Anaheim Ducks: Top three questions the Ducks must answer this season

What will the Anaheim Ducks’ defense look like next season?

The defense needs a boost. After having one of the youngest, exciting and upcoming defenses the last couple of years, things to a big step back last season. The defense found it hard to contribute offensively and played inordinate amounts of time defending.

Ex-Ducks Brandon Montour left via a trade with the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a first-round pick and prospect Brendan Guhle. Gulls’ defensemen Jacob Larsson and Josh Mahura played several games for the Ducks’ after being called up, but they did not have the impact right away the Ducks’ were hoping for.

Surprisingly during the offseason, not much was done to solidify the defense group other than to bring in one-year contracts. Korbinian Holzer, Michael Del Zotto, and Jani Hakanpää from Finland, a big 6’5″ defenseman, was signed.

It seems that Murray is still looking for that big acquisition that can help the Anaheim Ducks’ on both sides of the ice. That man might be Carolina’s Justin Faulk, who seems to be on the trade block. Faulk is in the last year of a six-year contract paying about $4.8 million a year.

While Faulk is not known for his defense, he is well-known for his offense. Faulk is used to quarterbacking the power play for the Hurricanes and could do the same for the Ducks. He may even replace Fowler on the first power-play unit for a try.

If the Ducks do trade for Faulk, it may be a signal that the Ducks’ emphasis is more on scoring than defending because the Ducks still have Gibson and Miller there. With the exception of last season where the offense and defense both struggled, the Ducks’ struggles the past five seasons have been their offense.

So getting a defenseman that can regularly score about 40 points per season (Faulk’s average is 38 points over the last five years) would give the Ducks’ that right-handed, right-side offensive defenseman that they have been looking for since Montour left. It would also give them a strong top four on defense.

Here’s how I see the defense pairings shaking out, assuming Faulk is traded to Anaheim:

• Lindholm-Manson
• Fowler-Faulk
• Larsson-Guhle
• Extras: Hakanpää, Mahura

The first pairing is a given because Lindholm and Manson have worked well together for so long. Manson is usually the stay-at-home defenseman while Lindholm pushes the play a little more and is the better puck handler of the two.

The second pairing will be new as Guhle was paired with Fowler toward the end of last season. However, if Faulk is traded, he will definitely be placed in the top four and be given huge minutes because of his proven offensive ability. Faulk in a more offensive role would mean that Fowler may be the stay back in the plays more.

The advantage of these two playing together is that they are both great puck handlers. It gives the Ducks some flexibility if they wanted to flip their roles or move Faulk or Fowler occasionally to the first pairing.

The third pairing will be the most volatile. The Ducks seem to be really high on Guhle after trading for him, and they want to continue the growth of Larsson to eventually be in the top four.

I think Hakanpää will be thrown in here and there to see if he can create a dynamic with Larsson or Guhle. Mahura just does not have enough experience to be a full-time NHL defenseman just yet.