This article will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll look at each player on the Anaheim Ducks and assess how their season went. This piece will focus on Brendan Guhle.
Guhle was acquired by the Ducks as part of the Brandon Montour trade last year and split this season between Anaheim and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. With the Ducks, he scored eight points in 30 games, while in the AHL, he had 14 points in 27 games. When he was playing with Anaheim, he averaged just 17:04 per game, including a bit of time on the penalty kill.
He faced a reasonable quality of competition (according to Hockey Abstract) but he had a poor corsi for percentage of just 43.5 per cent, which was much weaker than the team’s overall corsi for percentage of 48 per cent. His expected goals for percentage of 41.9 per cent was also the worst of any defenseman on the team (according to NaturalStatTrick.com).
Guhle will be one of many left-handed defensemen battling for a spot with the Ducks next season. Between Guhle, Kodie Curran, Christian Djoos, Jacob Larsson and Josh Mahura, Anaheim will have at least five defensemen battling for the two remaining spots in the lineup (and that’s assuming no other defenders are added in the offseason). In a poll I did in May, 79 per cent of readers voted that they thought Guhle would have a roster spot to start next season and I’m hoping that's the case.
This was a decent first season with the Ducks for Guhle (not counting the six games last season), though he wasn’t able to solidify himself as a permanent NHLer. Next year, hopefully he’s able to make the jump and become a full-time member of Anaheim’s defense.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
How did you feel about Brendan Guhle's performance this season?
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