Weekly Update: Nov 29 – Let’s Try That Again

Just as the Gulls started to fly, injuries to both the parent club and themselves set things back

Apologies for the slight delay in update – my other part-time life-venture took a more dominant role in the last week.

The Gulls currently find themselves once again at the bottom of the Pacific in terms of points but are doing a tad-better in points per percentage; floundering at fifth.

News and Observations

Steel Showing Signs

Sam Steel had a quiet introduction to the AHL, or at least quieter than the flourish that was Troy Terry’s arrival in San Diego, but he is starting to settle in and has been showing more and more just what he is capable of. There have been at least two or three instances in the last few games where has sped from the defensive zone through to the offensive zone, slicing by opposing team’s neutral zone traps in the kind of plays that he was known for in his time with the Pats in the WHL. He is also displaying an over-tendency to pass first – something that can make Ryan Getzlaf so frustrating to watch sometimes. He is currently averaging a point per game with 8 points – he has 4 goals and 4 assists through 8 games.

Terry Goes Streaking

Troy Terry still holds the longest point streak in the AHL with 11 games and- up until the most recent action in Stockton – had scored a goal in every single game he has played in thus far. His 11-game point streak is a new San Diego club record. He has 16 points in 12 games for a 1.33 Point Per Game average.

Max Jones Quietly Finding His Game

As I suspected, Jones began the season under some rust and a seemingly tentative nature that I noted at the time. This gave him the appearance of not quite the same player we saw at the end of the 2015-2016 season, but things have definitely changed lately – he is playing faster, harder and finding himself in the middle of net-front scrums and generally any other chippy moment of the game. He has been a tad snake-bit, but I feel the goals are going to start coming in bunches – it’s only a matter of time. He has 8 points in 12 games thus far.

The Case for Comtois

Felix did a good piece over at the Elite Prospects blog on why the QMJHL should be very afraid of his return, and Eric Stephens briefly touched on the Ducks’ reasoning for sending him down – indicating that the Ducks’ preference was to keep him with the Gulls. But with just the one goal in four games (it did appear that he scored another marker in his 2nd game of action but it was eventually credited to Chase De Leo as it was deemed Comtois did not touch it on its way into the net), it was starting to become clear that he would do better with a more prominent role back in Juniors with the added bonus of extra experience at the World Junior Championships.

Defensive Depth Test and Future

Just as the Gulls were really looking to dominate, more injuries hit both the Ducks and – in the case of captain Jaycob Megna going down with a lower body ailment – San Diego. Three games and two losses later, the defensive core looks less shaky with Mahura back but still misses Dotchin, who looks like he will be up with the Ducks for good now. Hampus Lindholm looks close to returning, so I imagine Andy Welinski will be eventually returned to give San Diego at least a 75% sense of normalcy on the pairings. The last two seasons have really put the Ducks’ blue-line depth under the microscope and if anything good has come out of this, it’s the fact that Simon Benoit has been a stellar pickup and that the Lightning’s willingness to move on from Dotchin was another stroke of good luck. Without these two players, the Gulls would be stuck with untested ECHL call-ups for a third of their blue-line and the Ducks would have to choose between Welinski, Sustr and Scheen for two of out of three spots available. The lesson to learn here is something Benny and I re-iterated ad nauseam in this past year’s draft coverage – the Ducks much vaulted blue-line pipeline has dried up. This past year’s 6th rounder Hunter Drew currently has 16 points in 19 games in the Q which is promising, but he was also drafted over-age, so will be making his pro-debut at the conclusion of this season, and after that there is nobody else. Bowen Byram is currently ranked 7th in the draft rankings, but if the Ducks manage to inadvertently tank enough this season to end up in the same picture as a generational talent like Kaapo Kakko, they should perhaps take what they can get for the blue-line in the later rounds. Either way- more “D” picks and less “G” picks next year please Mr Murray.

We Need To Talk About Kevin – Pt 2

Kevin Boyle is now 9th in the league for Save Percentage with a 0.917 in 9 games. His GAA of 3.03 has him ranked 25th. He has quietly been putting together an impressive run of strong starts, and you can just tell that the team feels more confident when he is in net. If San Diego can get back to a 100% healthy blue line, watch him challenge for the top five in Save Percentage; you heard it here first.

Shot Metrics – Pt 2

It is now 15 games into the season and San Diego have amounted 476 shots while surrendering 577. Of their 7 total wins so far – 5 of them have come while being out shot by their opponent, and again 5 of them have come when the Gulls have scored first. Breaking it down even further – the Gulls have out-shot their opponents in the first period 7 times and have been out-shot in the 2nd period 11 times out of 15. The “2nd Period Experience” hex is well and truly a rash that has spread from parent to development club. They have managed to only be outshout 6 times in the 3rd however, which bodes well for the team either finishing strong or at least attempting a comeback. They are currently averaging 31.73 shots per game and allowing 38.47; of their 15 games played so far they have allowed over 40 shots in 7 of them. Coreau was in 4 of those games and Boyle in the other 3, which is interesting given Coreau has only seen 6 games of action. For whatever reason Coreau seems to get absolutely shelled whenever he is in net.

Next Up

San Diego is back home where they face the incoming Manitoba Moose – Chase De Leo’s former team and the new home of Logan Shaw, who currently has 7 points in 6 games. Nic Kerdiles – as mentioned last week – has only managed 1 point in 3 games and is currently out with an injury. Games are Wednesday at 7pm and Friday at 7pm respectively.