The Need to Knows
- The Time: 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET
- The Place: Honda Center in Anaheim, CA
- Where to Watch: KHN, KONG, Victory+ (Anaheim), ESPN+ (out-of-market)
- Where to Listen: Kraken Hockey Network on KJR 93.3
Know Your Enemy
Some teams in the Pacific Division feel fated to flounder around at the bottom of the sea with no real hope to come back up for air in the foreseeable future, and the Ducks are one of them. It’s been a while since the team has seen any glimpse of real success, and when you start to think that maybe their young talent will start to bring things around for them, it all seems to fall through.
For starters, people have been speculating a Trevor Zegras trade for a while now (especially after Jaime Drysdale was traded, but I’ll have more on that in a second), but the rumors are picking up more steam now. It was reported earlier this month by Victory+ rinkside reporter Alyson Lozoff during a game against the Wild that Zegras “hates the wing,” which is where the Ducks have had him play often this season, and would greatly prefer playing center. To so outwardly tell a reporter his frustration in how he’s been deployed, especially in a league where players usually don’t rock the boat too much, is a “yikes” moment to me! Of course, this could also all mean nothing and Zegras remains with the Ducks for a long time, but he’s already appearing frequently on early season trade boards. It makes sense that people are eager to see a trade happen. Zegras thrilling the hockey world with his sheer offensive flash couldn’t have been just an early career fluke. If the Ducks seem to be draining the star power out of him, a trade might not only be best for him as a player, but for us as fans of the sport.
As for other young players to keep an eye on, Cutter Gauthier is one of them. The former Boston College standout found his way to the Ducks after refusing to sign an entry-level contract with the team who drafted him, the Philadelphia Flyers. When the news of the trade dropped back in January, it was like a blindside hit, because there had been no indication that there had been trouble brewing with one of Philadelphia’s top prospects. The Ducks were ready to pounce, and they sent defenseman Jamie Drysdale off to Philly in return. We might never actually know whose fingerprints were all over the decision for Gauthier to sour on the Flyers, but time will tell whether he made the right decision when he chose to exercise whatever agency he could over the direction of his playing career. While the trade itself isn’t exactly recent news, this season is the first time we’re seeing how bringing Gauthier into the fold works out for the Ducks. Gauthier’s had a slow start to his season, but he has since scored his first two NHL goals on November 15 and 18. Maybe it’s the start to him finally piecing something together.
Game Preview
Tonight marks the first part of a home-and-home series against the Ducks before the Kraken do another home-and-home against the Sharks. I’d say this is the NHL trying out baseball-style scheduling, but typically there’s less travel involved.
While the Kraken have been winning more as of late, such as a 3-0 win over the Predators on Wednesday night, this past week also saw the Kraken get shut out by the Rangers and lose in a near shut out to the Kings (everyone say thank you Brandon Montour for that late goal). On top of it, Vince Dunn is still out, Jordan Eberle won’t return to the lineup for three months, and Shane Wright keeps getting healthy scratched. Oh, and it’s inching ever closer to American Thanksgiving. It’s not an infallible rule, but the old adage goes that the teams who are in a playoff position by that date will most likely stay in that position by season’s end. The Kraken currently sit 3 points out of a playoff spot with Colorado and Edmonton holding the two wild cards. It’s not full doom and gloom for the Kraken, but it’s certainly not sunshine and rainbows either.
An opponent such as Anaheim should hopefully help the Kraken gain some points to keep them in this wild card chase. It’s also times like this that show the true resiliency of a team. I still remember in the Kraken’s inaugural season how it felt like the team didn’t start fully bottoming out until the injury to Brandon Tanev, like that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for that squad. But this isn’t that same team that had just been thrown together post-expansion. The Kraken have a chance to prove that this time, they can rally around long-term injuries. So far, they’ve been pushing through without Dunn in the lineup. They’ve only played one game since the official announcement of Eberle’s surgery, so we can start to see if Saturday’s loss was just a blip in the road or if it’s going to feel like history repeating itself.