Anaheim Ducks: Previewing the 2018-2019 Opening Night roster

Defensemen

• Defensemen (Nine) on Training Camp Roster – Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Brandon Montour, Josh Manson, Jaycob Megna, Marcus Pettersson, Luke Schenn, Andrej Sustr, Korbinian Holzer (injured – offseason wrist surgery)
• My prediction of who will make the roster (seven total): all the above except the injured Korbinian Holzer and Jaycob Megna

Justification: I fully expect the Ducks’ top four of Fowler, Lindholm, Montour, and Manson to have secured roles and play on the top two pairings. A newly formed pairing last year of Montour and Fowler should be the top pairing. Both are extremely fast and provide an offensive punch on the back end. They are the puck moving defensemen NHL teams are searching for nowadays.

Lindholm and Manson should play together as they have done so the past few years, holding down the second pairing. They provide more of a balance of offense and defense; I seem them as the shutdown pairing to defend some of the best scoring forwards on the opposition.

The third pairing is a little more of a mystery. I think Sustr and Schenn will rotate in and out with Pettersson to make the third pairing. Sustr is a big guy at 6’7 and adds some great size to the blueline. He provides a stable, veteran presence as does Schenn.

I do worry about Schenn though because he reminds me of a sloppy Kevin Bieksa who would turn the puck over in his end often and allow opposing teams to get unnecessary grade A opportunities at the goaltender. If he cannot avoid giveaways, look for someone from the Ducks affiliate’, the San Diego Gulls, to come up and take his place.

I am thinking maybe someone like a Josh Mahura or Jacob Larsson who the Ducks are high on, but do not seem to be NHL ready quite yet.