The Anaheim Ducks made another trade this offseason as they continue to retool and reshape their roster under General Manager Pat Verbeek.
After moving on from Head Coach Greg Cronin and acquiring Jacob Trouba last year, the offseason started with a bang. He hired Joel Quenneville to be their next head coach. Soon after, Verbeek began to assemble his preferred type of players on the roster. Once again, Verbeek turned to the New York Rangers, trading for Chris Kreider. Then on Monday, Verbeek traded forward Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers for Ryan Poehling, a 2025 2nd-round pick (45th overall), and a 2026 4th-round pick.
NHL Trade: Anaheim Ducks Trade Trevor Zegras to Philadelphia Flyers
The way teams are trying to win is by being the Florida Panthers. As many teams did years ago, copying the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings by being big and physical. But it appears the Anaheim Ducks are not done shopping this offseason. As reported, they aim to make a splash this summer. This is the same strategy they employed last year, but Verbeek was unable to close the deal.
However, as Pat Verbeek told the media during his press conference on Monday, he aims to find the right players to complement each other and form a cohesive unit.
“Well, when you start analyzing that stuff and you try, obviously it takes two to tango to try and go after free agency. Obviously it’s not always about the money, it’s certainly about fit for players to go to teams,” Verbeek said. “And so we’re going to look at everything we can to keep improving this team to make the playoffs. So that’ll be our goal moving forward. We have lots of cap space so we can manage it and work to improve the team.”
The Anaheim Ducks want to make the playoffs. Those are Verbeek’s words. To do that, they must land a top free agent. As NHLRumors.com has reported, they have been linked to Mitch Marner. Adding a 100-point player to the mix to a team that needs help on the power play and with goal scoring will be enough to push them over the edge and into the playoffs in a tough Western Conference. But it might not be in year one.
NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Utah Mammoth, and the Anaheim Ducks
But Marner will help the young players on the team grow. But what if he does not want to take the money and sign in Anaheim? Where do the Ducks turn?
As Eric Stephens of The Athletic writes, Anaheim could try to get Nikolaj Ehlers or Brock Boeser, but beyond those guys to help with goal scoring, the Ducks could go down the trade route and move the No. 10 overall pick. That is an option Pat Verbeek could choose to do to get a player like Martin Necas from Colorado or JJ Peterka from Buffalo.
But Pat Verbeek and the Anaheim Ducks are not done shopping this offseason. Expect them to be active both in the NHL Draft and in free agency.
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