Outlook:
Led by head coach Randy Carlyle, the Anaheim Ducks have become a prominent team in the post-lockout era. Since Carlyle was hired as head coach, the Ducks have made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. During that time Ducks fans saw their team make it to the Western Conference finals twice and on top of that, they won the Stanley Cup in 2007.
Last season, the Ducks upset the San Jose Sharks – who were the best team in the NHL during the regular season – in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, winning the series in six games.
Defenseman Chris Pronger has left the old Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim (now the Honda Center), but Ryan Whitney, if healthy, should fill his void. The Ducks also signed Nick Boynton and Steve McCarthy to bolster up the blue-line.
Scott Niedermeyer, returns for another season, but will this be his last year with the Ducks? He has hinted retirement before after the Ducks Stanley Cup season and turned 36 yesterday.
Former Montreal Canadien Saku Koivu comes to the Ducks after spending 13 seasons with the Habs. He and fellow Fin Temmu Selanne could be a good 1-2 combination this year. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry is another 1-2 combo to watch and expect Bobby Ryan to light the lamp more in his second season. Joffery Lupul returns to Anaheim from Philadelphia and should bring more stability to the offense.
The question for the Ducks remains between the pipes. Jonas Hiller took over for Jean-Sebastian Gigure last year, but can he remain consistent for the majority of the year? Could Gigure be trade bait before the season even begins? Many teams could use him including Ottawa, Phoenix, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles just to name a few.
Another addition for the Ducks worth noting is Evgeni Artyukhin, who played two seasons with the Lightning in 2005-06 and 2008-09 , and spent some time playing in Russia from 2006-08.
So all in all what does this mean for the Ducks? The defense looks pretty good even with the loss of Pronger and they have a solid offense to go with that. If Jonas Hiller takes another step forward this team could be very dangerous once again come playoff time.
Right now, they are behind the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division but should still be the second best team even though the division has improved. The other two teams to watch out for in the division are the LA Kings and even though they missed the playoffs last year, you can expect an improvement from the Dallas Stars.
Prediction: 2nd in Pacific Division, 6th in the Western Conference
Projected Lines:
Bobby Ryan – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Temmu Selanne – Saku Koivu – Joffery Lupul
Andrew Ebbett – Erik Christensen – Evgeni Artyukhin
Petteri Nokelainen – Todd Marchant – George Parros
Scott Niedermeyer – Ryan Whitney
Nick Boynton – James Wisniewski
Steve McCarthy – Brett Festerling
Jonas Hiller
J.S. Gigure
Posted by Tim Rosenthal 
