After yesterday's trade activity, today feels like the next day hangover. The Ducks made significant additions to the defensive corps with James Wisniewski, Simon Despres, and Corbinian Holzer. The only subtraction was Ben Lovejoy, who was exchanged for Despres. Those three plus Jiri Sekac and Tomas Fleischmann, acquired mid-week, are now part of a team that has a great chance of winning the Presidents' Trophy not to mention one that can win a Stanley Cup.
Post Deadline Thoughts
I'm going to disagree with my boss. The Ducks got the better of the Lovejoy-Despres deal. For Lovejoy, the writing was on the wall. His minutes were cut this season. As a matter of fact, Lovejoy's average ice time of 18:33 was fifth on the team and only three seconds more than rookie Josh Manson's ATOI. In Despres, Anaheim received a young, skilled defender with good size, who isn't afraid to use it to his advantage.
Normally, I would be cynical when the general manager trades for two injured players, but I'm not. Holzer suffered a concussion over the weekend and is on the shelf while Wiz has a bruised foot and may miss a week or two, so its not serious. Holzer was the price of shedding Eric Brewer's salary.
Murray bought himself another year of development for Shea Theodore if necessary. If the kid isn't ready, he'll have plenty of time to get his game to NHL quality.
Lost in the shuffle of yesterday's deals is Francois Beauchemin. The pending UFA has shown lately that he still has lots of game. Unless he is willing to take a less money and possibly a reduced role with the team, his time in a Duck uniform will come to an end after the season.
The more I see Sekac play, the more I like his game. He reminds me of a classic trequartista in Italian soccer. A trequartista is a forward that sets up plays for other forwards.
When the Ducks are at full heath, the power play could be dynamic. Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Fleischmann, Wiz and Sami Vatanen pack a whole bunch of firepower. BTW, a second unit of Beleskey, Kesler, Palmieri, Lindholm and either Rakell or Sekac is pretty good too.
The Elephant in the Room
All seems well in Duckland except for one thing. Left Wing Matt Beleskey, a UFA after the season, remains unsigned. He was the source a many calls to Murray yesterday, checking on his availability. Recent reports have the sides close on a new deal with the hold up being some sort of no movement or no trade clause.
Ducks at Yotes
The Ducks, winners of five of their last six games are in Glendale, Arizona to play the Coyotes tonight. Frederik Andersen returns to game action since suffering an neck injury on February 8. He might be feeling a little heat due to his replacement, John Gibson's good play recently. Tim Jackman and Chris Wagner are healthy scratches. As mentioned earlier, Wisniewski is injured, but Fleischmann and Despres will make their Duck debuts.
This is the last non-contender they play for several weeks. Tonight is a good time to assimilate some new players before the competition picks up. Here is the expected lineup:
Forwards Palmieri-Getzlaf-Perry Fleiscmann-Kesler-Silfverberg Sekac-Rakell-Etem Maroon-Thompson-Cogliano
Defensemen Beauchemin-Lindholm Fowler-Despres Stoner-Manson
Goalies Andersen Gibson