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Ten Thursday Thoughts: Who plays with Murphy, ex-Oiler Ingram an option in Columbus, and more
With so much going on in the sporting world, there is a lot to discuss and much to think about.
Has any playoff team lost more key pieces than the Anaheim Ducks have this off-season? The Ducks’ playoff roster has been depleted, and their roster today isn’t nearly as good. John Carlsson and Jacob Trouba averaged over 24 minutes per game in the playoffs, and both are gone. Carlsson signed in Tampa Bay, and Trouba is a San Jose Shark. Olen Zellweger was traded to Buffalo. Mason McTavish was dealt to St. Louis. Chris Kreider agreed to terminate his contract yesterday, and Troy Terry is expected to miss the first two months of the season after having hip surgery to repair a torn labrum and a hip impingement. Terry had 57 points in 61 regular-season games last year, Kreider had 50 points, and McTavish had 41. Those three were among their top eight scorers. They are all gone, and they’ve been replaced by A.J. Greer and Jeff Malott on the roster. Young Roger McQueen will have an opportunity to earn a role on the top two lines in camp, but he’s only 19. It is a big ask for him to score 40-50 points. They still have Leo Carlsson, Beckett Sennecke, and Cutter Gauthier (once he signs), but the Ducks’ offensive depth is worse on paper. Their blueline is much more inexperienced. Carlsson, Trouba and Radko Gudas are out. They signed Nick Jensen, and he’ll be their No. 3 D-man, but Drew Helleson (25), Ian Moore (24), Tyson Hinds (23), and Tristan Luneau (22) are currently their fourth-through-seventh defenders. Hinds played 11:01 per game in the playoffs, Moore played 10:06, and Helleson averaged 9:13. They will all be asked to play more now. The Ducks will need many players to elevate their play in order for them to be better than Los Angeles and San Jose. That’s a big ask.Speaking of Kreider, once he becomes an unrestricted free agent, he will be sought after. I think Montreal would really benefit from signing him. He would be a great complementary forward in their top nine and add some experience, size, speed and net-front presence. By agreeing to terminate his contract, he walked away from $4m. Will he get $4 million on a new deal? He did score 50 points last year, so I could see it. The Habs currently have $9.78 million in cap space, and the only unsigned player they have his defenseman Arber Xhekaj. Signing both would give them a 23-man roster with 13 forwards, seven D-men and three goalies.Last year we saw some significant point increases and an equal number of decreases in point totals from the 2025 season.Atlantic Division
Metro Division
Central Division
Pacific Division
BUF
30
PHI
22
COL
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