Ducks turn `chaos into opportunity' after flurry of injuries and trades
When the Ducks and their opponent tonight, the Ottawa Senators, clashed in Canada's capital on Feb. 15, the Ducks won, 5-1, behind two goals from local product Mason McTavish.
McTavish will be out tonight due to a lower-body injury that has him in a walking boot. He'll join fellow top-10 picks Leo Carlsson (upper-body) and Trevor Zegras (ankle) in the press box.
For Ducks coach Greg Cronin, it's been another series of chances to transform “chaos into opportunity,” as he's fond of saying.
“These injuries and these absences create opportunities for guys. Organizationally, you can find a diamond in the rough when this happens,” Cronin said. “So, you don't change anything that you're coaching or how you coach, you just try to give these guys an opportunity and hold them to the same standard.”
The Ducks have also been without winger Brock McGinn for more than a month and, in addition to countless injuries, have also dealt with departures from their blue line via trade. Cronin said losing players was “part of the business,” including deals that sent away rearguards Jamie Drysdale and Ilya Lyubushkin for futures without “getting
a body back.”
They could be dealing with that reality again if faceoff-savvy forward Adam Henrique, who missed the net in the dying gasps of a 2-1 loss to Vancouver on Sunday, is shipped out as anticipated. He's the foremost among the Ducks players expected to be traded before Friday's noon deadline. Frank Vatrano, who leads the Ducks in goals and notched three points against the Senators, has also been a player of interest, albeit at what Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Monday would be a lofty price.
The defense corps as currently configured pairs the longest-tenured Duck, Cam Fowler — who took a puck to the face in San Jose, missed one game and then returned despite a laceration and swelling for the
Vancouver matchup — and its least-seasoned member, rookie Olen Zellweger.
“You get a D like (Zellweger) that moves the puck so well and skates so well, it opens a lot up, because they have to be aware of him on the ice,” Ducks veteran forward Alex Killorn said.
Cronin described Zellweger as a “weapon offensively” and on breakouts, saying his “ability to get up the ice and give you some offense at the blue line is something we desperately need.”
“He's so poised with (the puck), he's got his head up. When he comes out of a turn, he's already looking for where his options are and that speaks to his IQ on the ice,” Cronin said.
Cronin also praised waiver-wire pickup Gustav Lindström as another blueliner who's played “terrific” since his Jan. 15 Ducks debut. Lindström has posted a plus-10 rating, rapidly ascending the team leaderboard to trail only Radko Gudas (plus-15).
Zellweger, however, blended both maturity and skill that could be emulated by other Ducks defenders, despite his lack of experience.
“Zellweger's able to get across the blue line, he sees things, his head's up and he's able to give a little bit of misinformation to the shot-blockers, so he gets them to freeze and he slides it by him,” Cronin said. “Our other guys are still learning how to do that.”
Despite ostensibly being further along in their build, Ottawa is also still in the learning stages as it's endured a season in the Atlantic Division's basement. The Senators will lug a fourgame losing streak into tonight's match that has left them in danger of sinking to the bottom of the entire Eastern Conference, where they lead Columbus by a solitary point entering Tuesday's action. Germany's Tim Stützle paces them in scoring and could see some pieces ship out around him, including winger Vladimir Tarasenko, who is a pending free agent.
UP NEXT Today: Senators at Ducks, 7 p.m., BSW