The Ohio Battery

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Ducks swing blockbuster on eve of season opener

Acquire Laine from Blue Jackets

CBJ: Patrik Laine, 2023 2nd round pick
ANA: Josh Mahura, Sam Steel, Max Jones, Kevin Shattenkirk, 2023 1st round pick

It didn't take long for new Ducks GM Kevin Weekes to swing a potential franchise altering trade, as he acquired Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets, in exchange for multiple assets.

While Laine's career has seen multiple highs and lows, the 23 year old adds a dynamic, offensive presence to the team that they haven't seen in years. Future contract concerns, questions about his work ethic, and extremely poor numbers defensively may have brought the price down, but there's no denying that the Ducks are serious about building a contender.

Heading to Columbus are the Ducks first 3 selections from the 2016 draft. Jones, Steel and Mahura all bring a level of upside to the Blue Jackets, although they hadn't quite developed as hoped in Anaheim. A fresh start and increased role could very well be what the doctor ordered for the 3 young NHLers. Mahura seemed to be the prize in Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen's eyes, as the 23 year old has shown flashes of Shea Theodore, but has yet to do it consistently.

Also included in the deal was 32 year old right handed defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk. Shatty has had an excellent career to date, and his inclusion shows that the Blue Jackets aren't quite ready to pack it in at this point. He'll join the top 4 in Columbus, and is under contract until 2023.

The picks are where the deal gets interesting. Giving up a 1st round pick seemed like a given for the Ducks, but Weekes managing to bring back a 2nd from Columbus should register as a win. The potential for Laine to be unwilling to sign an extension seems to be the issue.

The deal appears to have come together very quickly, but Weekes confirmed that he does expect Laine in the lineup for opening night tomorrow against the Jets. Coincidentally, this will be his first game against the team that drafted him.

Other news-Kane returns to Buffalo: In a surprising move, Evander Kane has signed a 1 year deal with the Buffalo Sabres. The 30 year old scored 20 or more goals in all three seasons that he previously played with the Sabres. While this deal might come as a surprise, it's similar to the Taylor Hall signing last year. Hall signed with the Sabres to try and rebuild value. The Sabres couldn't capitalize on the trade market though, as Hall had a NMC, and only waived it for the Bruins. Kane will not have have any trade protection.

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Ducks win opener against Jets

Laine scores first as a Duck, Rakell puts up 3 points

ANA 4 vs. WPG 2

Patrik Laine's debut came as advertised for the Ducks, scoring a highlight reel goal less than two minutes in, off a beautiful saucer pass from rookie Trevor Zegras.

Laine, acquired less than 24 hours before puck drop, played on a line with Zegras and veteran Rickard Rakell in the opener. Rakell, a pending UFA at the end of the season, picked up 3 assists during the contest.

The Ducks led 2-0 after the first period, and 3-2 through two, with captain Ryan Getzlaf and defenceman Josh Manson scoring for the home side.

Ducks goaltender John Gibson wasn't tested often, but made two highlight reel saves in the final minutes, before rookie Jamie Drysdale added an empty netter to put the game on ice.

By the numbers: Drysdale led all Ducks in icetime, playing 29:56.

Up next: The Ducks host Minnesota, then head to Canada for a 3 game set against Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, before heading across the border for a rematch against the Wild.

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Ducks split Alberta roadtrip, win 4 of 5

ANA 4 vs. MIN 2: Jamie Drysdale scored 2 goals, and Anthony Stolarz stopped 25 of 27 shots to keep the Ducks undefeated to start the year.
*Rickard Rakell injured-Will miss 3-4 games.

ANA 5 @ CGY 2: A nasty hit to the head of top pairing defenceman Hampus Lindholm set the table for a feisty, fight filled game. Players dropped the mitts 4 separate times, in a game that saw a combined 102 penalty minutes assessed. Patrik Laine continued his hot start, picking up 2 goals and an assist, as the Ducks move to start the season at 3-0-0.
**Hampus Lindholm injured: Out for up to a month.

ANA 4 @ EDM 5: A controversial finish had Ducks players steaming, as Edmonton hands them their first loss of the season. A questionable goal by the Oilers with 3 minutes left, where it was evident that there was goaltender contact, turned out to be the winner. The Ducks put the pressure on immediately after the goal, but ended up taking two questionable penalties in the final minutes, finishing the game with only three skaters on the ice. Anthony Stolarz wasn't sharp, but he also wasn't given much help, as four of the five Oilers goals were scored on second chance efforts.

ANA 3 @ WPG 2: Patrik Laine haunted his former team once again, scoring twice against the Jets. Laine's hot start has Ducks fans reminiscing of a another goal scoring Finn that they once had-Teemu Selanne.

