Busy Day In Anaheim

Photo: http://www.suiteexperiencegroup.com

By Michael Walters

The Ducks suffered their franchise-worst 12th consecutive loss on Tuesday. As a result, Wednesday brought a flurry of activity that included several trades and roster moves after some injury news was announced.

Injury Updates:

Ryan Kesler placed on the injury reserve list. He appeared to take a hard check in the hip area.

Jakob Silfverberg was also placed on the injury reserve list. He took a hard hit into the boards and appeared to injure his ankle or knee.

Roster Moves:

Called Up:

Max Jones, Andrej Sustr, and Troy Terry.

Sent Down To San Diego:

Patrick Eaves, Jake Dotchin and Kiefer Sherwood. Eaves was sent to the Gulls on a conditioning loan.

Trades:

The Ducks made three trades today. The first involved Pontus Aberg being sent to Minnesota for Justin Kloos. The second involved Luke Schenn and a 2020 7th round pick being sent to Vancouver for Michael Del Zotto. The third trade saw Joseph Blandisi being sent to Pittsburgh in exchange for Derek Grant.

Aberg – Kloos

Aberg played in 37 games for Anaheim this season registering 19 total points(11 G + 8A). He led the Ducks in scoring for a good part of the season but fell out of favor with head coach Randy Carlyle. He felt that Aberg needed to bring his compete level up. Carlyle felt he was playing too much on the perimeter in the offensive zone and wasn’t backchecking enough. So the answer was to trade for Kloos, who has only played in one NHL game. He played in 34 games with the AHL Iowa Wild this season registering 30 total points(12 G + 18 A). They are both 25, but trading a player that has been effective offensively with one that has basically zero NHL experience isn’t the route many would take.

Schenn & 2020 7th round pick – Del Zotto

Schenn appeared in eight games with the Ducks, recording zero points and had an on-ice rating of -6. He was ineffective defensively allowing opponents to skate circles around him at will. Del Zotto has appeared in 23 games in Vancouver recording four total points(1 G + 3A). He is a slight upgrade from Schenn, which is likely why the Ducks threw in a 2020 7th round pick in the deal. The good news is Vancouver is retaining 25% of Del Zotto’s salary, but again this move isn’t going to help Anaheim very much, if at all.

Blandisi – Grant

Blandisi was currently playing in San Diego. He appeared in just three games in Anaheim this season, recording no points with an on-ice rating of -1. Grant who was with Anaheim last season for 66 games had 24 total points(12 G + 12A). This season in Pittsburgh he played in 25 games scoring two goals and adding three assists. The good news is Grant was effective with Anaheim and helps add to the team’s center depth. The bad news is his acquisition signals that Ryan Kesler is likely going to be out for some time.

Final Thoughts

These trades taken altogether probably aren’t going to do much to improve the situation in Anaheim. Trading for Grant could provide a boost for Anaheim especially if Kesler is out for a significant amount of time. Trading away Aberg on a team that is struggling to score goals is a head scratcher especially for an unproven player. Trading away Schenn due to his ineffectiveness makes sense, but it also cost Anaheim a draft pick in the process. The NHL trade deadline is still a month away, but more trades could be coming soon.

The Athletic’s Eric Stephens joined us on the podcast to talk about the State of Anaheim.

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January 17th, 2019