Micheal Aldred

Sudbury, ON • Canada • 27 Years Old • Male

Preview: Anaheim Ducks

Primary Staff: Bob Murray (GM) Randy Carlyle (Head Coach)
2009-10 Stats: 82GP 39W 32L 11OTL 89PTS
Place: 4th Pacific, 11th West, 17th NHL
Top Scorer: Corey Perry – 82GP 27G 49A 76P
Captains: Ryan Getzlaf (A), Saku Koivu (A)

OFF-SEASON MOVES

OUT:

D Scott Niedermayer (Retired)
RW Mike Brown (Dealt to Toronto)
D Steve Eminger (Dealt to NY Rangers)
D James Wisniewski (Dealt to NY Islanders)
D Aaron Ward (Retired)

IN:

D Toni Lydman (Free Agent)
RW Aaron Voros (Acquired from NY Rangers)
D Danny Syvret (Free Agent)
D Andy Sutton (Free Agent)

The departure of Scott Niedermayer will certainly make its mark on this club. Not only have they lost their primary leadership and captain, but the final piece to their dominating top four defence core - Niedermayer (retired), Pronger (Flyers), Whitney (Edmonton), Beauchemin (Toronto). The acquisition of Jason Blake has proven to be a smart decision on behalf of Ducks general manager Bob Murray as it provides the team with some sort of depth on the left wing outside of the recent recipient of a $27.5M contract, Bobby Ryan.

Jonas Hiller will continue to provide the club with consistent goaltending, but they lack strength in their back-ups. The team still has some depth on defence, but the core as a whole is not as impressive as recent years. On the plus side, with the potential of 8 NHL-ready defencemen on the roster, the club will have its fair share of motivation on the back end for fear of losing their spot.

The Ducks success this season will live and die on the team’s overall ability to play a strong system and work together as a whole. If the top line (Ryan – Getzlaf – Perry) can collectively post over 220 points and Selanne and Koivu can pair up for around the 80 to 100 mark, the team could still prove to be dangerous. Their playoff hopes depend on the scoring depth.

Prediction: 3rd Pacific, 7th West

DUCKS DEPTH CHART

Bobby Ryan - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Matt Beleskey - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Jason Blake - Todd Marchant - Joffrey Lupul
Aaron Voros - Kyle Chipchura - Troy Bodie
Ryan Carter
Dan Sexton
George Parros

Lubomir Visnovsky - Toni Lydman
Andy Sutton - Sheldon Brookbank
Luca Sbisa - Brett Festerling
Brendan Mikkelson - Danny Syvret

Jonas Hiller
Curtis McElhinney
Jean-Philippe Levasseur

For more articles by Micheal Aldred, visit http://www.thecheckingline.com