Jimmybigrigs69 464 Report post Posted June 27 (edited) Obviously, as Wings fans I know which way everyone leans, but I think the Quackers are an interesting comparison considering that Verbeek spent his entire managerial career as a student of Yzerman's, and took on a rebuilding team in a state very similar to the Wings when Yzerman took over. SY is now heading into his 7th draft/free-agency as Red Wings GM. 3 years ahead of Verbeek's Ducks build. Verbeek has so far taken a similar approach to Yzerman. Hunting for value trades in the early years, and bringing in placeholders like Trouba, Gudas, Killorn, and Kreider to insulate his prospects. Verbeek also wasnt afraid to unload young core pieces like Zegras and Drysdale in exchange for things he wants, much like SY did with Mantha, Hronek, and Bertuzzi. He also committed term and dollars to his best player in Troy Terry, much like SY did with Dylan Larkin. Further, he's already on his 3rd coach much like SY. He expelled Eakins (Blash) in favor of a rookie coach in Cronin (Lalonde) and is now going with a vet in Coach Q (McLellan). And both SY and Verbeek drafted exactly 11 times in the first 2 rounds in their first 3 years. Some differences though... Verbeek has not committed term to his insulating veterans like SY did with Chiarot (4), JTC (5), and Copp (5). He handed Killorn a 4 year deal, but that's the only one. As a result his rosters structure looks much leaner and more flexible than ours. That could change on July 1st this year, but remains to be seen. Sure, on paper his roster looks much worse than ours... but the results arent much different. The Ducks are picking only 3 picks higher than us in the first round this year. The Ducks also now have Coach Q. Despite the obvious unrelated to hockey concerns that kept Q out of the league until this coming season, I'd say they now have a coaching advantage over the Wings. And Q has some very young weapons he can imprint on in Anaheim in McTavish, Gauthier, Minty, Luneau, Zellweger, and Carlsson - all being 22 or younger... the only 22 or youngers on the Wings are Edvinsson and Kasper. I think one could say SY wasted a little more time than Verbeek fooling around with coaches like Blash/Lalonde in Raymond and Seiders early years. In this pseudo-race I've manufactured between the Ducks/Wings, this offseason will be a big one. Wings fans are discussing buying out several players - Verbeek hasnt put the Ducks in a position to have the same concerns (yet). Verbeek has a lot more cap space than us and could go out and make big moves to help his young team. And if he does that, and SY does very little (which I sorta expect), I could see the Ducks potentially catching us, or moving past us, in the standings. Especially because I think the difference between Cronin and Q is VASTLY wider than the difference between Lalonde and Mclellan IMO. I expect Ducks young players who toiled under Cronin to take big leaps forward this year. Thoughts? Edited June 27 by Jimmybigrigs69 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LeftWinger 5,152 Report post Posted June 27 My thoughts are the Ducks for sure. They're young talent is better than ours. At this pace the Yzerplan is moving, I'll never see another Cup in my life. He is wasting Larkin's career. 1 Motor City Mullets reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jimmybigrigs69 464 Report post Posted June 27 2 hours ago, LeftWinger said: My thoughts are the Ducks for sure. They're young talent is better than ours. At this pace the Yzerplan is moving, I'll never see another Cup in my life. He is wasting Larkin's career. Thing is, Ducks already have a lot of Verbeeks 2nd rd picks already on the roster. They arent blowing up the league or anything, but they did qualify for an NHL roster. With 3 more years to do, SY has only gotten 1 of his 2nds on to the roster. Ajo, who was drafted 6 fuqqin years ago. 1 LeftWinger reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
