The Anaheim Ducks didn’t make any major additions to their forward group in the offseason but they did bring back center Derek Grant. Here’s a preview of what Anaheim’s forward lineup could look like in the coming season.
We can imagine down the middle of the lineup, the Ducks will look the same as last year. The centers will likely be Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique, Sam Steel and now that Derek Grant was re-signed, he’ll likely center the fourth line.
On the wings, we can predict the top-six will be Danton Heinen, Sonny Milano, Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg. The third line could be a bit interesting, where Max Jones, Troy Terry and potentially Max Comtois could all be possible fits. Personally, I’d like to see a line of Comtois, Steel and Terry, which could provide quality depth scoring.
Then ideally, I’d like to see Max Jones on the fourth line with Carter Rowney on the other wing. Jones can play a gritty style of hockey and could be a good fit but this would push Nicolas Deslauriers out of the lineup, along with David Backes.
If this is the case, this would be my projected lineup:
Silfverberg - Getzlaf - Rakell
Milano - Henrique - Heinen
Comtois - Steel - Terry
Jones - Grant - Rowney
Spares: Backes, Deslauriers
While the top-six of the lineup isn’t ideal and the Ducks don’t really have even one legitimate top-line forward, I actually really like the bottom-six here. The third line could produce offensively, while the fourth line could work well with the addition of Derek Grant.
This would also mean that top prospect Trevor Zegras starts the year in the AHL. As for how long he stays there, it could be anyone’s guess, but I’d imagine he could get called up sooner than later.
The Ducks have a lot of young forwards and it’ll be exciting to see who steps up. Everyone will get a great opportunity and it’ll be a matter of who can take advantage of it.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Where do you think Max Jones will play in the lineup?
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