Elephant in the Room
Trade deadline day came and went for Bob Murray, who decided to stand pat as the clock ticked down. Judging by the comments in our forum, every Ducks fan has an opinion. Some were positive, more were negative and a few were pretty angry. I'll give you my take on the situation.
At present Anaheim is not a championship contender. The Ducks have a shot to go through the division and make the conference finals. From there, the matchups don't add up. In a seven game series, they don't have enough offense to hang with Minnesota or Chicago. Even if they shocked the hockey world and went to the Stanley Cup finals, Pittsburgh and Washington are in a class by themselves.
If Murray believed that this isn't the year, then Wednesday wasn't the time to make a rash deal. Before the expansion draft, there will be a flurry of activity and the GM can make his move. Teams will be lined up for a shot at either Cam Fowler or Sami Vatanen (and possibly Josh Manson). Additionally, other organizations will be more willing to trade a star player. The Ducks have enough assets to swing a big deal with say Colorado (for Gabriel Landeskog or Matt Duchesne) or maybe Tampa Bay (Jonathan Drouin).
Murray did partially address his team's lack of production in the top six by acquiring Patrick Eaves from Dallas. The bigger issue, as many of you pointed out, is the season long goal scoring drought of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf as well as the shortage of any kind of offense from Sami Vatanen. Players have bad seasons, and maybe this is theirs. It won't be a waste, however if the younger players gain some valuable experience.
Toronto @ Ducks
Break time is over, the stretch run starts now. Unfortunately, it starts without John Gibson. The star goalie was only a partial participant in yesterday's practice. That leaves Jonathan Bernier to face his former employer. Its not the same group he backstopped last year; Toronto is good young team. Brandon Montour and Chris Wagner were recalled from San Diego to fill the roster. Its hard to imagine Montour would be back with the team only to watch from the pressbox. More Likely Korbinian Holzer is the odd defenseman out. Here is the expected lineup:
Forwards Ritchie-Getzlaf-Kase Eaves-Rakell-Perry Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg Shaw-Thompson-Wagner
Defensemen Fowler-Vatanen Lindholm-Manson Bieksa-Montour
Goalies Bernier Enroth
Scratches Holzer Boll