Offseason Preview: Anaheim Ducks Trade Partners/Targets, Pacific Division

Armed with nearly $39 million in cap space, Pat Verbeek is poised to strike. Discover which Pacific Division rivals hold the potential missing pieces for Anaheim’s emerging roster.

Video Transcript

Actually, maybe start out with, kind of an injury rundown, a little bit of a customary thing during these exit interviews.

I really don’t know enough about that to really comment on that.

But, you know, at some point we’ll probably be able to When we, players go through all their things, we’ll be able to kind of comment further on, on that sort of thing.

What was your sort of evaluation of the, the playoff run in particular, of, of how things sort of played out?

Well, kind of stinks that I’m here talking to you today.

I think in some ways it was disappointing.

You know, there’s, you know, you look at certain things over certain games, you know, that maybe kind of got away on us and that, you know, cost us a game or two here.

And, and, but I, I think when I look at it, when it’s disappointing, it’s also, satisfying in a sense that the, the group understands now that every play matters.

you know, that every play that you make, you know, in a tight series matters.

Right.

And, and so it, I think from that perspective, I’m, I’m really happy and satisfied that they got to go through that, and they got to understand, at some point what winning takes.

And, you know, on that team there, they, they won a Stanley Cup.

I don’t know how many guys are still on the same team, but there’s a good majority of them, and they understand.

And, those little plays, you know, they, they got the better of us in, in those circumstances and it made a difference.

Is there anything that immediately jumps off the page, too, of, of what this team is missing after seeing the, the playoff run?

Well, I, I think I, I think I’m, you know, I, I The young guys, learned a lot.

I mean, if you look across the ice, you know, and then And I had a talk, couple talks with some of the younger guys today a little bit.

You know, when you look at Eichel and how well he played, you look at Marner, how well he played, they played a 200-foot game, and they killed penalties.

And so having our guys having gone against those guys and understanding, what winning looks like and what that sort of thing, is invaluable.

and so they have a better understanding of now of how much more work they’ve got to do and how much better they have to get.

And, and that to me is, priceless.

Pat, yeah, it- you’d said at the, at, you had your statement, with, Aaron, Teats, out earlier.

Yeah.

That it felt like, you know, the real feeling like there’s, this is the beginning of something.

It is, it felt like- Yeah there’s a lot of optimism that- that’s flowing through this place right now.

Yeah, I, I think, certainly it, you know, the goal was to make the playoffs.

you know, a- and then as the year kind of progressed, we started to make improvements and then I, I thought the playoffs was probably, we weren’t perfect in probably the first round, but I thought this round we, we, we took a step in, playing better defensively.

our power play, I thought our power play was, was a really good, against a real stingy team.

Our power play, was working.

can we make improvements?

sure.

I think in the penalty kill, I think I’d like us to im- make, you, you know, make some, couple more strides there.

so there’s a lot of I was proud of how our young guys played.

I was proud of how, you know, our older guys, were great examples of, for our younger guys.

And, so it, there was, there’s just a lot of positive things.

Now, the expectation now is to make playoffs, but I think, you know, when I meet with the group, the, the expectation is, my message to them is going to be, “Guys, we haven’t arrived.

it’s actually gonna be harder to make the playoffs next year because you’re not gonna be sneaking up on anybody anymore.

players on the opposite teams are gonna be very well prepared for you, and so you’re gonna have to be prepared to play hard and well every single night.”

And so that’s going to be something that, they need to think about all summer and, and be prepared, for the next season to tackle that.

Over those next few months, the ball’s gonna be maybe a little bit more in your court.

How do you build on that?

How do you build on that optimism as you, you know, massage the roster and make key decisions, uh- What do you mean?

I’m, I’m not, I’m not sure I- Just in, just in j- you know, whether, you know, roster things, you’ll, you’ll have obviously some, some contract talks- Yeah, no, we’ve got- and signings and all that- Yeah, there’s a- but just building on this optimism.

Well, I, I think that- Yeah you know, it, it’s built obviously, through our, our core of players.

and then making sure that, you know, and, and you know, our, our veterans and, you know, they all come prepared to play.

I mean, we’re, I’m gonna look, you know, at some point, you know, I gotta look to see how we can improve the team.

it’s, obviously we’re not, we’re not quite good enough, to get to the, you know, to the third round.

So we, we, we got some more work to do.

