Duck Dynasty over?

[Pokecheque]

Ducks are hovering around .500, which isn't terrible but obviously isn't great either. Still utterly punchless on offense, which shouldn't be the case. I think someone on the radio hit it on the head, in that they have a GM and head coach who want to play a grinding dump-and-chase style but have a bunch of players who want to play a slick, puck possession game, and it's just not clicking.

Someone rescue Zegras and Gibson from this mess.

[E.L.]

Not my joke, but Trouba and Gudas are now teammates. Duck!

[Chris18]

Not my joke, but Trouba and Gudas are now teammates. Duck!

That’s sadly very good.

[E.L.]

Frank Vatrano signs a 3-year extension and gets the Ohtani treatment: It’s $18M, but an AAV of $4.57M, because of $9M in deferred salary.
In 2035, he will make $900K/year for 10 years.

[Chris18]

Frank Vatrano signs a 3-year extension and gets the Ohtani treatment: It’s $18M, but an AAV of $4.57M, because of $9M in deferred salary.
In 2035, he will make $900K/year for 10 years.

Is that a new Cap circumvention system? I hadn't heard of doing that. Or will that $900k count towards their Cap hit down the road? But also, wouldn't 10 years of deferred salary make the contract essentially 13 years total, breaking the 8 year max length rule? Or does the CBA say 8 years of playing? Fuck teams finding/exploiting loopholes! (Unless of course the Isles wise up and start doing it)

[Pokecheque]

Of all the friggin' players to do a deferred money deal...

Vatrano is not a guy you build around--he's so atrocious defensively that he gives up way more scoring chances than he produces at even strength. That's a guy whose value you boost over the course of the season and then deal. Now he has a contract absolutely no one will want. Unless...the deferred money stays with Anaheim no matter what.

[E.L.]

Boring team signs Quenneville to be their coach. They so badly want to be this lunch pail team full of grinders but I don’t see it happening for them.

[Pokecheque]

Boy howdy, I thought even if he were a bad GM there's no way Pat Verbeek could be a worse GM than Bob Murray...however I'm thinking I could be wrong.

How the fuck do you flip a former 9th overall pick who scored 60+ points his two first seasons and still 24 years old for...that!?

Meanwhile he's trying to find every washed-up vet he can find. Mind you, he may still succeed because Q is likely still an elite-level coach, but Verbeek appears to be eschewing skill in favor of rolling out the grindiest team he can put together.

[E.L.]

Absolutely the worst GM in the league and even a half-decade of lottery picks won’t save him. What an embarrassment.

[Bosc]

Verbeek has a history of working with Steve Yzerman, who made the mystifying Walman trade

[E.L.]

Verbeek beat down the trade value of Zegras and Gibson only to trade them for scraps. Well done, rat boy.

[E.L.]

More problems in Anaheim: young defencemen Zellweger and Mintyukov went to management about crappy playing time (I’m sure management did not care) and now they’re unwilling to give McTavish and Dostal long term extensions for reasons unknown.

Gonna keep bad mouthing the Ducks because I love it.

[Pokecheque]

Ducks cleared all that cap space to sign 33-year-old journeyman Mikael Granlund to a three-year contract that pays him $7 million annually.

Granlund is the odd duck (pun initially not intended, then said fuck it and went with it) who posts absolutely abhorrent underlying metrics, yet can be reasonably productive. Not a bad depth piece to add at the deadline, but this isn't a guy you throw good money at in July.

Worst-run organization in the NHL and it's not even close. I've heard the cheapskate owner is just letting Honda Center rot, and it's not that old of a rink.

Quenneville could yet put together something of a winner with this piecemeal, disgruntled squad, he's that good. But I wouldn't put money on it.

[Chris18]

I hope Q ends up getting booed relentlessly, but I doubt it will happen. F that guy, with a snow shovel.

[E.L.]

Jackson Lacombe gets 8 x 9M.

Verbeek fights with his forwards and locks up his defence. Haven’t seen Lacombe much but sounds like he’s their Faber.