Anaheim Ducks Trade Deadline Preview

Anaheim Ducks Trade Deadline Preview
Written by Alex Carroll

Next Monday is the NHL Trade Deadline, The Anaheim Ducks do not need to do much.  Anaheim has a wealth of young talent and prospects they can hang out on a  line to see what kind of bites they could get, I do not think this is necessary.  The one piece The Ducks would not mind snagging would be a veteran a defenseman.  The Ducks roll 4 lines every night and are a relentless team that is almost never out of a game.  Anaheim wins 1 goal games on the regular and a good chunk of those are comeback victories while being down in the third period.  While I do not think the boys need anything new, a vet d-man could help lock down their defensive play so they no longer have to come from behind to win.  Anaheim just recently acquired 22 year old forward Jiri Sekac from the Montreal Canadiens and sent another 22 year old forward, Devante Smith-Pelly the other way, trading grit and toughness for speed and skill.  I loved how DSP played for the Ducks but this deal met both teams' needs as they prepare for the playoffs.  This was a lateral, old school player for player hockey deal The Ducks did not even need to make, proving that their team is pretty set and little tweaks are the only acceptable moves.

As for the possibility of adding a defenseman, a rental for the remainder of this season and the playoffs would be ideal, one without a big price tag.  A guy like Jan Hejda would be at the top of my list, send draft picks to Colorado and add this 36 year old stalwart to the blue line, this is again,  if they do anything at all.

Anaheim has recently had losses of forward Matt Beleskey who has scored a career high of 21 goals this season and d-man Sami Vatanen who is also having a career year with 34 points in 57 games and a plus-minus of 6.  These losses would put me into panic mode if I was not a knowledgeable Ducks fan.  Anaheim plugs other players into their lineup and their success continues, loudly speaking to the depth of their team.  This all being said, if the Ducks feel it is necessary to get someone on Monday's deadline, they can not be bold and send legitimate roster players, this would be terrible for team chemistry.  So to GM Bob Murray I say give a team mid to late draft picks, perhaps some conditional picks for the future even, a team this deep can manage that.  If the price is a core member on the roster, stick with the successful group you have and stand pat.