So, but I think there’s gonna be certain things, you know, there’ll be maturity amongst our younger guys.

They got another year under their belt.

I think, you know, expect another ex- step from them and, and just kind of keep growing it.

You brought in Crijns over the summer as a, a reputed playoff performer, obviously Karlsson.

Yeah.

Stanley Cup champion, the good one.

Yeah.

How would you evaluate their performance in the postseason?

Well, I think that there was obviously ups and downs.

Um-And, but, you know, we’re, we’re overall, we’re happy with the contribution.

I mean, Kreid’s, you know, scored some big goals, you know, for us in, in first round.

I think game six scored a huge goal for us.

and I thought Johnny, gave us another, solid pairing, solid veteran guy that could produce offensively for us to kind of take some, pressure off of Jackson to perform.

So there’s a, there’s a lot of positives, from that aspect as far as their contributions to the team, you know?

So, you know, you’re always searching for that consistency and, and, execution.

But, you know, the reality is it’s a tough league and it’s, it’s, it’s hard to, it’s hard to do every single night, especially in the playoffs.

On D, you guys had a lot of depth and a lot of talent.

Seemed like a lot of moving parts.

Didn’t, didn’t really quite nail down the, the six guys you wanted.

As you look toward next season, what, what are you looking to maybe refine there?

well, I, you know, I, I think in, in certain, like you’re looking at, like there’s always different components that need to come in, in throughout the playoffs, different vibes, different, you try to create different matchups that, provide different looks for the other team to kind of worry about.

So I think that’s, when, when you guys look at that, I, I wouldn’t look at that at all.

I, I think that, you know, I, I, I think when you try to win a championship, you have to be as deep as you possibly can in every position.

And I think we’re fortunate to, to be able to have different looks and be able to provide different, circumstances for players to play in, in different series.

As if you look at the first series, it was a completely different series than this series.

So, and, and, and that was the beautiful part about what our guys went through.

They understand now the different styles to go up against different styles, that we’re gonna need different types of players to play against those different types of styles.

So I think in a lot of situations, I think it’s, it’s a good thing.

Speaking of that, D, you’ve got three, key veteran UFAs, coming up.

I don’t know if you want to retain all three whatsoever, but, how much do you want to retain some, that veteran presence- Well, I think I- as part of that D?

Eric, I have to go through, you know, it’s like I tell you guys every single year, okay?

I gotta go through, you know, I’m still kind of, it’s still a little raw losing out and, losing out.

I’m gonna take, you know, two to three weeks to sit there and look at it unemotionally, and, you know, sift through, you know, the decisions.

Obviously, there’s gonna be some really tough decisions that are gonna get made.

and, but I’m gonna take my time to do it, and I, and I have time to, you know, to think about it and, and m- make the best possible decisions.

When we look to last summer, obviously two different, negotiations with Mason going into camp and then Jackson getting done well ahead of time.

How much does that impact the way that you kind of look at handling Cutter and Leo going into this off-season?

Well, in a perfect scenario, I’d like to be able to get them done in a week here.

But, you know, obviously, you know, it, it’s, I’m, I’m hoping for the best, you know, to try and make sure that everybody’s excited for training camp and we’re all, we’re, all of us are happy.

but, you know, it’s, it, fortunately, it, I don’t have a crystal ball to say how it- Mm-hmm how it’s gonna go.

And, and, but, you know, we’re gonna do our best to make sure that, we get, everybody excited and, and, and there for camp.

But given that they’re gonna be pretty high-priced players, is there any impetus to get it maybe done before July 1 so you know what you have- Oh, yeah to work with and free agents- I’d like to get it Yeah, I’d like to Andrew, I’d like to get it done as soon as possible, but, you know, we, we all have to cooperate with one another, right?

So it’s, that’s, that’s the goal.

There’s two partners in that dance.

Exactly, yeah.

So I wanted to ask, I wanted to ask you one thing, the last one from me.

Sorry, folks.

you know, going back to Q’s, introductory press conference, you had mentioned that you guys were gonna make connections and do work with, with local advoc- advocacy groups for sexual abuse, sexual assault survivors.

can you just follow up on that as far as any connections you’ve made, work you guys have done, over the course of the season or plan to do this summer?

Well, it’s, it, there’s We, we always kind of review that, and I think Joel’s probably been just a touch more active in, in that area than, than I have.

So I, if, you know, if it falls on me, I probably gotta do a better job, you know, from my aspect, but I know Joel’s been pretty active.

