Dobber’s offseason fantasy hockey grades – Anaheim Ducks

For the last 17 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 18th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer…er, winter. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Erik Gudbranson, Michael Del Zotto, Patrick Eaves, Chris Wideman

Incoming – Vinni Lettieri, Kevin Shattenkirk, Derek Grant, Kodie Curran

Impact of changes – This really boils down to swapping out Gudbranson and Del Zotto for Shattenkirk and Curran. Shattenkirk is 100% offense for a defenseman. He will hurt the team defensively and the theory is that he helps offensively even more. So he's there for the power play mostly, and that's going to hurt the likes of Cam Fowler and Christian Djoos, as well as newcomer Curran. Up front, no proven regulars were brought in. But with Grant and Lettieri they have a pair of players who can play if the rookies and youngsters need another year in the AHL. But for now, it looks like Sam Steel, Max Jones, Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras will be on this team, with Max Comtois likely seeing significant time as well.

Ready for full-time – Trevor Zegras, as we just witnessed in the World Junior Hockey Championship, is an elite player for his age. He is probably going to become Anaheim's top player and Golden Boy. And the only way he doesn't make this team is if they decide they don't want to expose him to a losing environment and instead bring him in next year. I doubt that happens, so pencil him in as a top Calder candidate and one of the better rookies scorers you can draft in fantasy leagues.

Kodie Curran is a 31-year-old undrafted defenseman who the Ducks signed out of Sweden after he tallied 86 points in his last 97 games over two years (and 91 PIM to boot). He was the SHL MVP last season (giving the Ducks two former SHL MVPs, also Jakob Silfverberg). Curran was given a two-year contract and is not being dragged back across the pond (he's Canadian) so that he can play in the AHL. The Ducks will give him a legitimate shot. Give him 20 games or so to get going, and then have your finger over the waiver-wire trigger and be ready.

Brendan Guhle (prospect profile here) split his time last season between Anaheim and San Diego. At the AHL level he seemed to finally have things figured out – both offensively and defensively. He projects to be a No.4 or 5 defenseman who in a couple of years will chip in on the second PP unit. For fantasy purposes, for now he just offers pretty good BLKS numbers.

Defenseman Josh Mahura (prospect profile here) was a high-scoring junior who is progressing well as a pro. Offensively, his game is there and he looks like a potential fantasy asset. That is still some years away as the coaches try to carefully roll out his ice time and situational play. Expect half to two-thirds of the season in the NHL, and then full time in 2021-22.

Anaheim Ducks prospect depth chart and fantasy upsides can be found here

Fantasy Outlook – I'm still not thrilled with this team. I don't think the rebuild is going as well as it should. Not after watching the Rangers and the Leafs turn things around quickly. I even like what the Sabres have put together more than I like what the Ducks have done. On paper, if everyone stays healthy and reaches their potential, then it's not so bad: Rickard Rakell – Ryan Getzlaf – Jakob Silfverberg is a subpar first line and Danton Heinen – Sam Steel – Troy Terry is also subpar, but neither line is "horrible". Yet… that is only if they stay healthy and reach their potential! That's 'if' Steel finally breaks out and 35 points this year, Getzlaf holds off Father Time, Heinen finally gets that 200-game BT magic a little later than expected, and both Rakell and Terry stay healthy. Each of those are big, unlikely ifs. Thank goodness for Trevor Zegras.

The WJC star will not come in and rip up the league, tallying 70 points in 56 games and save the day. But at least he provides hope that he can become their franchise player in the future. A big splash, to me, would be if he can reach 40 points and get a Calder nomination. I have him for 27 points in the Fantasy Guide.

On defense, the Ducks are much better. Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Cam Fowler form a nice core. I don't think highly of Kevin Shattenkirk, but if he's used correctly he can top 20 points this year (with most on the power play). Jacob Larsson is a good defensive defenseman and newcomer Curran is promising. Prospect Josh Mahura has very good upside, too. In net, John Gibson is a great goaltender, but tends to have massive starts and terrible finishes (look it up – it's a clear decline each year). The prospect pipeline is still average, although a year from now the likes of Jacob Perreault, Sam Colangelo, Brayden Tracey and Benoit-Olivier Groulx could very well surge into the Top 50 on my fantasy list. Still – please don't let anyone on my fantasy team be traded to Anaheim. Please.

Fantasy Grade: D (last year was D+)

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2020 Offseason Fantasy Hockey Grades

Tampa Bay     A+

Toronto           A+

NY Rangers    A

Colorado         A

Vancouver       B+

Edmonton       B+

Carolina           B+

Buffalo            B+

Winnipeg         B+

Pittsburgh        B+

Philadelphia    B

Vegas              B

Boston             B

Florida             B

St. Louis          B

Chicago           B-

Calgary            B-

Montreal          B-

New Jersey      B-

Minnesota       B-

Dallas              B-

Nashville         B-

Washington     B-

Los Angeles    C+

Ottawa            C

Detroit             C

Columbus        C

NY Islanders   C-

San Jose          C-

Arizona               D

Anaheim           D