Five games and just over a week into the Anaheim Ducks’ 2024-25 season, their power play has become an early concern.
The Ducks (0-17) are one of two teams, along with the Buffalo Sabres (0-21), who have yet to score a goal with a man advantage.
Before the season, assistant coach Rich Clune was hired to coach the forward group and power play units. With him, he was set to bring in a fresh set of eyes and a new framework for the power play system.
The Outlook of the Anaheim Ducks Power Play
“I think Rich Clune came in and established a pretty good template,” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said before the Ducks home opener on Wednesday, Oct. 16. “In the regular season, I think things pick up. I think we’ve got enough power play personnel to be a dangerous power play.”
Personnel
Lack of chemistry and familiarity between personnel on the power play units has been apparent during the early section of the season.
When under pressure, players find it difficult to know where their outs are and where support is coming from.
With possession of the puck and with time, players are hesitant on their reads, unable to pick up tendencies of teammates, and are struggling to find soft ice off-puck.
Following the home opening victory, when the Ducks went 0-5 on the power play, they changed up personnel for their 4-3 OT loss against Colorado in Denver on Friday, notably missing Frank Vatrano from the lineup. They went 0-3 on the power play against the Avs and only produced one shot on goal.
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During Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, Clune and the coaching staff made further adjustments to the personnel between the Ducks’ two power play units and, again, went 0-3, managing two shots on goal.
The Kings’ penalty killers pressured the puck heavily along the wall and at top of the zone, preying on bobbled passes and lack of support. The Ducks were forced to rim pucks to the far side in hopes of gaining any semblance of time and space.
“They force you to make decisions under pressure and we were slow getting to our spots to try and relieve some pressure,” Cronin said after the game. “Puck movement will relieve pressure, particularly 60-foot passes. We got caught in between and there was a puck battle.”
During that game, one unit consisted of Cam Fowler at the point, Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson on the left and right flanks, respectively, Alex Killorn in the bumper, and Ryan Strome on the goal line/net front.
The other unit deployed Jackson LaCombe on the point, Trevor Zegras and Frank Vatrano on the left and right flanks, respectively, Cutter Gauthier in the bumper, and Mason McTavish on the goal line/net front.
The team may be forced to make further adjustments to units depending on health, as Pavel Mintyukov and Ryan Strome are currently fighting off illnesses.
Most of the traditional top power play units throughout the league, like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, etc., have all been deploying similar personnel, within their top units in particular, in familiar systems for several years to this point.
For the Ducks, it may take time to find a combination of players that work most effectively with each other and then further time to pick up on each other’s habits and tendencies.
Takeaways from the Ducks’ 4-1 Loss to the Kings
Against teams like the Kings, who deploy a high-pressure penalty kill, instinctual knowledge of where supporting teammates are in relation to penalty killers can not only render pressure ineffective, but that pressure can then be exploited.
Tactics
The template Clune brought to the Ducks’ power play is a significantly different one than the previous iteration that produced the 25th-ranked power play (17.9%) one season ago.
The focus of the Ducks’ new system has shifted from the flanks and top of the zone to the triangle created between the goal line, bumper, and strong side flank.
The directive is to open up seams to the bumper and weak side flank by moving the puck north-south from the strong side flank to the goal line and back.
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Some of the top power play units rely on instinctual precision passes, like the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Others rely on shifting and player movement within the structure, like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.
Once the chemistry is established and the template has taken hold, it will be worth monitoring if the personnel develops the confidence and freedom to weave and shift within the structure to optimize chances and, ultimately, results.
In theory, several of the Ducks’ top offensive talents (Zegras, Carlsson, Terry), like the Leafs and Oilers, are most effective in motion with the puck on their sticks, while others (Gauthier and Vatrano) can thrive off-puck to find seams.
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 OT Loss to the Avalanche
Some certain tweaks are and will become necessary, but the league’s top power plays take time to establish familiarity within the framework and even more time to establish familiarity with the combination of personnel.
Even with a power play that’s tied for last in the NHL and has yet to produce a goal, the Ducks head into Tuesday night’s game against the San Jose Sharks with a 2-2-1 record.
The median power play in the NHL during 2023-24 produced at a 21.8% rate. Even approaching that number in 2024-25 for the Ducks would yield a significant progression up the league standings.
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