The Anaheim Ducks have made three roster moves on Wednesday, first sending both Ben Street and Josh Mahura to the minor leagues. Street cleared waivers earlier this month and can be assigned to the AHL for now without going through the process again. Meanwhile, with the open roster spots the team has activated Rickard Rakell from injured reserve, ending a month-long stint on the sidelines.
Rakell’s return is huge for a Ducks team that reeling at the moment. Losers of eight consecutive games, the team has now fallen 12 points behind the San Jose Sharks for third place in the Pacific Division and are in danger of dropping out of the playoff race entirely. If it weren’t for the recent futility of teams like the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers that would be the case, but luckily Randy Carlyle’s squad can still turn things around. The return of their best pure goal scorer will certainly help that turnaround, though Rakell hasn’t been quite himself this season.
After recording back-to-back 30+ goal seasons, the 25-year old forward found the back of the net just five times in his first 30 games. Much of that has to do with an abysmal shooting percentage, but the team desperately needs him to find his touch around the net going forward. Luckily, Rakell was still producing offensively and returns to the lineup with 20 points in those 30 games. Rakell is one of the most valuable assets in the entire league given his $3.8MM cap hit, and should change at least some of the fortunes in Anaheim.
Finally Mahura goes down. I’m still convinced Dotchin’s game went to hell because he had to babysit Mahura all the time. Mahura will be an NHLer but he’s not there yet. Hopefully Rakell comes back strong and starts putting the puck in the net.
Also, can we please waive Gibbons already?