Nick Jehamy| January 5th, 2020
We have hit 2020 and with the turn of the new decade, we here at The Scorecrow are putting together our All-Decade teams for each franchise. So who made the All-Decade team for the Anaheim Ducks? Let’s take a look.
The All-Decade team consists of a full team of skaters; four forward lines, three defensive lines, and two goaltenders. My criteria for choosing who made the team is a mixture of historical significance and statistical performance.
Forwards
First Line
Ryan Getzlaf, Center, 2006-2020
Getzlaf was the easiest placement on this list. The franchise leader in games played, career playoff goals and assists, and in the argument for the best skater to ever play for the franchise. Getzlaf played throughout the whole decade having multiple 50 assists and 70 point seasons. Statistically and historically Getzlaf is the leader of this All-Decade team.
Bobby Ryan, Left Wing, 2007-2013
Left Wing is one of the Ducks’ deepest positions for the decade, I had an issue picking the four who would represent the Ducks on the All-Decade team. The first two are very close and almost interchangeable, so I went with historical significance to break the tie which is why Bobby Ryan is on the first line. Three straight years in the decade Ryan played at least 81 games and scored over 30 goals each season.
Corey Perry, Right Wing, 2006-2019
Another no-brainer on this first line is Corey Perry. All First Team in both 2011 and 2014 as well as Maurice Richard Trophy winner and Hart Memorial Trophy winner in 2011. Perry is the Ducks leading goal scorer through the last decade with 254 regular-season goals and 20 post-season goals.
Second Line
Ryan Kesler, Center, 2014-2019
Kesler played for the Ducks for five years after a whole decade with the Vancouver Canucks. Kesler produced 180 points as a Duck in the last decade and was dominant in the 2015 and 2017 playoffs for Anaheim. His last two regular seasons were somewhat disappointing but in his first three, he impacted the team greatly enough to get him on the second line.
Andrew Cogliano, Left Wing, 2011-2019
Cogliano arguably could have been put on the first line. In seven full seasons with the ducks (the final season was sent to Dallas midway through), Cogliano played in at least 80 games in six of them. Cogliano was a defining factor of the Anaheim Ducks this past decade scoring over 100 goals and assists.
Rickard Rakell, Right Wing, 2012-present
Rakell played both wings in his time with the Ducks, so with the depth at left wing I made an executive decision and threw him in with the right-wingers. Rakell has spent his whole career in Anaheim and has improved year by year. In 200 fewer games, Rakell has almost the exact same numbers as Cogliano in goals and assists. This year Rakell is on pace to put up another 50 point season.
Third Line
Saku Koivu, Center, 2009-2014
Koivu spent the last five years of his 18-year career with the Ducks. His numbers were not spectacular and not up to par to compared to earlier in his career, but Koivu brought his veteran leadership to the Ducks and still produced similar numbers to that of Ryan Kessler, the second-line center on this list.
Jakob Silfverberg, Left Wing, 2013-present
Silfverberg has spent seven of his eight years in the league with the Anaheim Ducks. Posting double-digit goals and assists every season on the team so far, he is on pace this season to breaks his season highs in both goals and assists. Silfverberg brought consistency to the Ducks as even in the playoffs he has been a solid performer for the franchise, producing 41 points in 57 games played. There are many left wingers deserving to be on this list but his consistent statistical performance in addition to his tenure on the team gave him this spot on the third line.
Teemu Selanne, Right Wing, 1995-2001 & 2005-2014
Selanne had a very long and successful career in the National Hockey League. The right wing position isn’t the strongest this decade for the Ducks, so placing the Ducks all-time goals and points leader on here was a no-brainer. With only four seasons in the decade though that weren’t all at the same level as earlier in his career, Selanne is put on the third line. If this was the Ducks all-time team though Selanne would be right up at the top.
Fourth Line
Adam Henrique, Center, 2017-present
Henrique may be newer to the franchise with this being only his third season, but Henrique has proved to be a vital asset to the franchise as of late. With many injuries to some of the team’s bigger names, Henrique has been someone the team relies on upfront and deserves to at least pull up the end of this list.
Nick Ritchie, Left Wing, 2016-present
Ritchie is another young player who has spent his whole career with the Ducks. He has not had the best statistical performance with the team but he is an above-average piece of the puzzle who still is on the Ducks roster.
