30 for 30 in 30 - Anaheim Ducks

**AS OF TIME OF WRITING**

Bik Nizzar: Quack quack quack quack QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK!!!!!! That was the only way I could get motivated to write about the Anaheim Ducks. There is 1 glaring fix that this team has to do right away. Find ANY loophole in the NHL’s CBA to see if Sidney Crosby is playing in the wrong district. (ok last Mighty Ducks reference I promise)(Actually I can’t promise that at all.....) It seems that this teams most PRESSING need right now is Justin Schultz. He’s a highly regarded prospect out of the University of Wisconsin who has never signed a contract after 4 years in the Anaheim system, so his rights are about to be released to the open market. And if I were him, I would hit the open market. It’s unfortunate for the Ducks but really – how can you allow this to happen. Supremely dropping the ball and now they’re missing out on a prized free agent. After Schultz they need to decide if they’re committing to Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan. Perry and Getzlaf’s contracts are up so now is the time to either re-sign and extend them or perhaps consider other avenues. Oh – and also BEG AND PLEAD TEEMU to come back.

TJ Molland: If they can't sign Schultz they will really be kicking themselves. Having him with Sbisa and Fowler could finally establish a nice core of young defense that will grow together. Looking down the prospect line there is not a lot there that could even come close to replacing Schultz. With Perry, Getzlaf and Ryan what do you do? I mean they should all be 25+ goals 80+ points. Yet only one of them cracked 60 points last year, and Getzlaf only had 11 goals. That was as many as Tim Stapleton....yeah....not good. I imagine Anaheim's management holds off on signing them until at least mid season to see what they can provide. If they can't produce and you are far out of it maybe move them at the deadline for anyone named Charlie Conway......The cupboard is thin behind them though. Devante Smith-Pelly looks like he can play full time, and after watching Emerson Etem live earlier this year at a WHL game (in which he scored 3 goals and had an assist and completely dominated the game) he should get a good look from the big club this year. One thing the Ducks need to address is their scoring depth, but outside of pleading Selanne what do you think their options are?

Bik Nizzar: If Selanne hangs them up (honestly I think he EASILY has 2 years left in him) it is beyond a MASSIVE blow for this team. You mentioned Etem and Smith-Pelly and I like both of these players and they can really round out their top 6. Selanne is just SOOOOOO valuable on the power-play (28 of his 66 pts came on the PP) that his departure would cause a shuffle I don’t think they could recover from right away. I can’t believe I’m actually going to utter these words –2^nd line centre is a problem for them (cause I don’t think Koivu is that anymore) but MAYBE Olli Jokinen could help that *GULP*..... Another Finnish player to go with Selanne and Koivu. It’s not so much top 6 scoring that I worry about for this team, its bottom 6... Andrew Cogliano led that group with a whopping 26 points, and even he featured in the top 6 this year. The bottom 6 really has no identity.

You brought up the defense and yes they’ve got some highly touted pieces, but Cam Fowler absolutely needs to make a jump this year. You can’t be -53 after 2 seasons. You just can’t. I think Schultz is all but gone so we can figure him out of that core prospect group. So basically it’s Sbisa and Fowler, a 36 year old Lubomir Visnovsky, Francois Beauchimen (who admittedly plays a lot better in Anaheim than in Toronto) and Toni Lydman. That group looks like it’s gonna get scored on and scored on a LOT. They need someone to show Fowler the finer points of defending (think Drew Doughty and Rob Scuderi pairing. It’s worked wonders for Doughty), and if Barret Jackman hits the open market, he can be the guy and brought in at a good price for them. Finally goaltending – I like Jonas Hiller and he is the guy. But he doesn’t strike me as a guy who can play 73 games this year.... his goals against to begin the year was truly awful (and for those of us that owned him in Fantasy Hockey...... brutal) so bringing in a solid backup that isn’t Dan Ellis or Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers could help bring that 73 number down to a more reasonable 59-62.

TJ Molland: Hiller could use a somewhat of 1A behind him just to ease the pressure. Not entirely his fault though. You are right about the defense being mediocre at best. I had higher expectations for the Ducks last year but after looking at their roster....I really question why I did? They are a one line team that really lacks identity. With only 7 forwards signed for next year it will be easy to do an overhaul and bring in players to form the identity they so desperately need, but being a somewhat weak free agency class, they might not get so lucky in their signings. Semin could be an intriguing player for them. Will solve a lot of their scoring depth problems if they feel he can bring it every night. Jackman would be the ideal signing for the Ducks back-end. A proven stay-at-home defenseman that should ease the pressures on Hiller and show Fowler and Sbisa what the next level looks like. It’s going to be another tough year for the Ducks. And can I just say that I thought it would be unfathomable we would get through the Ducks without mentioning Coach Bombay? Did we really just do that?

Bik Nizzar: Or just adopt the Flying V as a strategy.