four, no player topped 13 goals for the team.
The blue line is far less disconcerting as the addition of Allen and Souray solidifies a group that already includes Cam Fowler, Luca Sbisa, Toni Lyman, and Francis Beauchemin. In goal, the team needs a lot more from Jonas Hiller. After recording a 26-16-3 record with five shutouts, a 92.4 save percentage and a 2.56 goals against average in just 49 games, Hiller fell to 29-30-12 with a 2.57 goals against average in 73 games. He is still a solid goalie, but he will need to be better with the team's offensive difficulties likely to continue.
Only five players from the Ducks are currently playing abroad during the lockout. They are Matt Beleskey, Nick Bonino, Viktor Fasth, Cam Fowler, and Luca Sbisa.
Predictions: Corey Perry will score close to 50 and lead the team in scoring. The Ducks will not be the worst team in the Pacific division, but they will not make the playoffs either.