Anaheim Ducks Looking At Defense-First Path To Success In Future

The saying, 'Offense wins games. Defense wins championships' holds true a lot of the time. Defense is what the glory days of the Anaheim Ducks brought to the table. There were some very good goalies, a great defensive group, and strong two-way forwards. The way this Ducks team is looking, that might have to be the path to success if any is to be had in the future for this team.

The Ducks began the season pretty well, but have fallen down the standings quickly by losing seven of their last 10. With a young team that they have, the great goaltending of Lukas Dostal can only take them so far. The offense hasn't been able to help out at all and it is a bit of a concern moving forward.

While Anaheim is very much still in a rebuild, more steps should be shown by the young players who will not only be taking over the offense/team in the future, but are doing so right now.

Once thought to be a superstar in the making, Trevor Zegras has not been the same since year three and has just one goal and three points in 14 games. Cutter Gauthier was thought to have the ability to step right into the NHL from the NCAA and score, but has no goals and five assists through 14 games as well.

Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn have taken a step back as expected, combining for three goals and eight points in the top-6, but Robby Fabbri has just two assists to add to that. There are some of the young forwards who are at least pulling their weight with Troy Terry (five goals, 11 points), Mason McTavish (two goals, eight points), and Leo Carlsson (five goals, seven points), but the defensemen have been invisible offensively.

Olen Zellweger leads the Ducks' defense in points with four and only Brian Dumoulin (three points) has more than two. Cam Fowler and Pavel Mintyukov, both expected to be leading the defense offensively, have two points a piece and have been disappointing.

Overall, if it weren't for Dostal breaking out into a number one goalie with a 2.73 GAA and .922 SV% through 11 games, the Ducks would be in 32nd in the league. While rebuilding, it is better to finish the worst and have the best chance at the best player, but the young players and team have to show improvement as well.

The Ducks have been out of the playoff picture for seven years now, so even with all of the talent, it is getting concerning. The team better hope Dostal/John Gibson can keep up this play in net beyond this season, the forwards learn and improve at two-way hockey, and some players start to break out offensively or this is going to be a much longer and treacherous road than it has to be.