It was a busy day at Great Park Ice, as the Ducks kicked off the club’s 2022 Training Camp and officially put the upcoming season in motion.
The Ducks skated in three groups for the day, aptly named Teams Selanne, Kariya and Niedermayer, and also featured a intersquad scrimmage.
While it’s much too earlier to decipher any potential line combos for regular-season action, it was clear the Ducks coaching staff prioritized pairing seasoned veterans alongside the club’s promising young talent, putting some exciting lines and defensive pairs in action at practice.
Among those combos:
- Mason McTavish and Trevor Zegras with Jakob Silfverberg
- Nathan Gaucher and Sean Tschigerl with Ryan Strome
- Noah Warren with Cam Fowler
- Jamie Drysdale alongside Dmitry Kulikov
- Olen Zellweger with John Klingberg
- Pavel Mintyukov next to Kevin Shattenkirk
“The big goal at the start of camp is to set our prospects up for success,” head coach Dallas Eakins said. “When you look at the lines and how things are set up, that’s what we’ve tried to do, set our prospects up to have a really good camp.
“The pairs up front, the pairs on the back-end, or if you want to go to lines, power-play units or penalty-killing partners, that’s down the road right now.”
Training camp’s opening day also offered a look at the team’s new leadership structure, a committee-type approach with several key voices combining to absorb the void left by the retirement of captain Ryan Getzlaf, and the first on-ice appearances by offseason signees John Klingberg, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano.
AnaheimDucks.com caught up with players, coaches and GM Pat Verbeek throughout the day to get their thoughts and expectations for camp as the team hit the ice for the first time.
GM Pat Verbeek
On evaluating the roster
Flexibility is important, especially until we can find the right mix of veterans and young players. As you saw at rookie camp, we’ve got a lot of young players coming. Development is going to be very important to having a sustaining team that can vie for the playoffs and a championship.
On competition at camp for roster spots
You can look at the bottom six spots, the third and fourth lines are all up for grabs. You can even say the same thing for defense. There are lots of spots to fight for. We’re not going to hand out any jobs, you have to earn them. It should be a really competitive camp and it’ll push us to become better as a hockey team. We have extra guys here, so they’ll have to work to earn their spots.
On naming a captain
We’re going to take our time. There is no rush. When we name a captain, it’s going to be the right guy and a guy we plan on being here for a long time.
READ MORE: Verbeek’s Media Availability
Head Coach Dallas Eakins
On the first day of camp
Every team in the league is optomistic and excited. Our guys worked hard and competed hard. There’s a very positive atmosphere. They’re having a positive influence on each other. That’s what we want here early. We’re trying to plant seeds on our system play but we want them to free play right now, and see how hard they’re going to compete.
Video: Verbeek, Eakins on Ducks Training Camp
On team leadership
I have full comfort and no questions about the leadership in that room. We have guys who have been around and are unbelievable, excellent human beings. They are great uniters. We have young players who have been in leadership roles before and we want them to grow as well. The last thing on my list of worries right now is leadership.
On John Klingberg
True pro, extremely fit. Jumped right to the front of every drill. Great leadership. It’s great to have those guys out there. We have Olen Zellweger paired with him right now. That’s an opportunity for Zell to learn from a professional guy. It’s a real comfort, I think, for everybody in our organization to have a guy like Klingberg around.
Kevin Shattenkirk
On the first day of camp
It’s about the speed of it. Getting back into the timing of making your passes and getting your habits back in your game that you lose in the summer just playing shinny hockey too much. Everyone was looking forward to getting out there and competing against each other.
On helping young players learn the ropes
I think it’s important that the younger guys don’t take anything to heart. The first few days are almost not really an evaluation. It’s about getting everyone on the ice and getting our habits back. You don’t want them to come in and overthink things, worry about missing one pass. We’re just trying to make sure they feel as comfortable as possible so when we get into a game, that’s when the real competition begins.
Video: Klingberg, Shattenkirk on First Day of Training Camp
On team leadership without Ryan Getzlaf
We’re fortunate we learned a lot from him. There are a few guys who were under his captainship for most of their careers and some of them for their whole careers. We all know how to lead in our own right. A lot of us were captains or alternate captains at some point. We understood how he had the balance of making things fun and when it was time to get down to work. That’s what we’re trying to do right now, just making sure everyone is coming to the rink ready to improve everyday and make our team better everyday.
John Klingberg
On getting to know his new teammates
I’ve been here for a bit so I’ve gotten to know the guys. It’s always a little bit different going out on the ice and working systems, but I feel like hockey is pretty simple. A lot of teams use the same systems. It’s pretty similar to Dallas. Timing is a little off in the first practice with the team, but we’ll get there.
On the Ducks defensive corps
It’s a good mix of good, young talented players who are going to take steps in their careers and then veterans who have been in the league for a long time and are trying to help the young players. I see a good mix and it’ll be a battle to get ice time. That’s what you want.
On learning from his new teammates
Watching Drysdale, you see stuff in his game that I feel like I can do in my game, too. You learn everyday. He has things in his game I feel like I can work on. If you ask any d-corps, it’s the same thing. You watch other players and see things you can fit in your game. At the same time, though, you don’t want to copy someone else’s game. You’re here for a reason. You’ve done something good in your career and made it to the highest level. It’s hard to get there, but harder to stay, so you have to learn new things and stay on top of your game.