New season bring with them all sorts of surprises.
Even if you gave me 100 guesses, I wouldn’t have come up with Mikko Rantanen as the points leader to date. Or how about the two New York teams holding the second and third spots in the Metro (seriously though, how the fuck are they doing it?! Aren’t the Rangers supposed to be rebuilders?). Let us also not forget about Vancouver and what their phenomenal rookie, Elias Pettersson, are accomplishing so far. Equally surprising through the first part of the season, the fall from grace for the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
Both clubs had Cup aspirations for this year after reaching the playoffs this past spring. Injuries have most certainly played a factor in why these two rank 31st and 30th in goal differential. Whether it’s the Ducks featuring an opening day roster with roughly a half dozen non-regular starters or the Kings losing Quick (shocker), both these franchises have been put in tough situations due to injury bug deciding to call SoCal it’s home.
Despite finding themselves in similar situations, the cross town rivals have reacted quite differently. LA, and more specifically Rob Blake, took the nuclear route by dumping John Stevens in favor of Willie Desjardins, essentially a glorified babysitter for this season. He’s also traded Carl Hagelin for Tanner Pearson to try and “shake things up.” All of this is in an effort to extend his time calling the shots.
Let’s not get it twisted though, this situation is entirely on Blake. You’d think that after almost a half decade of Johnathan Quick having lower body issues you’d go out and secure a backup who can carry the load. Instead, he fires his coach and makes minor tweaks. I mean, why the fuck did they trade for Dion Phaneuf?! He’s also done what every other general manager in North American sports does after winning a championship; overpaid. Primary example, Dustin Brown. He’s been super underwhelming since 8-year contract kicked in, but the man got paid and I can’t knock that hustle.
In contrast, Bob Murray has been a glacier. He somehow continues to trust in Randy Carlyle and a roster that is aging. The organization has been great at churning out defensemen and Murray deserves all the credit in the world for that but they still can’t get any reinforcements up front for Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell. Yes, I didn’t include Corey Perry; he’s essentially retired considering the amount of production he gives between IR stints.
Both these teams have major flaws, and despite their success over the last several years, they would do well to strip things down and look at a quick rebuild. This years draft figures to have some game changing talent and young talent is exactly the elixir both need.