The Ducks have got to be one of the tougher teams to pigeonhole this season. Some prognosticators have them finishing very high in the conference, possibly even competing for the Stanley Cup, but a second look at this roster and you can see how this team could quote possibly miss the playoffs too. It's certainly an odd dichotomy, and which way the Ducks go will likely depend a great deal on their new management team.

Remember that these previews will be put on-site by division, roughly in order of predicted finish.  Note that the rookies listed are those currently on team rosters, and not necessarily all those who might appear during the season.  The In/Out portion represents significant players added and lost since the end of the 2003-04 season.  And now, on with the show...

In: Scott Niedermayer, Todd Fedoruk, Travis Moen, Jason Marshall, Teemu Selanne, Bruno St. Jacques, Kip Brennan, Joe DiPenta

Out: Garrett Burnett, Martin Gerber, Niclas Havelid, Lance Ward, Alexei Smirnov, Cam Severson, Petr Schastlivy, Jason Krog, Vaclav Prospal, Martin Skoula, Mike Leclerc

Rookies: Ilya Bryzgalov, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Jonathan Hedstrom, Dustin Penner

There’s a new owner, new GM, new coach and new star defenseman in Anaheim, all of which the Ducks are hoping will combine to make them a contender. New owner Henry Samueli, who bought the team from Disney, wasted little time in hiring former Canucks GM Brian Burke, who in turn wasted little time offering former coach Mike Babcock a new one-year contract, which he balked at. As a result, the Ducks will have former NHL defenseman and ex-coach of Vancouver’s minor-league franchise Randy Carlyle behind the bench. Carlyle will have a lot of the same pieces in place that Babcock did, but thanks to Burke landing perhaps the biggest prize on this summer’s free agent market, he’ll also have All-Star defenseman Scott Niedermayer on his blueline.

Strengths: 1. Niedermayer gives the Ducks a defense corps that’s one of the league’s better blends of toughness and mobility. Niedermayer has been one of the league’s best skaters and top blueliners for years while in New Jersey, and was recognized with his first Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 2003-04. Just 32, he’s got a lot of years left in him, and the Ducks got his signature on a four-year deal. They also re-signed Sandis Ozolinsh before he became a free agent; Ozolinsh is not quite as good in his own zone as Niedermayer, but is a great point-producer and power play specialist. Returnees Ruslan Salei, Keith Carney, Vitali Vishnevski and free agent Jason Marshall round out the top six; each provides experience, toughness and great defensive-zone prowess. With Niedermayer and Ozolinsh, one of whom could quite possibly be on the ice at all times, those four can concentrate on keeping things sound in their own end.

2. He had a slow start in his last NHL season, but Jean-Sebastian Giguere is still the goaltender that led the Ducks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003 and was so great he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in a losing cause. Giguere had a terrible October and January in 2003-04, winning just two games in fourteen starts those two months combined with a GAA around 3.20 and a save percentage of .885. Yet his numbers for the year were 2.62 and .914, so he was excellent the other four months of the season. The Ducks would appreciate it if he were a bit more consistent, but also know that when he gets on a hot streak he makes this team one of the league’s best.

Weaknesses: 1. While the Ducks did add Teemu Selanne, who is still a popular player here despite having left more than three seasons ago, proven scoring depth has to be Anaheim’s biggest concern. Sergei Fedorov was signed from Detroit in the summer of 2003 to be the focus of the team’s offense, yet he had just 65 points in 2003-04. Other than Fedorov and Selanne, wingers Petr Sykora and Rob Niedermayer are the only forwards on the roster who’s ever scored more than 35 points in an NHL season. That’s discounting the fact that Selanne had only 32 points in his last NHL campaign and has to prove he can still be a reliable producer, in two seasons as a Duck Sykora’s never hit the heights he did back in New Jersey and hasn’t been consistent, and Niedermayer hasn’t had more than 12 goals or 33 points in six years. The Ducks do have some players who are capable of producing more; young Joffrey Lupul, who’s entering his third NHL season, comes to mind, as does the talented, yet small and injury-prone, Andy McDonald and rookies Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, both of whom impressed in the pre-season. Having Scott Niedermayer rush the puck up-ice from the back end will help, but realistically it all comes back to Fedorov: for Anaheim’s offense to make any sense, Fedorov has to be the offensive centerpiece the Ducks signed him to be, and he’ll need some support.

