Olen Zellweger’s Viability on the Right Side

The Anaheim Ducks have four left-shot defensemen on their current NHL roster and several more with NHL potential in their pipeline.

On opening night of the 2024-25 season, the Ducks had eight defensemen on their roster, six of whom were left-handed.

To this point, the Ducks coaching staff and management seems reluctant to deploy more than three left-shots in their nightly lineup unless it’s deemed necessary.

In September, at Ducks training camp, general manager Pat Verbeek stated he was comfortable deploying uneven pairs regarding handedness.

“Am I comfortable? Yeah, I’m comfortable with it,” Verbeek said. “Do I like it? It’s easier for lefties to play on their side, but it is what it is, and these guys will adjust.”

The previous two Stanley Cup winners (the 2023 Vegas Golden Knights and 2024 Florida Panthers) deployed lineups with four left-shots and two right-shots on their blue line.

When it has been necessary, offensively-gifted sophomore defenseman Olen Zellweger has been the first blueliner tapped to slide over and play on his off-side.

Of the three young left-shot defensemen on the Ducks roster (Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Zellweger), Zellweger, because he’s one of the most talented skaters with some of the best hands in the NHL, seems the obvious choice to rise to the occasion and make the adjustment.

In their most recent game, a shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings, Radko Gudas was unable to dress due to an illness, and Zellweger played on the right side of Brian Dumoulin.

For a defenseman to play his off side within the Ducks system, there can be pros and cons, like with anything else.

When the Ducks are in their man-to-man defensive zone coverage, players will end up in every part of the defensive zone as they shadow their assignment, so nothing changes there.

The biggest obstacles come when moving pucks up the strong side boards on outlets and pulling pucks off the yellow when at the point, as the defenseman must have confidence and capability on their backhand.

On the positive side, if harnessed and explored, playing the off side can open up new lanes and angles for a defenseman. They have an easier time retrieving pucks off the wall that are heading toward their goal line and can take a step to the middle and have the entire ice ahead of them while on their forehand.

If they can master pulling pucks off the wall at the point like Shea Theodore in Vegas or Miro Heiskanen in Dallas, they can walk the blue line to the middle, changing shooting and passing angles while on their forehand.

The Ducks already have three NHL-caliber lefties on their back end that have at least top-four or even star potential and more could be on the way in the forms of 2024 first-round pick Stian Solberg, 2021 third-round pick Tyson Hinds, 2024 third-round pick Tarin Smith, and there’s an outside possibility the Ducks win the Draft Lottery and the right to select Matthew Schaefer.

At some point and for the long-term success of the franchise, it may benefit one of these young lefties to embrace the challenge of committing to the transition to the right and the coaching staff to afford whomever it is an elongated leash and plenty of runway.

A defenseman playing their off-side has the potential to open more angles than it closes, and if Zellweger struggles, LaCombe or Mintyukov are more than capable of making the switch as well.