Can Joel Quenneville make the Anaheim Ducks mighty once again? The Ducks have not been to the post-season since 2018 when the San Jose Sharks knocked them out in round one with a sweep. The Ducks had a 35-37-10 record that led to the firing of Greg Cronin in April. The Ducks finished 6th in the Pacific division which was 16 points behind the St.Louis Blues for the second wild card. The Ducks did improve by 21 points this season over the season before, because of the young talent they have assembled. Suddenly a few trades and fans are thinking what the duck is going on here. When Quenneville replaced Dennis Savard as head coach for the Blackhawks in 2008, I thought it was strange firing somebody after three games. I did not like the direction the team was going at the time. The Ducks roster is starting to get Quenneville’s fingerprints on it.

The last time we saw Joel Quenneville coaching was back in October 27, 2021 with the Florida Panthers. Quenneville had to resign from the game because his past caught up to him. He was part of that cover up in Chicago in 2010 where the Blackhawks brass swept under the rug video coach Brad Aldrich’s sexual allegations from two players of theirs, One was Kyle Beach & the other may never come forward. The Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman was out and Al Macisaac who was Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. In 2024 NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reinstated all three guys. Bowman moved on to Edmonton & now Quenneville is back in the saddle again in Anaheim. The Ducks are getting the second winiest head coach in NHL history. Quenneville has a regular season record of 969-572-77, only behind Scotty Bowman who left his mark with1,244 wins. Quenneville helped the Blackhawks break a post-season drought when he arrived. He guided that team with young superstars like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith to three Stanley Cup titles. Quenneville also coached in St.Louis as he always had the Blues in the post-season. He also coached in Colorado which he managed to get the Avalanche to the playoffs half the years he was there. You have to give Quenneville some credit in Florida as that team was starting to climb before he resigned. Now the Panthers have won back to back Stanley Cups.

The Anaheim Ducks have a roster filled with guys in their 20’s. They have gathered some nice young roster pieces at the forward position with Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Mason McTavish.

The Switzerland native McTavish had 22 goals last season in his 4th season in Anaheim at the age of 22. The Ducks traded a young piece in Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers for 45th overall draft pick this season and 2026 4th round pick, and a veteran center Ryan Poehling. Zegras has had back-to-back years of 20 goal seasons racking up 60 points or better. He has had a hard time the last two seasons staying healthy. The Ducks also landed a veteran wing from the New York Rangers in Chris Kreider who can provide this Quenneville team leadership on the ice as he did in the Big Apple for the last 13 seasons. On defense the Ducks have more young studs ready to take their game to the next level. They have Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and Jackson LaCombe. Let’s not forget in the net, Lukas Dostral. The Czech goalie had his best season in the net with a record 23-23-7 with a .903 save %.

It seems like Joel Quenneville has plenty of interesting pieces for this roster in Anaheim. Now he has the front office adding some veteran pieces to a roster filled with young talent. This Ducks team may be ready next season to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. When the Blackhawks added veteran Marion Hossa to their young roster, suddenly the dynasty was born. Chris Kreider may not be a good comparison to Hossa. The Blackhawks sprinkled in the Kreiders of the NHL world as well, guys that had a set of skills to help a young team and show them how the next level looks like and take them there. Quenneville has been a winner everywhere he has gone. These trades look baffling right now, but by the time the season starts the Ducks will load up on more younger talent from the draft. They’ll just add enough veteran guys to bring the Mighty Ducks back into the conversation when we talk Stanley Cup playoffs. Joe Quenneville will change these Anaheim teams of old.

They will be prepared and fundamentally strong. He will put his players in the best spot to succeed. They still need to land that Hossa which will be hard to find. They may have the money to spend on a big name as well as Chris Kreider is not exactly cheap. I think the Ducks will be a sneaky sleeper team next season who may miss the playoffs, but they will have a winning record and will come close.