DALLAS — The Ducks’ season comes to a merciful end Friday, when they face the Stanley Cup playoff-bound Dallas Stars. The Ducks began 2021-22 with a rousing 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. They will end it with only a handful of players who played in that Oct. 13 game at Honda Center.
Ryan Getzlaf has retired after a stellar 17-season career with the Ducks. Mason McTavish has excelled in the junior-level Ontario Hockey League after playing nine NHL games to start the season. Jakob Silfverberg suffered a blood clot that will end up sidelining him for the final 23 games.
Nicolas Deslauriers, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson and Rickard Rakell were traded before the NHL’s deadline March 21. Bo Groulx and Greg Pateryn returned to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Derek Grant has an upper-body injury that will keep him out for the final three games.
Who’s left from the opening night lineup?
Max Comtois, Jamie Drysdale, Cam Fowler, Adam Henrique, Isac Lundestrom, Kevin Shattenkirk, Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras and plus goaltenders John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz are the only players remaining (and available to play Friday) from the 20-man lineup for that Oct. 13 game.
Changes were inevitable for a team in full rebuilding mode, and they weren’t limited to the roster. Bob Murray resigned as general manager Nov. 10 in the wake of allegations of mistreatment of office staff. Pat Verbeek then replaced Jeff Solomon, who filled in as interim GM, on Feb. 3.
Verbeek said earlier this month that the team has picked up the contract option on Dallas Eakins’ fourth season as coach. It’s expected that assistant coaches Newell Brown, Mike Stothers and Geoff Ward will return to their duties next season, too, but there’s been no formal announcement.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Terry will lead the Ducks in goals with no fewer than 36, the most by a Duck since Corey Perry scored 43 in 2013-14. Terry also will lead the Ducks with no fewer than 66 points, the most since Rakell had 69 in 2017-18. Terry’s previous bests of seven goals and 20 points were set in 2020-21.
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Zegras will likely finish second behind Terry with at least 23 goals and 60 points. Zegras broke Bobby Ryan’s franchise record of 57 points by a rookie, set in 2008-09. Barring an unprecedented outburst Friday against Dallas, Zegras won’t match Ryan’s rookie mark of 31 goals.
In addition, Zegras scored twice on lacrosse-style goals and assisted on a third, joining Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes as the only players in NHL history to score more than once while scooping up the puck with his stick blade and flipping it past the opposing goalie.
Shattenkirk is the only Ducks player to have played all 81 games going into Friday’s game. Drysdale has played in 80 games, sitting out only once as a healthy scratch. Lundestrom has played 79, sidelined for games March 8 and 10 because of a lower-body injury.
Fowler is two goals shy of matching his career high of 11 set in 2016-17. He’s already broken his career high with 42 points in a season, topping his total of 40 from his rookie season of 2010-11. Drysdale needs three assists to match Fowler’s rookie record of 30 in a season.