3 Anaheim Ducks Who Will Regress In 2024-25

The Anaheim Ducks are hoping to be better this season than the team was in 2023-24. That should be made possible with the integrations of the younger players into the lineup in larger roles. With that, some other players will be playing less and in different roles, leading to worse seasons. With that, these are three Ducks who are set to regress this season.

Frank Vatrano

Frank Vatrano exploded for a career year last season with 37 goals and 60 points. His career high in goals before last season was 24 from 2018-19 and career high in points was 41 from 2022-23. This should be seen as an outlier season, and even though I don't expect him to return to a much lower point total, he should find it difficult to break 30 goals and 50 points. He will probably have younger linemates and his shooting percentage last season was 2.8% higher than his career average.

Ryan Strome

Ryan Strome isn't going to play as big of a role this season. He served as a middle-6 player in 2023-24, but will likely play more on the third line this upcoming season. Strome had his lowest goal total in a season since 2015-16 and his ice time has dropped in each of the past three seasons. His power-play time is going to diminish and his overall production has just been decreasing by the season.

Brett Leason

Brett Leason is going to get bumped to the fourth line this season and play less than 13 minutes per game. The 25-year-old scored just 15 points in 90 games prior to last season before recording 11 goals and 22 points in 68 games. While he is at an age where he should be getting better and learning the NHL, there is more talent on the Ducks this season and he will find it tough to once again hit the 10-goal, 20-point mark, even if he does play a full season. There are a lot of mouths to feed and the top-9 doesn't look that bad for the Ducks. When it did last season, that's when Leason got his playing time and took advantage of it.