After missing the NHL playoffs for a seventh straight season, the Anaheim Ducks made a bold decision.
They hired Joel Quenneville, who ranks second in league history in coaching wins behind Scotty Bowman. Quenneville, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, hadn’t been behind a bench in nearly four seasons after being banned by the league for his role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2010 sexual abuse scandal.
The Quenneville era begins Thursday night when the Ducks open the season in Seattle.
“I’m so excited to be back in the NHL, and the Ducks are the team I wanted to restart my career with. Great ownership, great management, one of the most exciting young cores in the NHL,” Quenneville said. “I am honored and deeply grateful for the opportunity to return to the game I love and can’t wait to get started.”
The Ducks, who finished last season with a 35-37-10 record, added veteran forwards Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund to support youngsters like Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Jackson LaCombe.
“I think that’s what we really needed, is those veterans,” said guard Lukas Dostal, who moved into the No. 1 role this offseason after the John Gibson trade to Detroit. “They’re really going to help our young core.”
With Quenneville and his 969 career wins guiding the team, the goals have changed in Anaheim.
“I feel like we can say we’re out of the rebuild and we’re here to make the playoffs,” said Gauthier, who scored 20 goals in his rookie season.
Forward Troy Terry, in his ninth year and the longest-tenured player on the roster, said things “feel different.”
“Saying it in the past, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, well, you know, I hope that, myself included, some guys can take action,'” Terry said. “It’s less guessing, I hope everything works out. This is a team that I think knows what they’re capable of now, and we’ve added veteran experience and great hockey players. It’s an exciting time.”
The Kraken, who went 35-41-6 last season, are still trying to find a way to replicate their sophomore campaign of 2022-23, when they tallied 100 points and reached the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. Since then, they have not collected more than 81 points in a season, nor reached the playoffs.
Jason Botterill was promoted to general manager in April as Ron Francis moved up in the front office. Botterill hired Lane Lambert as the Kraken’s third coach in as many seasons, after Dave Hakstol and Dan Bylsma.
“We’re getting better,” said Lambert, who was 61-46-20 in a season and a half as coach of the New York Islanders. “We’re getting a little better every day. Sometimes there will be a little step back and then two steps forward. But we’re definitely getting closer.”
The Kraken will be looking for former first-round picks like Matty Beniers and Shane Wright to take a step forward. Beniers was one of four 20-goal scorers for the Kraken last season — Wright narrowly fell short with 19 — and they added another in an offseason trade for Dallas’ Mason Marchment.
“We might not have that 100-point guy that’s going to break the game, but … winning by committee is always a fun way,” Kraken captain Jordan Eberle said. “Every guy has to take on that role and feel good about its importance.”
–Field level media
