The Anaheim Ducks have won two of their last 14 games.
Currently sitting last in the West Division with a brutal 8-15-6 record, the Ducks have watched as the year spins out of control, with far too many issues to address by way of a couple quick fixes.
Aside from two games a week ago, the Ducks are having significant scoring issues. There’s nobody at the top of the lineup who can consistently produce and while Rickard Rakell has seemingly found his game lately and Max Comtois looks to be developing into a long-term top-six forward, there just isn’t anywhere near enough quality depth up front.
Goaltending has somewhat unexpectedly been another problem. John Gibson has allowed at least three goals in each of his last 11 games and has given up five goals in four of those games, including his last three starts. I always hesitate to blame a goaltender and that’s not really what I’m going for here, as Gibson would have to be spectacular just to keep the Ducks competitive anyways. But it’s also hard to win games when you’re allowing as many goals as Anaheim is.
That said, while I think the Ducks’ defense is much less of a concern than their offense, the team is still giving up too many quality chances on most nights. A lot of the time, Gibson can’t really be faulted for the goals he’s allowing.
While expectations shouldn’t have been overly high to start the year, the season has gone quite a bit worse than anticipated. I think it’s clear that even if the Ducks wanted to avoid a rebuild, we’re now at that point. This team unfortunately isn’t going to be competitive as currently constructed and there are far too many holes to address without dealing away assets that will be crucial for the future.
In my opinion, the Ducks should have very few players who are safe from trade talks heading into the deadline, as part of a full teardown. Management can’t just wait around for things to change and hope that swapping a couple of middle-six forwards is going to make the difference. The Ducks should be prepared for a few rough years ahead, as the focus turns to the future.
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