Anaheim Ducks: Joel Quenneville could save their season
The Anaheim Ducks are barely treading water under head coach Randy Carlyle despite having a team built to win sooner as opposed to later. Hiring Joel Quenneville would make a ton of sense for them.
The Anaheim Ducks got off to a strong start this season, winning their first three games. Since then, they have gone 3-4-3 and have been much closer to the fringe playoff team people projected them to be in September. With Joel Quenneville recently fired by the Chicago Blackhawks, it’s worth asking if he would be worthwhile to hire.
Let’s first discuss the pink elephant in the room. Yes, this would mean firing current head coach Randy Carlyle. The same guy who led Anaheim to a Stanley Cup title in 2007. However, though he was once at worst a good coach, it’s worth mentioning Carlyle needed two of the best defensemen ever (Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer) to win a Stanley Cup.
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A healthy portion of the Ducks success under Caryle can be attributed to how amazing goaltender John Gibson has been. Since he took over during the summer of 2016, Gibson ranks second among all goaltenders in Goals Saved Above Average, according to Corsica.
The gift of having an elite goaltender is they erase your mistakes. However, the curse of having one is maybe you don’t realize your flaws until it’s way too late. The Ducks made the odd decision to keep Carlyle this offseason even though they didn’t give him an extension despite only having a year left on his contract.
With the team struggling early, Carlyle is either on the hot seat or, at the very least, certainly deserves to be given his lame duck status. Quenneville’s available and, most importantly, he could save their season.
Why Quenneville Makes Sense For The Ducks
The Ducks, despite their early struggles, are still a team built to win now. They have an aging core of veterans. While the Ducks do have a core of younger guys as well, it’s fairly obvious their best chance of winning comes sooner rather than later.
If Anaheim wants to win now, hiring Quenneville is unquestionably the right decision. Carlyle hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 2007. Meanwhile, Quenneville has won three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013, 2015).
Throughout his tenure as the Blackhawks head coach, Coach Q consistently made his team better than the sum of their collective parts. He’s widely regarded as one of the most brilliant minds to step behind the bench in NHL history. Quenneville’s teams have been much better than Carlyle’s teams as far as possession. While Corsi and Fenwick aren’t gospel, they’re still meaningful stats.
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The Ducks are a team who needs to win now, not later. Replacing Carlyle with Quenneville would help them accomplish this goal.