Of the Anaheim Ducks’ defensemen and defense prospects, there’s really not much of a balance in terms of depth between the left side and the right side.
The Ducks already have Cam Fowler and Hampus Lindholm on the left side and now Christian Djoos as well. Fowler is locked up long-term, while Lindholm is key for Anaheim’s back end and will likely be with the Ducks for many years as well. We haven’t seen much of Djoos with the Ducks yet but based on his history with Washington, there’s a good chance he could be a solid piece of the Ducks’ back end.
Of Anaheim’s defense prospects, there’s Jacob Larsson who spent this year with Ducks, then Brendan Guhle and Josh Mahura, who are on the verge of making the jump as well. Mahura will be exempt from waivers next year and also has the least NHL experience, so I believe he’ll probably be back in San Diego next season. That said, he’s certainly not far off from making the jump. But it’s going to be fairly difficult to make that jump with Fowler, Lindholm, Djoos, Guhle and Larsson also on the left side.
Depth is certainly a good thing but the depth on Anaheim’s blue line is wildly uneven. There’s six players that I just mentioned who are all either NHL defensemen or project to be NHL defensemen and are all left-handed. Meanwhile on the right side, the only key piece is Josh Manson, while Erik Gudbranson will still take a spot in the lineup as well and then there’s Jani Hakanpaa. Basically after Manson, the depth really falls off and the only quality right-handed defensive prospect in the system is Axel Andersson.
Manson may or may not be around long-term and Gudbranson is probably only going to be around for another year. The Ducks don’t have a long-term solution on defense, as playing multiple defensemen on their off-side probably isn’t sustainable.
I imagine for next year, Larsson and Guhle are the last two defenders on the roster, with one taking the final spot in the lineup and the other in the press box. Cam Fowler is able to play on the right side, meaning either Larsson or Guhle could play on the left side but having said that, the Ducks need a long-term solution. There’s a lot of talk of the Ducks needing forward depth but truthfully, right-handed defensemen should almost be just as big of a priority for the team going forward.
The Ducks may have some quality defense prospects on the left side but in the near future, the Ducks will need to start building depth on the right side.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted this weekend):
Do you see the lack of depth on the right side of Anaheim's defense as an area of concern?
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