For a club coached by Randy Carlyle, whose preference for veterans and toughness is no secret, their presence is a changing of the guard.
But that’s not all. The team’s first-round pick in June, Isac Lundestrom, surprisingly cracked the lineup, as did Marcus Pettersson, who played 22 games for the Ducks last season.
Troy Terry, too, is in the mix, slotted on the first line along stars Rickard Rakell and Ryan Getzlaf. The sight of Terry rather than Corey Perry on the top-unit’s right side figures to greatly increase team speed.
So, if there’s a lingering bad taste from the Ducks’ performance against the Sharks in the playoffs — a first-round exit in a sweep — it’s not palpable in the locker room.