2. The Ducks are very much a team in transition, and with so many major changes coming to this franchise so fast it might be hard for some of the players to keep up. There was the ownership change early this summer, Burke’s almost immediate hiring to replace interim GM Al Coates, then Burke’s almost immediate minor clash with coach Mike Babcock that led to Babcock’s departure. Burke wanting to bring in his own man as coach is understandable, but Babcock is a well-respected coach who, along with Giguere, was one of two men most responsible for the team’s unexpected run to the 2003 Cup Final. Burke then signed Niedermayer, Selanne, and a number of other players to help increase the team’s toughness while dealing away several popular veterans, including Ducks captain Steve Rucchin. In a whirlwind of activity, Burke very quickly made it clear that this was his team, and he has never been one to tolerate dissent. He may not be able to bend all the players that were here before his arrival to his will. That’s not to say conflict is guaranteed by any means, but there were steps Burke could’ve taken to make the transition smoother, at the very least by keeping one of Babcock or Rucchin for another season. Whether Burke can get along with Fedorov will be interesting; not only is Burke’s standoff with Fedorov’s old Russian teammate Pavel Bure when Burke was first hired as Canucks GM near-legendary, but while Sergei’s younger brother Fedor was a prospect in Vancouver’s system under Burke he made a number of disparaging comments about Fedor’s work ethic and personality. With Sergei being notoriously temperamental as well and sometimes less than generous with his own effort level, he could very quickly end up in Burke’s doghouse.

Don’t be Surprised If: Rookie Corey Perry is a key part of this team’s offense by the end of the season. Perry, who made the team straight out of the Canadian major junior ranks, will take some time to adjust to the NHL, but this kid’s got a huge amount of talent. He had 130 points in 60 OHL games last season and was a huge part of the London Knights’ magical run to the Memorial Cup, as well as playing very well for Canada’s World Junior squad last Christmas. Once he gets used to the pace of the NHL and the strength and skill of the other players, he’ll be a good one. While he won’t start the season on one of the top two scoring lines, he’ll see time on the power play and, with the Ducks being rather thin on offense, should move up as the season progresses.

Outlook: This is a team that can easily contend for the division title and perhaps even the conference. Yet this is also a team that could implode and miss the playoffs, sort of like they did in 2003-04. The defense is certainly better, and if Giguere can play to the level everyone knows he can this team will be all right, but Carlyle needs to get everyone, free agents, veterans who were already here, and rookies alike, on the same page quickly.

The First Game: Both Niedermayers and Selanne both scored goals in the Ducks’ season opener, but the real good news was the two goals Lupul posted in a 5-3 win over Chicago. Special teams were key, as one of Lupul’s goals and Rob Niedermayer’s were scored shorthanded, while Scott Niedermayer’s and Selanne’s were on the power play. And while a victory over Chicago, a team that isn’t expected to gain a playoff spot, may not be reason to dance for joy, it’s a start.

Centres: 1. Sergei Fedorov  2. Sami Pahlsson  3. Andy McDonald  4. Ryan Getzlaf

Wingers: 1. Petr Sykora  2. Teemu Selanne  3. Rob Niedermayer  4. Joffrey Lupul  5. Travis Moen  6. Corey Perry  7. Todd Fedoruk  8. Kip Brennan  9. Jonathan Hedstrom

Defensemen: 1. Scott Niedermayer  2. Sandis Ozolinsh  3. Keith Carney  4. Ruslan Salei  5. Vitaly Vishnevski  6. Jason Marshall  7. Bruno St. Jacques  8. Joe DiPenta

Goalies: 1. Jean-Sebastian Giguere  2. Ilya Bryzgalov