The Anaheim Ducks Look Ahead After an Offseason of Changes, Are They Ready to Make the Playoffs?
It’s been an off season of change for the Anaheim Ducks, but where do they go from here? And what impact will these changes have on the upcoming season? Kyle Carr of Lockdown Anaheim Ducks joins us to talk about that and a lot more on today’s Locked On NHL podcast. [Music] You’re Locked on NHL, your daily podcast on the National Hockey League, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. your team every day. Gil Martin here. Welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Locked On NHL podcast. We are part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I want to thank everyone who makes Locked on NHL your first listen every day. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. It is my pleasure to welcome back to the show the host of Locked On Anaheim Ducks, Kyle Carr. And uh Kyle, been a very active off season for the Ducks. You got a new coach, two players who are on the who are rumored to be traded for years finally actually do get traded and you lock up a new goalie long term. Let’s start with the goalie. Uh what does it mean to lock up dostal for longterm for the Anaheim Ducks? Well, Gil, great question. And yeah, it’s been a very busy off season for the Ducks. And the big thing that having Lucas Doall locked in for five years, $6.5 million, it’s not a bad price tag for the team and now gives Dost Stall the utter confidence to say, “You are the guy. You’re the number one. This is it. Take it’s your net now. Like, we you go, you run with it. Have fun.” And the confidence is all there. You could hear from Pat Verbique and what he had to say about the player and that his prime is just ahead of him and that he’s proven himself to be a number one. And I think this young core that Anaheim has, you need to have a good goalender and this guy has proven it time and time again. And now that the team’s kind of taking steps into a more productive look as well as in regards to the forwards at least, I think it’s going to relieve a lot of pressure for Dost Stall because he’s already set franchise records and number of saves per game, saves in a win. He got gold two IHF worlds ago with Czecha and a bronze two years before that. He’s proven time and time again that he can put his name in the big lights and shine just as bright as everyone else. What are some of the other big moves that stand out for you this off season? Uh, well, the one that stands out and I think just really stung every Ducks fan out there was the Trevor Ziggress move. I it seemed like the the way Verbique was building this team was to kind of bolster a new look Trevor Zegris after his injuries and after doing everything that coach Cronin asked him to do and he kind of got pocketed into a winger position. Uh, and it sounds like Ziggris was more wanting to play center, but there just wasn’t a place for him in the lineup, but he was bringing Chris Krider, who’s one of Ziggress’s top friends over. He got Joel Quinnville, who was his like idol coach growing up. It just seemed like everything was looking Trevor Ziggress’ direction, and then all of a sudden, he’s gone. They get Ryan Pelling back, who’s probably going to be bottom six center, and put in the minutes and grind down there. He’s definitely a better replacement than Isaac Lundustrom, but it just seemed like midling pieces for what Verbique was saying he was not going to pull the trigger on and we just kind of got some stuff back. But yeah, that was the most interesting. And then John Gibson, you kind of saw the writing on the wall. I definitely wanted to see him be kind of the Ryan Miller to uh do stall, but he wasn’t done yet being a number one. So now he’s over in Detroit with the Red Wings. Ironically, the Ducks have Billy Huso back. So kind of a kind of a swap there. And then they also got um Radco Murka or not Radco Murka, sorry. They got U Peter Morasic back as the trade for that. um similar name, but uh so they have two backups for Dostall that are locked up and uh so that’s that for that and you get to see kind of Gibson shine out there in Detroit, but definitely two players that the fandom are still kind of mourning out here. You mentioned Joel Quenville coming in as coach, forgetting the off the ice issues. Obviously, he has the experience on the ice. He has the resume. What does he bring to the table for the Anaheim Ducks this year? Well, he definitely brings that resume. He brings being the second most winning coach in the NHL and he’s worked with a team similar to this young core in the Chicago Blackhawks when he went on the cup run with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Taves and there’s a lot of similarities there. Pat Verbbeek and Quinnville were former teammates together so there’s a connection there. But overall, I just think he brings a new fresh face to the franchise. And not only do they have Quinnville as the head coach, they brought Jay Woodcraftoft over as an assistant, which apparently he got pretty far in the talks in regards to being the head coach. So, the Ducks have a really stacked coaching staff right now. And I think it’s just going to create a lot more fun around the rink. As much as you could look at the 21 points in the standings that Cronin improved this team, I don’t think it was overall