The Anaheim Ducks‘ rebuild is beginning to take flight.

Despite the seventh consecutive spring in which the Ducks will not compete in the postseason, the club took a step forward this season, both in the standings and with several of its young talents giving a peak to their potential.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk recapped Anaheim’s season and previewed what could be in store for the group this summer.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Ducks are officially out of [qualifying for] the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s the seventh straight year with no playoffs in Southern California for them. Let me just give you their point totals the last couple of years. This season was a bit of a step forward with 74 points. They had 59 last year and 58 the year before that. But three years ago they were a team that was in the 70s. Is this a Ducks team that you think can sustain and grow on this season or are they still kind of stuck in the mud?

Frank Seravalli: No, I think this was a step in the right direction for sure. You look at some of the pieces of this team that have taken gigantic steps forward. Jackson Lacombe had a massive year. He is a piece who has grown into something incredibly important for the Ducks. You see continued progress and improvement from Leo Carlsson, who I think is so highly intelligent and so smart. He’s going to be able to harness and build in that frame that he has. He has an NHL-ready frame that has just gotten stronger and stronger. Then you see some flashes of brilliance from Trevor Zegras that I think was really important. It hasn’t all clicked at the same time, but then you also look in net and you see Lukas Dostal and the year that he had. I think there are a lot of building blocks for this team. I think they need a lot more consistency and I think one of the interesting questions to ask will be, ‘Is Greg Cronin coming back for Year 3? Is he the right choice to lead this group?’ He seems exasperated at times, and I wonder what Pat Verbeek is thinking in terms of how to get this team to that next level because they need more. As they continue to draft and develop and get those players graduating to the NHL, they are going to get more, but they also need to find a couple more difference makers if they can.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here:

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