A look at Ducks Prospect Nic Kerdiles

By Guest Writer
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: January 26, 2016

Back in December I was in attendance for a chippy game between the San Diego Gulls and San Jose Barracuda and took some notes on a player that, despite not getting on the scoresheet, stood out to me as having a good game. The scouting report on Nic Kerdiles notes that he “isn’t afraid to take the body when the opportunity presents itself.” The opportunity definitely presented itself in the game back in December and Kerdiles looked right at home in that environment. He profiles as more of a two way forward than a top level scoring threat, but he does have puck handling ability and showed it on one play in particular. After gaining control of the puck in the offensive zone he deked around a defender to set up a shot on goal in one swift motion. The goalie played it well, cutting down the angle and making the save, but his dynamic puck handling on the play was impressive. Kerdiles looks to be in the mold of a future third liner at the NHL level that can provide value at both ends of the ice and the penalty kill while engaging in the physical side of the game when necessary. He can play on the second powerplay line as well.

While Kerdiles’ performance in that game back in December support his scouting report, his stats haven’t exactly matched up in the same way this season. Only two goals and seven assists and a -14 plus/minus in 29 games isn’t anything to write home about. If you were to write anything based on those stats, it would be that he’s looking like a bust. Having watched him play several times this season, that’s not the feeling I’ve gotten. Something I have noticed in the several San Diego Gulls games I’ve watching is that there aren’t many top level defenders on the Gulls roster. The Anaheim Ducks have a pipeline of the young defenseman, but a lot of them are offensive minded. Defenseman Brandon Montour being a prime example of that, as he’s been one of the AHL’s top performers this year in the offensive zone. So it’s probably safe to assume that a lot of the goals scored against the Gulls while Kerdiles was on the ice weren’t his fault and his bad plus minus is skewed as a result.

The lack of offensive production from Kerdiles this season is addressed in another article on Hockey’s Future and it provides a bit of insight. “Kerdiles has drawn into the lineup with some pretty questionable offensive quality wingers like Tim Jackman or Joseph Cramarossa”, since Chris Mueller and Michael Sgarbossa are on the top two lines ahead of him. The Ducks system has talent in it but isn’t the deepest and it looks like Kerdiles is the odd man out among those top guys, and has to play on a less talented line. Additionally his best defensemen teammates are actually better contributing offensively than in their own zone.

So it’s a bit of bad luck for Kerdiles that is holding him back from putting up stats one would expect of a top prospect, and not that he’s playing poorly. Perhaps he’ll never be a guy that scores a lot of points, but his lack of production in the AHL isn’t a sign that he can’t make it in the NHL as a midline grinder and special teams contributor.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things SoCal hockey and the rest of the California sports teams! All Cali, All the time!