his effort. I think that Lucas Stall definitely had a big part in that. And now you get to have a guy that has the talent, the skill, the knowhow to create a championship team and get this younger core really locked in, no pun intended, and uh get them buzzing for this next couple of seasons. Is there one player on this roster who you think will benefit the most from the addition of Joel Quenville? Well, it was going to be Trevor Zaggress. Uh, but that is no longer. So, I think the the player that’s really going to get a big boost and kind of gain his confidence even more is Leo Carlson. He had a big boost after the Four Nations tournament. I think he’s most likely going to end up on the Swedish roster for the Olympics as well. And he’s coming in at in in his own as a top center in this league and his numbers are steadily improving and he’s just getting a lot more accustomed to that smaller ice and getting used to that NHL pace. And I think Quinnville’s definitely knows how to work with young forwards like that. And then also on the back end, Jackson Lome’s looking extremely well. He did fantastic under coach Cronin. So, I can only imagine under a defensive offensive coach like Quenville that he’s just gonna flourish and the the roof is, you know, it’s to the moon at this point with what this team can do. Obviously, there are still some rumors going around. What’s left on the to-do list for this off season? And talk to me about some of those rumors. Also, the biggest talk right now and the thing that needs to get done and everyone in Anaheim is just waiting for the news to break, like checking their Twitter every second, like stressed out. Mason McTavish, he’s supposed to be this anchor of the young core. He’s one of the few remaining of the core of this young group that’s been building this team and kind of went through the the dog dark days of Anaheim. And it looks like from my perspective that Verbique has moved everyone out that would be a potential roadblock to him being a bonafide second line center on this team. The rumors are that he’s not happy and that he’s getting pushed out. And I saw someone mention like, oh well, they just drafted Roger McQueen and he’s a center and all stuff, but that kid’s at least two or three seasons away from breaking in the NHL. Verbs made that very clear that they’re going to take their time developing him and not rush him. And McTavish is just he’s he’s wanted in the league. So, I don’t see why Anaheim would try to drop the ball and fumble that when clearly there’s a demand for really good, strong second line centers and they have it. Boston’s in on the talks. There’s a uh I’ve seen Montreal being named. There’s um I want to say Carolina’s kind of been looing. There’s all these pretty much every team there’s a bucket list of them just waiting to get their chops at Mason McTavish and I don’t think that is something Verbique wants to let go and I see him potentially having a se on this team with Rad Kudas kind of entering the the back nine and some of these other vets moving on. I think McTavish would be a great voice in that locker room for the years moving forward. So, I really don’t want to see that disappear, but I was wrong about Zegris, so who knows how correct I’ll be about McDavish. All right, Kyle, why don’t you tell our viewers and our listeners where they could find the podcast and where they could find you on social media? Absolutely. You can find the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, wherever you listen to your podcast. The YouTube is definitely the best because you get all the visuals and graphics and everything so you can kind of see and you get to look at my wonderful ugly face. But then if you want to check out the social media, I’m on Instagram X, uh, Blue Sky, pretty much every platform, Tik Tok, and also YouTube shorts. And that’s under locked on Anaheim Ducks or L Ducks. And um there’s also my personal handle is car talk sports which is kjer talk sports. So those are the couple places that you can find me out there on the internets. All right. Thank you so much Kyle. Thank you. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing. And whether it you’re all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green, or high stakes soccer action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? With FanDuel, you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach. I’ve been using FanDuel to track my favorite matchups, and the app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet. It’s super easy to use, fast to pay out, and it makes even regular season games feel like mustwatch events. New to FanDuel? Well, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Again, if your first $5 bet wins, new customers will get $150 in bonus bets. So, open the FanDuel app today or visit fanuel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to get started.
he Anaheim Ducks finally moved on from John Gibson and Trevor Zegras and signed goalie Lukas Dostal to a long-term extension.
Kyle Kjer of Locked On Anaheim Ducks joins us to break down the moves the Ducks made, how new head coach Joel Quenneville will help the team and whether they are ready to make the playoffs this season.
All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Gil Martin.
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