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After six straight years without a playoff appearance, the Anaheim Ducks are looking to take a step forward this season. While the team may be moving in the right direction though, progress to this point has been a little slow.

Over the last few years, despite their position, the Ducks actually did take some notable swings in free agency, adding John Klingberg, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Radko Gudas and Alex Killorn. So when July 1 rolled around this summer and the organization had an abundance of cap space at their disposal (and were looking to get more competitive), it seemed likely that the Ducks would bring in another major piece or two.

However, while reports did suggest the Ducks attempted to add a big name or two, ultimately, it didn’t get done. Instead, Anaheim remained quiet, with their only notable additions coming from other teams’ cap dumps, trading for Robby Fabbri and Brian Dumoulin.

While Fabbri and Dumoulin help to provide a little bit more depth, they aren’t going to move the needle at all. So ultimately, the team’s ability to take a step this season is going to come down to internal improvement, more than anything.

That said, there are some reasons for excitement. Trevor Zegras is coming off a really tough year, but assuming he can return to form, the team is essentially adding a top-six forward that they didn’t have available last season. Meanwhile, the hope would be that Troy Terry’s production can rebound as well, and both Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish should be expected to take another step down the middle.



Then of course, Cutter Gauthier is the x-factor. Likely expected to make the team out of training camp, Gauthier’s high offensive ceiling should immediately make the team’s top-six more dangerous. We don’t know how quickly he’ll adjust to the NHL, but there’s more upside with him than the majority of the rest of the forward group.

Filling out the top-nine, the Ducks actually look pretty decent depth-wise, with Alex Killorn, Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome, and now Fabbri as well. But it’ll be their young talent within the top-six that really influences the capability of their offense.

On the blue line, it’s somewhat of the same story. Pavel Mintyukov had a great rookie campaign, but there’s going to be a good amount of pressure put on him, along with other young defensemen in Jackson LaCombe, and likely Olen Zellweger.

New captain Radko Gudas should be as stable as ever, and Brian Dumoulin is a fine depth addition, but then we also don’t know Cam Fowler’s status. It’s been reported that the team and Fowler could be exploring trade options, which would leave the team without their longest-tenured defenseman if anything comes to fruition. Urho Vaakanainen (or even Tristan Luneau) could step in as a lineup regular, but the defense group still really isn’t that close yet to being a well-rounded unit. There are some really strong pieces in place, but there's still too much of a reliance on young talent.

Then in net, the Ducks already suffered a bit of a blow, with John Gibson likely out for the start of the season due to an emergency appendectomy. As a result, Lukas Dostal will be counted on to take a large role right away, and while he showed a lot of promise in his first full NHL season, much of the team’s success may also be attributed to what kind of a year the young netminder has.

Relying on young talent to take the next step isn’t a poor call by any means, given it’s the natural path to the Ducks having some sustained, long-term success. At the same time, what it means for their short-term chances at being more competitive remains up in the air. I think you could argue there still aren’t enough established veterans high enough in the lineup for the Ducks to really take a huge step this season.

It’s undeniable that Anaheim is moving in the right direction, it just seems it’s going slower than maybe anticipated a couple years ago. Early on last year, it looked like the Ducks could be getting over the hump, but that optimism quickly faded into another long season where the team was well out of the playoff race part-way through the year.

So we’ll see how much of a step the team’s young talent is able to take this season. The hope is that the Ducks can be more competitive as their key roster pieces get more experience under their belt, but the playoffs still probably remain a bit of a long shot.

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