The Anaheim Ducks took an interesting step last weekend as GM Pat Verbeek Head coach Greg Cronin from his duties as a head coach with a year to do.
Similar to what happened in Seattle last season with Dave Hakstol, the moment of shooting was strange. The Anaheim Ducks made a jump of 21 points in the standings. Normally, a coach is not dismissed after this kind of jump. However, it seems that Verbeek's comments after the dismissal that a new voice was necessary, and they wanted to change things.
“I followed this process, as I always did, and I started to look at things. When we probably got out of the image of the playoffs, I started to really start to look more closely, and obviously there were concerns “,” Verbeek said to the media. “And then I got closer to the end of the season, all the evaluations, it's a bit when I really decided to make the change and I decided that it was the right time to take this team in a different direction and with a different voice.”
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Although there was no drama on the ice, Verbeek can indicate the power game and the killing, which mainly fall on the assistant or the associated coaches. We all know the underlying problem. The players did not want to play for him. There is information that he was too hard with them despite the success they have known this season and the culture he has brought to the team.
Again, nothing was confirmed, but there was a feeling that this year's team players won despite Conin, not because of him. And the only thing the Ducks had to decide is if it was a potential superstar in Trevor Zegras or the head coach. Usually the player wins this battle.
Although Verbeek did not give Zegras approval after the announcement of Cronin's departure.
“When the players are in these circumstances, you take things from year to year. I will look to see how each of them occurs and take the entire course of the season to decide where we are going ”, Said Verbeek. “These are quality hockey players. We have a lot of quality hockey players in our system, so there will be a lot of things that will happen and we will have to understand this and assess this at the appropriate time. ”
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We know the story of Verbeek and Zegras and the long dispute on the signing of a bridge agreement there are two seasons. In addition, we talked about the ducks moving it to the recovery of the NHL 2024. So Zegras may not be a guy Pat Verbeek, as he sees it Mctavish And Lukas obtained As important parts for the franchise to move forward.
“These are very important players for our organization, and the most difficult thing will be to understand what contracts look like. We will therefore go through our reasonable diligence “,” Said Verbeek. “Obviously, we have a lot of time to work on this subject and the off -season is just starting, and I had conversations with the two agents before the end of the season, so we will just take a genre where we stopped before. I also talked to two young players and they are excited.”
One thing that has stood out is that Verbeek admits that it will be aggressive this summer, similar to last summer. Could he far away John Gibson. It looks like its name has been there for many years. But the big point to remember is that he thinks that the Ducks are ready to make the playoffs next year.
“I expect it to be very active and aggressive. I think I see this team at a time when my expectation of this team is to make the playoffs next season “,” Said Verbeek. “I expect our group to take a step and I will therefore be active and aggressive to improve our team.”
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The only problem with the latter is that the Pacific division is very good. The three best teams will be Edmonton, Vegas and Los Angeles. We see what the flames of Calgary do. San Jose Sharks are increasing. Of course, the great stranger is the Seattle Kraken. In addition, the central division always has its group teams, and many people expect Nashville to be better. The playoffs are a section.
Anaheim will turn to David Carle from Denver University as a potential adjustment for their next coach. It would be the right adjustment. Maybe a guy like Jeff HalpernAlso. But the Ducks are trying to reshape their team.
The key is for the Anaheim ducks is the vision or the message, because at the moment, it does not feel like having one.
