"Mikael Granlund has been a consistent point producer over the last couple of seasons, but the metrics never align with the counting totals. Perhaps that's the product of playing on some bad teams, but he was a net-negative for the Dallas Stars after last season's trade deadline. Chris Kreider is the wild card for the Ducks. What does he have left in the tank after a final season with the New York Rangers that was a struggle?"
"His skating and production dropped off during the 2024-25 campaign, so there's reason to believe he may be in decline. What do the Ducks do behind Lukas Dostal, too? Petr Mrazek or Ville Husso are highly unlikely to be upgrades over John Gibson, so that's a concern as well. I expect the Ducks to be in the 85-90 point range by the end of the season because of internal growth, but their offseason feels like a missed opportunity."
"Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson weren't good fits, so moving on from them was the right thing to do. But the Oilers could miss Connor Brown and Corey Perry, who were key parts of their bottom six. Andrew Mangiapane is a ways off from his 30-goal days with the Calgary Flames, but he's still a solid middle-six forward. Could his production take a jump if he becomes a fixture alongside Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid? It's possible."
The 2025 NHL offseason featured limited roster movement, leaving several teams with underwhelming upgrades. The Anaheim Ducks should improve internally but added few impactful pieces; Granlund offers counting stats without matching metrics, Chris Kreider shows signs of decline, and goaltending depth behind Lukas Dostal remains a concern, projecting the team near 85–90 points. The Edmonton Oilers remain contenders but made muted additions; moving on from Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson fixed fit issues, yet losing depth contributors like Connor Brown and Corey Perry could weaken the bottom six. Andrew Mangiapane provides middle-six scoring and could benefit from playing with elite centers.
Read at The Hockey Writers
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]