ANA 4 @ MIN 1: Ladies and gentlemen, Patrik Laine has arrived. Laine scored his 8th goal in only 6 games for the Ducks, as the young team took out the Wild for a 2nd time this year. John Gibson had been relatively average through 3 starts coming into this one, but was outstanding, stopping 33 of 34 shots, many of which were from high scoring areas.

By the Numbers: Hot starts by Laine (8 G, 2 A), Jamie Drysdale (5 G, 2 A), and Trevor Zegras (1 G, 5 A) have the Ducks flying at 5-1-0 to start the year.

Record Watch: With 3 points in his first 6 games, Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf now sits only 3 points back of Teemu Selanne's team record of 988 points. With 5 of their next 6 at home, Ducks fans might get the chance to witness the record at Honda Center.

Up Next: The Ducks host the Jets and Sabres, before heading for a short trip to Vegas. They then return home to Honda Center to host Montreal and New Jersey.

Roster moves:
*-Rickard Rakell injured, Ducks recall forward Sam Carrick.
**-Hampus Lindholm placed on IR, Ducks recall defenceman Simon Benoit.

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Hampus Lindholm signs 6 year, $32.4 million extension

While he won't return to the ice until mid-November, the Hampus Lindholm was keen to remove any doubt about his future as in a Ducks uniform. The defenceman agreed to a 6 year extension, with an average annual value of $5.4 million.

While the AAV might seem low, questions about Lindholm's durability have followed him through his NHL career. The 27 year old has missed significant time in 4 of the past 5 seasons, including only suiting up for 18 games in 2021.

Executives from 3 seperate teams who chose not to be identified were quite surprised at the early extension, as most expected Lindholm to play out the season to rebuild some of his value. That's not the case, as the left side of the Ducks top pair is now under contract through the 2028 season.

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Updated Ducks lines:

Laine-Zegras-Terry
Henrique-Getzlaf-Rakell
Comtois-Lundestrom-Silfverberg
Milano-Grant-Deslauriers

Fowler-Drysdale
Larsson-Manson
Guhle-Pateryn

Gibson
Stolarz

Scratches: Benoit, Carrick, Robinson

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Ducks hot start overshadowed by lack of defensive depth

While shipping defencemen Josh Mahura and Kevin Shattenkirk out to acquire Patrik Laine has paid off in spades for the Ducks, an early season injury to defenceman Hampus Lindholm has quickly shown that the Ducks lack quality replacements on the back end.

Brendan Guhle and Jacob Larsson have both played adequately to start the season, but both were waived and passed over by the other 30 teams in the league within the last calendar year. 31 year old Greg Pateryn has also flip flopped between the NHL and AHL throughout his career, and doesn't appear to be a viable long term option for the Ducks. 26 year old Brogan Rafferty seems to have the offensive tools, but struggles in the area that the Ducks need help-his own end.

Larsson, the 24 year old former 1st round pick has never quite hit on his potential coming out of the 2015 draft, putting up poor possession numbers, and posting over four times as many giveaways as takeaways so far in his career.

What does this mean for the resurgent Ducks? It's really a question of "When", not "If" as to whether the Ducks hit the trade market again to try and upgrade their defence. When healthy, the Ducks present a relatively strong top 4 that can cover for a below average bottom pairing. If they want to be competitive though, they'll need to upgrade sooner rather than later.

Who's available? Looking back on our top trade targets list, we listed Jacob Chychrun, Travis Dermott, Justin Holl, Justin Faulk, and PK Subban as potential targets.

With Lindholm signed to a long term extension, we feel it's safe to cross Chychrun off that list. The remaining 4 offer some up side, but with the Leafs and Blues out to strong starts, Dermott, Holl and Faulk wouldn't likely be available without an upgrade going the other way, which the Ducks obviously don't have at this time.

Reports earlier this week made it clear that the Ducks were not currently negotiating on an extension with Josh Manson, which raises further question marks about the future of this defence core. Manson, a long time fixture with the Ducks, will be a free agent this summer.

The Arizona Coyotes are in the early stages of a rebuild, and while Chychrun might not be the right target, the expiring contracts of either Anton Stralman or Ilya Lyubushkin could make sense as short term fixes for the Ducks.

The Florida Panthers ended up paying handsomely to shed Stralman's cap hit just a couple of months ago. The 35 year old defenceman was a cap casualty for the Panthers, which resulted in them effectively paying two 2nd round draft picks to dump the remaining year of his contract. He has consistently played 20+ minutes a night, and puts up reasonable possession numbers. While the Ducks missed out on acquiring assets with him this offseason, it shouldn't cost much for them to acquire him today.

