The NHL season begins this week and the Anaheim Ducks will be playing in a new-look division. Leading up to the start of the season, I'll be looking at how the Ducks' lineup compares to other teams in their division.
I’ve already released four articles in this series, which you can read here:
Today’s article will focus on a comparison between the Ducks and the Minnesota Wild.
FORWARDS
Both the Ducks and Wild are missing multiple key pieces up front. The Ducks don’t have a single top-line level forward and their top-six overall is very weak. Minnesota, however, is in a similar position and though Kevin Fiala had a breakout year, we can’t be sure he’ll be able to replicate that success. Zach Parise is now 36 years old as well, Eric Staal was traded and Mats Zuccarello is out long-term. Kirill Kaprizov projects as a top talent but we still need to see how he’ll adjust to the NHL. The Wild have some decent depth but Anaheim’s bottom-six is fairly comparable, meaning these teams look fairly even up front.
Advantage: N/A
DEFENSE
The Ducks did add Kevin Shattenkirk in the offseason (and potentially Ben Hutton as well), but Anaheim’s top-four group isn’t as well-rounded. Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson are counted on for key matchups, while Shattenkirk and Cam Fowler will each need favourable matchups to be used most effectively. Minnesota, on the other hand, has four defensemen who can all provide both offense and defensive reliability, in Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter.
Advantage: Wild
GOALTENDING
John Gibson gives the Ducks the edge here. Cam Talbot will be counted on in Minnesota and it remains to be seen as to whether he’s up to the task. He had a strong season in Calgary but he also managed just an .892 save percentage during the 2018-19 season. As for backups, Kaapo Kahkonen has just five games of NHL experience, while Ryan Miller has possibly the most experience of any goaltender in the league and has been effective for the Ducks over the last three seasons.
Advantage: Ducks
The Wild have the better defense group but the Ducks have the edge in net. Overall, the Ducks and Wild should be fairly evenly matched this season.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Ducks Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_Ducks for updates on articles, Ducks news, etc.***
Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you think the Ducks will finish ahead of the Wild in the standings this season?
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