Pat, does the change in the, CBA, when it going from max term going from eight to seven years, does, does that impact, you know, when you wanna get- Well, it won’t impact- get those things done?

Yeah it won’t, it, it won’t, it won’t impact any of our players till September 15 from my understanding.

Mm-hmm.

So we still have the ability to be able to, you know, lay out eight-year deals, till then.

So, I don’t see it as a problem.

Mm-hmm.

Year one with the new coaching staff, did they meet the expectations you had hoped for bringing them in?

Yeah, I was very, I’m very satisfied with, you know, with the job that, coaching staff did.

certainly, you know, making the playoffs was But I think there was a lot of development, a lot of, strides gained, you know, as far as, you know, our power play.

you know, our defensive game was, you know, was improved steadily over the course of the year.

You know, there’s probably one area that, you know, like I said before, certainly, you know, the power play or the PK, you know, I’d like to get a little better.

But overall, extremely happy with the, with the job, you know, the coaching staff has done.

And, and I only see it getting better.

Speaking of that coaching staff, Jay Woodcroft’s name has come up, already in, in terms of any connections with openings whatsoever.

Is, is there any scenario where you would not be comfortable with, uh- No him pursuing?

I, I would never, I would never hold a, you know, a coach back from getting a head coaching job.

There’s only 32 of them and, and so no, that’s a, that’s a, you know, that’s, that’s the pinnacle of, you know, of his profession, so I would never hold, hold him back from that.It was an up and down season for McTavish with the contract dispute and getting healthy scratch a couple times.

What do you wanna see from him going into next season now that he’s got that long-term contract?

I would probably if I, you know, if we were to critique Mason, it’s probably just more consistency, n- from night to night.

and I think, you know, I, I, I think if you asked him, that would be his response as well.

So which ultimately, you know, would lead to more ice time, which would mean, you know, to never getting healthy scratch.

So, you know, that’s, that’s all part There, there’s lots of pressures, you know, when you, when new contracts come out on younger players, and so sometimes it can, you know, affect them, you know, in a negative way, you know, whether the pressure is putting too much pressure on themselves, and I think that happens, that happens a lot, and it’s very common.

So, you know, next year, you know, the, there’s nothing to worry about as far as contract, and he can play, you know, a more free game, you know, on the ice, and not worry about the pressure.

When you look at a young group, the, the leadership roles that were put upon them, whether it was the A’s on Leo and Jackson or Mason, it, it obviously some of this depends on whether or not Radko does come back, but is there any thought to handing over the leadership reins completely to the young group quite yet?

Well, I think they’re encouraged, the younger group’s being encouraged to take over the reins, and, and especially by the veterans.

Like, so yeah, I, I expect them to start, you know, taking, you know, taking control.

it’ll, it’s, it’s something we have conversations with the younger players about all the time, that it’s, it’s, it’s certainly okay for them to, start assuming and start to take the reins of, what, you know, is gonna be their team.

What did you like about the way that Leo or Jackson in particular kind of stepped into those roles and, and, and, and made themselves leaders?

Well, I, I think that, it’s always, when you’re a young player, it’s, it’s, it’s always uncomfortable or feels weird to be able to, you know, assume that role when you have guys that have won Cups, in the room, older guys that have been around that have gone through a lot of, different scenarios and different battles, to, you know, to You know, it’s like I equate this to, when I go hunting to my, with my dogs.

The older dog, the younger dog’s always subservient to the older dog.

and there’s no, there’s the same, it’s the same analogy here.

And so, but at some point, you know, our older guys are now inviting the younger players to take those roles and to, take control of it.

And so now it’s our job, guys.

It’s now your turn to, to start taking it.

And so it’s just be- becoming comfortable in accepting that and taking, taking it on as a role.

And then how would you evaluate, Lukash?

Obviously, a lot of workload on him.

Is that something that you’d like to alleviate going into next year?

Well, yeah, he played a lot of games.

you know, and obviously it’s a, you know, it’s a, it’s a, a tough, tough, you know, not only physically, but I would say a tough grind mentally.

And so, we asked a lot of, you know, Lukas and, and so obviously, you know, there’ll, there’ll be things that we talk about, you know, managing, you know, the games that he plays and, you know, and it, obviously it boils down to how the schedule, you know, works out and, you know, that he’s getting enough rest, not only physically, but mentally.

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