Ducks done making excuses, GM says demanding accountability

The Anaheim Ducks are done making excuses, general manager Bob Murray said Wednesday.

"Accountability in this group is going to change," said Murray, adding that some young players were allowed to get away with too much this season. "That's over. I've said that a couple of times, but I'm hell-bent on that happening going forward, and the coaches are going to hear that loud and clear. They already have a little bit. That goes right from the lowest ice times to the most ice times, from the veteran guys to the other guys."

The Ducks (29-33-9, .472 points percentage) will fail to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season after they were 13th in the Western Conference when the NHL paused its season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Murray, who has been Anaheim GM since Nov. 12, 2008, took over for Randy Carlyle as Ducks coach for the final 26 games of last season (14-11-1), and after failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12, said some players were "accepting losing."

Murray hired Dallas Eakins as coach on June 17. Eakins was coach of their American Hockey League affiliate in San Diego for four seasons after coaching the Edmonton Oilers for two seasons from 2013-15, going 36-63-14 in 113 games.

"I thought [Dallas] was very organized, very well-prepared," Murray said. "I thought the communication was good early, [but] it got off track a little bit. I think he had to get rid of some of the things that came from Edmonton, and I think those are gone now. He was very, very hard on some young people in Edmonton, and it kind of backfired on him there. I'm not saying it's all his fault, by the way. I'm saying just that whole situation was kind of … I think he took the foot off the gas a bit with them. I just know he's going to be much more consistent and on point with things with everybody next year. He had to get a few of the things out of the way, and he did.

"We were a decent hockey team a lot of nights. That's why I expect much more next year, because we showed we could play the game. They've got to get better at special teams, and they're working on it."

After a 9-6-0 start this season, the Ducks won eight of their next 31 games (8-18-5) before entering the pause 5-3-2 in their final 10. Their power play was 30th in the NHL at 14.7 percent, and their penalty kill was 26th at 77.0 percent.

"We're so far down the totem pole, it's inexcusable," Murray said. "That's on the coaches, players, everybody. No excuse for that. That has to be fixed. … Certain things are going to change, and I'm going to be pushing very hard here. The inconsistencies cannot be allowed to happen the way they were."

The Ducks hold the fifth-best odds (8.5 percent) in the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery, which will hold its first phase June 26. Anaheim hasn't had a top-five pick since 2005, when it selected forward Bobby Ryan at No. 2, after the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Sidney Crosby at No. 1.

The Ducks can pick anywhere from No. 1-8.

"I'm quite anxious for it," Murray said of the draft lottery. "I hope we don't drop down any, but that seems to be the norm here the last few years, something always drops you down a couple or one or whatever. But you could win [the lottery]. We're going to get a good player this year, I'm positive of that. We've got three picks in the top 36 as of now. We just finished our draft meetings, and I've seen pretty much everybody they're talking about. I'm looking forward to this year's draft. We'll add to our young depth as it's started to grow here."

Murray reiterated that whenever training camp opens for next season, he's demanding the excuses stop.

"I've had enough of 'Well, well, well' … no. Enough," Murray said. "In hindsight, because of the year before and what happened at the end, I kind of backed off and gave everybody space. I didn't feel like I could be around as much. I thought I had to let Dallas and the crew [do their jobs]. In hindsight, that's a mistake. I'll point that just as an error in judgement. My people argue with me on that, 'No, it wasn't a mistake.' But now, I think I should have, and that won't happen again."