Anaheim Ducks Are Foolish To Trade Jiri Sekac

By Derek Kortepeter

The Anaheim Ducks have had their defensive game and goaltending under control for a little while now. As of late the offense has also started to improve by getting more accurate shots on net (not to mention goals). While the offense is improving, the Ducks have now dealt a blow to their future success by trading winger Jiri Sekac for Chicago Blackhawks forward Ryan Garbutt.

There are multiple reasons why this trade is idiotic. First of all Sekac, is a young forward (23 years old) with immense speed and shooting abilities. His function as a sniper would have served Anaheim well in the years to come. While Jiri has struggled to post massive point totals in the 2015-16 season, he has many years ahead to improve. Instead of a promising goal scorer, the Ducks now have an aging (at 30 years old), physically aggressive forward in Ryan Garbutt. Just look at the individual plus/minus totals of each player. Sekac has zero (which is mediocre), however Ryan Garbutt has a minus seven. Scoring goals has never been the winger’s strong suit, and more than anything Anaheim needs players on the forward lines who can beat the netminder.

This leads into probably the biggest issue with obtaining Garbutt for Sekac. The former Blackhawks player is a known aggravator and physical player. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with playing this way, it is simply the way the forward goes about it that is problematic. Ryan Garbutt is known for racking up a massive number of penalty minutes, and in 2015-16 alone he has 27, whereas Jiri Sekac only had four.

Just because the Ducks have one of the strongest penalty killing units in the NHL does not mean they should willingly place themselves in penalty killing situations. Irritating players and getting away with it is one thing, but being an individual who racks up large numbers in the PIM column is another.

 

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