The Ducks, one of seven NHL teams that did not make the Stanley Cup Qualifiers last season, have made one significant move, agreeing to a three-year contract with Kevin Shattenkirk on Oct. 9, the first day of free agency. The defenseman won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.
"Getting the opportunity to have that experience last year with Tampa Bay only breeds confidence into you as a player when you get to go that far and win it," Shattenkirk said. "It's my job to bring that to Anaheim and let a lot of the guys there, who maybe are younger and haven't had too much Stanley Cup] Playoff experience, know that this team is fully capable of doing it."
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The 31-year-old is Anaheim's oldest defenseman. He joins the Ducks' veteran leadership group with captain Ryan Getzlaf, 35, and forwards David Backes, 36; Adam Henrique, 30; and Jakob Silfverberg, 30.
"There's some players who have been there, kind of the guys that I know who have been playing in the League for as long as I have, who are looked upon as kind of the big names on the team," Shattenkirk said. "But then you have some younger players who it's time for them to take the next step, and I feel in my mind just in playing against them … I feel that it's a great group to be a part of and it was a group that I wanted to join and feel like I can bring some of that leadership to the locker room."
Among those younger players are 23-year-old forward
Troy Terry
and 22-year-old forwards Max Jones and Sam Steel; each played at least 47 games with Anaheim last season, but none scored more than 22 points.
"I think you're going to see improvement with some of our young guys," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said, "and if we get improvement with some of the young guys, which it's time for, and you get some more consistency from the middle-aged guys, I think we can be right there fighting for a playoff spot. There's no reason we can't be."
Here is what the Ducks look like today:
