While the Anaheim Ducks haven’t made any key additions so far this offseason, one notable departure from the roster occurred when defenseman Haydn Fleury was selected by the Seattle Kraken.
Fleury was acquired by the Ducks from the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline, in a deal that sent Jani Hakanpaa the other way. While he was stuck at the bottom of Carolina’s defense group, Fleury did take on a relatively sizeable role in his short time with the Ducks, averaging 20:39 per game. He's versatile as well, in the sense that he could play on either the left or right side and his departure means there’s a spot open in Anaheim's defense group.
We can be pretty sure that as of now, the the five defenders who will have spots in the lineup will be Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Josh Manson, Jamie Drysdale and Kevin Shattenkirk. This leaves one spot remaining, with Jacob Larsson and Josh Mahura as the top options. There’s also the likes of Simon Benoit, Kodie Curran, Brendan Guhle to consider, but it’s probably unlikely that any will leapfrog either Larsson or Mahura, coming out of camp. Considering the Ducks are entering a rebuild, using Greg Pateryn over younger players wouldn't make sense either.
With this in mind, I’d love to see Mahura get into more game action, as it appears as though Larsson may never develop into more than a depth defender. Mahura has played just 41 NHL games over the last three seasons but has put up solid numbers with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, scoring 20 points in 28 games this season. His AHL stats project that he could develop into as much as a top-four, offensive defenseman and leaving him in the press box or AHL as Larsson gets more chances wouldn’t be the correct course of action.
While there’s no way to spin losing Haydn Fleury as a positive (especially when it was completely avoidable), at the very least, perhaps Mahura will now get more of a chance. The Ducks do have a fairly crowded blue line and hopefully, the Ducks can use the extra spot to develop other young talent.
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Do you think Josh Mahura should have a permanent spot on the Ducks' roster next season?
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