Lyubushkin may not be a household name to most, but he plays a similar game to former Duck Jani Hakanpaa, who signed a 3 year deal with the Dallas Stars this offseason. The right handed defenceman averages around 16 minutes a night, but often finds himself playing the tough matchups in his own end.

While the Ducks could wait it out and see branches shake at the deadline, it's clear that even though they've started 5-1-0, there are still a number of holes on this team.

Is there anyone in the system that could fill in? I feel like this would be the opportune time to insert the Michael Scott "NO!" GIF.

Looking at the Ducks system, they do have a few high(er) profile prospects in their ranks, but the closest to NHL ready (Henry Thrun, Jackson LaCombe) would likely require a full season in the AHL before they actually get a sniff, and the earliest that would happen would be after this years NCAA season concludes.

Final thoughts: At the end of the day, it's more about raising the floor for the Ducks than it is about raising the ceiling. Lacombe and Thrun, as well as 2021 draft picks Olen Zellweger and Tyson Hinds offer some upside in the future, but none of them are close to being NHL regulars at this point.

The Patrik Laine trade showed the GM Kevin Weekes was serious about moving this team forward, but it seems unlikely that he'd go all-in and potentially mortgage the future this early into the season.

It's not necessarily even targetting a top 4 option. There are plenty of bottom pairing defencemen out there that can reliably play up and down in the lineup. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be something that the Ducks currently have, unless we witness a surprising breakout from one of Guhle or Larsson.

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Ducks keep rolling, move to 7-1-0

Stolarz shuts out Winnipeg, Gibby solid against Buffalo

ANA 6 vs. WPG 0 Anthony Stolarz shut down a high powered Jets offence through two periods, before the Ducks pulled away in the 3rd. Patrik Laine scored his 4th goal in 3 games against the Jets this season, his 9th of the year, and the Ducks offence continued to surprise.

ANA 4 vs. BUF 2 Another game, another Patrik Laine goal. The Ducks star winger now has 10 goals and 4 assists through 8 games to start the year. Rookie center Trevor Zegras picked up his 2nd of the season, and the Ducks lead the Pacific for the first time in 3 years.

By the Numbers: Laine, Zegras, Drysdale, and Rickard Rakell have all been point per game or better players this season. Rakell has yet to score, but has 7 assists through 6 games.

Record Watch: Against Buffalo, Ryan Getzlaf picked up an assist on Adam Henrique's 200th goal, recording his 6th point of the season, putting him into a tie with Teemu Selanne for the Ducks all time scoring record, with 988 points as a Duck.

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Ducks solidify defence, acquire Stralman from Yotes

35 year old set to join Anaheim against Vegas

ANA: Brendan Guhle
ARI: Anton Stralman, Ilya Fedotov

Rookie Ducks GM Kevin Weekes keeps swinging to try to keep this team above water. On Wednesday, he added veteran defenceman Anton Stralman from the Coyotes to help bring a solid presence to the back end.

While trading away young defenceman Brendan Guhle may not have been ideal when it comes to actual defensive depth, Stralman is a clear upgrade that the Ducks can afford to fit as they continue to compete early this season.

Guhle, the 24 year old defenceman who came over as part of the package for Brandon Montour in 2019, leaves the organization after logging 44 games in a Ducks uniform. This season, he had suited up in all 8 games, averaging just over 16 minutes a night.

For Arizona, the end result from acquiring the Stralman contract from Florida in the offseason effectively becomes 2019 2nd rounder Vladislav Kolyachonok, a 2024 2nd round pick and Brendan Guhle, in exchange for 18 year old Ilya Fedotov and a 7th round pick.

Fedotov, a Russian left winger, was the Coyotes 43rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. A speedy playmaker, Fedotov picked up 9 points (1 G, 8 A) in 5 games in the Russian junior league, and has 2 goals in 35 games so far in the KHL.

The inclusion of Fedotov is somewhat surprising, given that the Yotes passed on Guhle when he was waived last season, but Guhle's early season strides have shown that he has the potential to be an NHL caliber defenceman.

Arizona, currently in the early stages of a rebuild, have 8 picks in the first 2 rounds of the 2022 NHL draft, and clearly saw Fedotov as an extra part, as they shed nearly $5 million off of their payroll for this season. Guhle adds a controllable asset moving forward for the Coyotes, as they currently only have 6 roster players under contract for next year with 6 additional RFA's to tender contracts to, including Guhle.

By the Numbers: Arizona currently has $30.26 million in contract obigations for next season, with over $50 million in cap space. The Ducks currently sit with an estimated $72 mil cap hit so far this season.

Roster Move: Anaheim claimed Scott Harrington off waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The defenceman is in the final year of his contract, and has a cap hit of $1.633 mil.