The Anaheim Ducks made an interesting move last weekend as general manager Pat Verbeek let go of head coach Greg Cronin’s head coach duties with one year left.
Similar to what happened in Seattle with Dave Hakstol last season, the timing of the fire was strange. The Anaheim Ducks scored 21 points in the standings. Usually, the coach will not be fired after this jump. However, from Verbeek’s comments, it seems that a new voice is needed and they want to change things.
“I went through this process as usual and then started looking at things. When we walked out of the playoff photos, I started to really start looking at things carefully, and obviously had some concerns,” Verbeek told the media. “Then, as I get closer to the end of the season, all the assessments are when I really decide to make a change and decide that now is the right time to bring this team in different directions and different voices.”
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Despite the drama on the ice, Verbeek can point to power games and penalty kills, which mostly falls on assistants or associate coaches. We all know the basics. The player doesn’t want to play for him. It is reported that despite their success this season and the culture he brought to the team, he worked too hard on them.
Again, nothing has been confirmed, but there is a feeling that despite Cronin, the team’s players won this year, not because of him. One thing the Ducks have to decide is that this is Trevor Zegras or a potential superstar for the head coach. Usually, players win this battle.
Although Verbeek did not agree with Zegras after announcing Cronin’s departure.
“When players are in this situation, you do things year by year. I’m going to watch each of them perform and perform throughout the season to decide where we go,” Verbeek said. “They are quality hockey players. There are a lot of quality hockey players in our system, so a lot will happen and we have to figure that out and evaluate it at the right time.”
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We know the history of Verbeek and Zegras and the long-term contract dispute that signed the bridge deal two seasons ago. Also, there is talk about the Duck moving him in the 2024 NHL Draft. So Zegras may not be a Pat Verbeek guy because he thinks Mason McTavish and Lukas Dostal are important works for the franchise to move forward.
“They are important players in our organization and the hardest thing is to figure out what the contract looks like. So we’re going to do due diligence,” Verbeek said. “Obviously, we have a lot of time to fix this, the offseason is just beginning, and I actually had a conversation with two agents before the season ended, so we just went to pick up where we were leaving before. I also talked to two young players and they were excited, they were excited.”
One thing that does stand out is that Verbeek admits he will be aggressive this summer, similar to last summer. He can finally move out John Gibson. It seems that his name has been around for many years. But the biggest gain is that he thinks the Ducks are ready to enter the playoffs next year.
“I hope this will be very active and aggressive. I think what I’m expecting to see this team is next season’s playoffs,” Verbeek said. “I hope our group takes a step forward so I’m going to make our team better and positive.”
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The only problem with the latter is that the Pacific division is very good. The top three teams will be Edmonton, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. We see what Calgary flames are doing. San Jose sharks are rising. Of course, the most well-known is Seattle Cleken. Also, central departments still have group teams, and many hope Nashville will be better. The playoffs are a win.
Anaheim will see Denver University’s David Carle as their next coach. He would be very suitable. Maybe someone like Jeff Halpern. But the ducks are trying to reshape their team.
The key is what the Anaheim Ducks’ vision or message is, because now it doesn’t feel like they have one.
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