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Ducks name Greg Cronin as head coach, John Gibson requests trade

June 6, 2023, 12:12 AM ET [20 Comments]
Ben Shelley
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About a month and a half after firing Dallas Eakins, the Anaheim Ducks have named their new head coach.

Replacing Eakins will be Greg Cronin, who steps into his first NHL head coaching job.



In an offseason that did feature some coaches with more experience vying for jobs, Cronin is a bit of a lesser known name. He spent the last five seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, leading the team to an impressive 40-22-10 record this season.

Cronin has also previously spent time in the NHL as an assistant coach. The 60-year-old spent four years with the New York Islanders between 1999 and 2003, before a three-year stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2011 and 2014, and then returned to the Islanders from 2014 until 2018.

Cronin becomes the 11th coach in franchise history.

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Cronin’s hiring also wasn’t the only major piece of news concerning the Ducks over the last few days.

It was reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli that goaltender John Gibson let the Ducks know he’s ready for a trade.

Gibson has struggled for about four years now, with his numbers seeing a major decline from the time in which he was consistently hovering around a .920 save percentage as one of the league's top goalies. Of course, this has to do with the team in front of him as well, but Gibson managed just an .899 save percentage this year, often struggling to find consistency.

Regardless, there’s still reason to think that with a better team in front of him, Gibson could see a resurgence. He still has four years remaining on his contract at a $6.4 million cap hit.

With the Ducks in a clear rebuild, to me, trading Gibson is a move that should’ve been made a year or two ago. You have to think his value has declined over recent years. However, it’ll be interesting to see where the Ducks go from here, in terms of whether they do finally trade him, and if so, what they get in return.



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