Earlier today, we concluded our month-long analysis of and predictions for the young forwards of the Anaheim Ducks by looking at Trevor Zegras. Let’s do the same for the last (but certainly not the least) young defenseman of the bunch: Olen Zellweger.
Related: Ducks September Series: 2024-25 Expectations for Trevor Zegras
Zellweger is a smooth-skating, quick-handed offensive dynamo on a mission to prove he can be the next in a long line of young, modern NHL defensemen who do not use traditional qualities like size, brute force, or strength to be impact players. Let’s consider his 26-game 2023-24 season a soft-opening, with 2024-25 serving as the hard launch of a career that has top pairing or top-four potential.
Zellweger Flashed Offensive Brilliance in Short Rookie Campaign
Zellweger’s last season call-up gave us all our long-awaited chance to witness Zellweger’s game at the professional level. After all, he had accomplished everything there was to in the amateur ranks. He was a multi-time World Junior Champion, set many statistical achievements, collected the WHL’s Defenseman of the Year in his last season, and even earned an All-Star nomination at the 2024 American Hockey League All-Star Game. His debut last season was predetermined; the only question was when.
The answer was Jan. 23 against the Buffalo Sabres, where he collected his first NHL point, an assist, in the win. He collected his first goal a couple months later in a March 31 game against the Vancouver Canucks. On those two plays and many others, he used his skating and offensive instincts to jump into plays and have an active role in the offense. His first goal came from the faceoff dot. Of course, that kind of energy and offensive activation cannot come at the expense of his defensive responsibilities, which will be a primary thing he needs to work on, but they are traits that have been missing from the Ducks’ blue line for a long time. The last Duck to exhibit that kind of exuberance was Brandon Montour, which was before he refined his game to what it is today.
Anyway, back to Zellweger, who finished his shortened rookie season with two goals, seven assists and 19:17 in average time-on-ice (TOI). By the final few weeks of the season, he received opportunities to work the power play and was routinely playing more than 20 minutes a night. It seems that he and teammate Pavel…
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