Ondrej Kase, Right Wing, 2016-2019
As I said when talking about Selanne, the right wing position isn’t the strongest this decade in-depth for the Ducks. That being said, Kase took the fourth line spot through statistical performance, being the next best at the position in goals, assists, and points during the decade.
Defenseman
First Line
Cam Fowler, 2010-present
Similar to Getzlaf and Perry, Fowler was an automatic bid for the first line on the All-Decade team. Fowler’s career has literally been the decade, playing for the Ducks from 2010 to the present. The defenseman’s play this decade has placed him sixth in assists and points in franchise history, making him one of the two best defenders in Ducks history.
Hampus Lindholm, 2013-present
Making the All-Rookie team in 2013 with the Ducks, Lindholm has been consistent since then in his time with Anaheim playing his whole career with the Ducks. Lindholm has 49 goals and 139 assists in the decade, second only to Fowler.
Second Line
Sami Vatanen, 2012-2018
Vatanen started his NHL career in 2012 with the Ducks. He just edged out our two third liners statistically having better numbers than the two with 126 points in the decade for the Ducks.
Francois Beauchemin, 2005-2009 & 2010-2015 & 2017-2018
Beauchemin made the all-star team while playing for the Ducks in the 2013-2014 season while also being third in the league in defensive point shares. He was decent for the Ducks during his first stint with them, but after his one year with the Maple Leafs, he came back even better his second time around with the team, almost winning the Norris trophy (fourth in voting) during the 2013 season for the Ducks.
Third Line
Josh Manson, 2014-present
Manson has been with the Ducks since 2014 and has improved little by little each year. The 2017 season was his best, third in the league in plus-minus with 34, and second in defensive point shares. Manson has proven to be an asset defensively to the Ducks as of late and well-deserving of taking a spot on this list.
Brandon Montour, 2016-2019
There weren’t too many strong choices to round out the last defensive spot, with all those left Montour was the easy choice. Montour played three straight seasons with at least 80 games played and produced a minimum of 20 assists in each.
Goaltenders
John Gibson, 2013-present
Gibson leads the team in both wins and save percentage in the last decade. Gibson holds the franchise’s best and fifth-best season in goals-against average, as well as the second-best season in shutouts, fourth-best single-season record for saves, and second and third-best single-season records for save percentage. Basically, the numbers speak for itself.
Jonas Hiller, 2007-2014
Hiller has 129 of his 162 wins during this decade for the Ducks. Hiller had a ridiculous season for the Ducks in 2011, playing in a crazy 73 games, which he was awarded by being voted into the All-Star Game. This decade for the Ducks Hiller never dropped below a .910 save percentage and kept his GAA under a 2.75 every season.
Honorable Mentions
Here are a few honorable mentions of players at each position group that just missed out on making the Ducks All-Decade team.
Frederik Andersen, Goaltender, 2013-2016
Anderson started his career in Anaheim and statistically performed as one of the best in the league. In his final season with the organization, he won the William Jennings Trophy. Anderson could have edged out Hiller, but in historical significance, Hiller’s impact outweighed Anderson’s statistical performance.
Pat Maroon, Left Wing, 2012-2016
Maroon started his career with the Ducks, although early on in his career he didn’t put up the greatest numbers in the regular season, his postseason play was spectacular in his two playoff runs with the Anaheim Ducks. It gave me a choice to make on the fourth line, but I decided to go with the player who has spent slightly more time with the franchise and put up more consistent numbers.
Lubomir Visnovsky, Defenseman, 2013-2016
Not with the Ducks for long, Visnovsky’s short time with the franchise produced his best career season in 2010. His one season statistical feat though was not enough to overthrow players who were more consistent for the franchise over time.
Questions and comments?
thescorecrowsports@gmail.com
Follow Us on Twitter @thescorecrow
Follow Us on Reddit at u/TheScorecrow
Follow Us on Facebook at The Scorecrow
Follow Us on Instagram at The Scorecrow
Facebook Group where you can read and post articles at The Scorecrow
Reddit Group where everyone can post without fear of being banned at The Scorecrow
Follow Nick Jehamy on Twitter @NickJ56
Main Image Credit: [getty src=”1130410181″ width=”594″ height=”396″ tld=”com”]
