The puck hasn't even dropped yet and already Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau is fielding questions over a personnel move.
He's been derided for his choices in series past and as Anaheim preps for Game 1 of its opening round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets (starting at 7p on Prime Ticket), his decision to use defenseman Clayton Stoner over James Wisniewski has garnered some attention.
In Thursday's morning skate, Stoner skated with his regular defense partner in Sami Vatanen while Wisniewski, Anaheim's big-name deadline acquisition, appeared to be the odd man out. Boudreau's reasoning was to keep the pair together after what he felt was a very solid campaign with the two of them.
"Sami is used to playing with Clayton and now Clayton is fully healthy," Boudreau said.
"So I don't see why Clayton would lose his position because he's been injured a little bit coming down the stretch, but he's healthy. I think they've been one of our best pairs all season."
With the Minnesota Wild in last year's postseason, Stoner's performance drew praise and was enough to warrant a nice contract as a free agent in the offseason. His left-handed shot works well alongside Vatanen's hard righty shot and he plays physical enough to match up to a heavy team like Winnipeg.
"My best memory of him is, I watched him in the playoffs last year with Minnesota and he was one of the best defensemen on the ice," Boudreau said. "So he rises to that occasion and has in the past. He's a physical player, and we're playing against a big physical team. So he seems like a natural fit to be a good player for us tonight."
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However, Wisniewski might be four inches shorter than Stoner with a right-handed shot, but his play has given the Ducks an edge -- a sharp one. Another one not afraid to throw his body around and make plays with his physicality, he's not exactly sure why he'll be in the pressbox instead of on the ice.
"I wasn't really expecting this when I got traded to a playoff team," Wisniewski said. "I hope to get in there. That's what I came here to do. You want to play in the playoffs. But I'm going to control what I can control, and that's being a good teammate and being professional and coming out rooting hard for them."
Scratching Wisniewski gives the Ducks' one less option on the power play and takes out a two-way defenseman. Wisniewski is 35th in points per 60 minutes among defensemen while Stoner is 243rd. In 24 postseason games, Wisniewski has seven points, 27 PIM and is a minus-10. Stoner has four points with 26 PIM and is plus-3.
Wisniewski doesn't exactly understand the move to scratch him, but he plans to be professional and support his teammates.
"It is what it is," Wisniewski said. "I've just got to be ready to play when I'm called upon."
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Left winger Patrick Maroon was also moved to the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry in an attempt to duplicate the success the Ducks saw against the Jets in the regular season. Anaheim swept the regular season series (3-0) and Maroon played on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf all three times, totaling three points.
"My game is just meat and potatoes," Maroon said. "Get it down low, use my hockey sense. I have pretty decent hands and I just drive to the net and try and be a goalie out there in front of the net and try and get the dirty goals."
