The Anaheim Ducks made a huge splash in the trade market soon after missing the playoffs for the second straight season.  It was clear this team was solid on paper, but needed a shakeup and a big retooling heading into next season.

Enter William Karlsson and Jaccob Slavin.  The Ducks added two very strong core players to try to not only get back in the post season, but do some damage once they get there.  The cost was two 1st rounders and a 3rd rounder.  Seems steep, but for a team that has one of the best goalies in the league in Connor Hellebuyck, a very strong and deep defence led by a career year from Darnell Nurse, and superstar Anze Kopitar up front, it was clear the Ducks need to build around them.

This does hurt the future, but Anaheim has always found ways to add some talent late in the draft, so moving a couple high picks for top end talent isn’t a killer to the franchise.

There’s a lot of moves expected and the Ducks are willing to be very active this offseason to get what they want, so this is just one move of many to come.