Last Two Ducks Seasons By The Numbers

Photo: Anaheim Ducks

By Michael Walters

The dust has settled on the Anaheim Ducks season and Head Coach Greg Cronin was fired shortly afterward. The Ducks ended the 2024-25 campaign with a 35-37-10 record which was good for 80 points, a 21 point improvement from last season.

Anaheim did improve in some areas this season, but they also faltered in others. Here is a look at some numbers from the last two seasons via the NHL, Hockey Reference, Evolving Hockey, and Natural Stat Trick.

Overall Play (All Situations)The Ducks scored more goals overall this season lighting the lamp 217 times as opposed to 203 times last season. They also gave up 261 goals as compared to 293 in the 2023-24 campaign. The goal differential was not good, but better at -44 in comparison to -90 from the previous season. They averaged 2.65 goals per game and 3.18 goals against per game this season. Last season they averaged 2.48 goals per game and 3.57 against.

In terms of puck possession they improved going from a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of 44.93% to 46.15%. The Fenwick For percentage (FF%) numbers also went from 45.00% to 46.08% and the expected goals for percentage for (xGF%) went from 40.93% to 45.40%. The Ducks did play better overall, but let’s take a look at the 5-on-5 numbers.

5-on-5 Play

The Ducks struggled during 5-on-5 play last season and this year was no different. They went down slightly in most categories as the CF% went from 46.39% to 45.91% and the FF% dropped from 46.48% to 45.90%. Their xGF% went from 46.01% last year to 45.11% this season. They did improve their xGF going from 142.87 to 161, but their xGA went up significantly from 167.67 to 195.91. The difference in xGF and xGA was 24.8 last season and it widened to 34.91 this season.

In terms of goals scored during 5-on-5 play, the Ducks scored 156 times, which went up from 127 the year before. Defensively there was a slight improvement giving up 164 goals this season as compared to 174 last season.

The Ducks did better in terms of actual goals scored for and against, but overall they took a step back when looking at the puck possession numbers. Offensively, some players didn’t seem to find a groove until the second half of the season. Defensively, the shuffling of young players on the blue line carousel didn’t help either.

Another factor could have been the play of Radko Gudas. There were times he would try to make a hit on a player and miss taking himself out of the play, which allowed a quality scoring chance for the opponent. There was a report he would need surgery this offseason, but the Ducks denied the report.

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Special Teams Play

The special teams continue to be a concern for Anaheim. Last season the power play was 17.9% efficient and this season it dropped to 11.8%, which was the league worst. The penalty kill continued to be about the same with a 74.2% kill percentage as opposed to 72.4% last season. These numbers speak for themselves.

Richard Clune is the assistant coach in charge of the power play and Brent Thompson manages the penalty kill. Whenever the new coach is selected it will be interesting to see if that coach keeps either one aboard moving forward.

In Between The Pipes

The goalie position was a huge strength for this team. Lukas Dostal posted a Goals Saved Against expected (GSAx) of 22.49 and John Gibson‘s was at 11.71. Last season it was 2.79 for Dostal and 1.02 for Gibson respectively. They both played extremely well and masked the team’s 5-on-5 deficiencies.

Dostal should get a decent contract this summer, which means Anaheim will have two high paid goalies. Will Verbeek roll with both again next season or will he try to move Gibson? Either way Dostal is the clear number one goalie and was a huge reason for Anaheim earning more wins this season. He played in a career high 54 games and had a career high in wins posting a 23-23-7 record with a GAA of 3.10 and SV% of .903%.

Final Thoughts

The Ducks were able to make some improvements this season, but there is more work to be done. Anaheim needs a coach that can adapt on the fly and also get the best out of his players in the lineup in all situations(especially 5-on-5 and the power play).

Defensively, it seemed like there was an endless shuffle on the blue line between Drew Helleson, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger. This will get more complicated as Ian Moore, Tristan Luneau, and Stian Solberg enter the mix next season.

Offensively, the right line combinations need to be determined earlier in the season. A good starting point would be for Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and Trevor Zegras(not necessarily in that order) to be the top three centers and then to build out from there. Playing Zegras at center instead of wing is a move the new coach will have to decide and should make. The pair of Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier developed some great chemistry and should be together on the same line. Also Verbeek stated he plans to try to acquire a scoring forward this summer again, which would be another piece to fit into this puzzle.

Verbeek’s expectation is for this team to compete and make the playoffs next season. The future is bright in Anaheim and with the right coach at the helm, the Ducks can get there.

We discussed the season in more depth and the recent firing of Cronin on the latest podcast.

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April 22nd, 2025