Ducks Season Preview...

What can I say about the Ducks??? Besides the fact that they just traded my favorite Defensemen, Sean O’Donnell to the Los Angeles Kings, they are a pretty great team this year.

The Ducks named their Captain today, taking the “C” from Chris Pronger and giving it back to Scott Niedermayer. That will probably make many people around the league very happy. For me, Scott is the better choice just because he has the ability to calm things down on the ice.

I think the Ducks will go pretty far this season. With the additions of Brendan Morrison, Brad Larsen, Teemu Selanne (re-signed), Ken Klee, Nathan McIver & Steve Montador they look pretty solid.

They did send away Sean O’Donnell, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Joe DiPenta, Mathieu Schneider, Todd Bertuzzi & Doug Weight. The only real loss here is Schneider & O’Donnell who both had to go due to cap space.

Forwards:

A pretty solid group, with amazing players like Morrison & Selanne, and youngsters Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry. I would like to see Rookie Bobby Ryan called back up quickly because he is a sight to see this season. The boy spent the off-season working out with Strength & Conditioning Coach Sean Skahan. He is faster, quicker and better on the ice. I would love to see these lines:

Rob Niedermayer, Pahlsson, Moen; Perry, Getzlaf & Bobby Ryan/Chris Kunitz; Selanne, Morrison, Larsen/Kunitz; Brian Sutherby, Brad May; George Parros. Leaving Todd Marchant and Ryan Carter to fill in.

Defense:

The Ducks lost a lot when they traded Schneider & O’Donnell. Schneider has a powerful shot and O’Donnell rarely made mistakes and was a great defender. They did pick up Klee & Montador who will fill those spots nicely, and for a lot less money. Lines will probably be:

Scott Neidermayer & Francois Beauchemin, Chris Pronger & Ken Klee, Kent Huskins & Steve Montador, with Nathan McIver as a fill in.

Goalies:

Same as last year…J.S. Giguere and Jonas Hiller as back up. Two great goalies, so no issues here.
I hope that the Ducks can go far this season, but I’m not really sure if they can with all of the additions and subtractions they made. I think they have the skill and desire, and it might be the last time the Ducks have the chance to go far with this team, being that this is the last year on a lot of their Ducks contracts.