Does Load Management Actually Make Sense For Leo Carlsson?
The Anaheim Ducks are trying an NBA-style approach for their rookie center Leo Carlsson. Load management is a popular topic in the NBA, but one NHL team is adapting just that very thing. Apparently, the Ducks don’t want the number two overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft to play every day.
This is what Pat Verbeek said about the approach they’re taking with Carlsson.
“I played in this league as a 19-year-old,” general manager Pat Verbeek recently explained to The Athletic’s Eric Stephens . “I kind of know at game 40, 42, somewhere in there, I hit a wall. It took me a while to kind of get through that wall, and I don’t want (Carlsson) to go through that.
“I want him to be a horse in the second half of the season. So, we’re going to manage his games for the next couple of months anyways.”
So from everything I have seen, it sounds like Carlsson will play all the games in the second half but will be load-managed in the first half. Maybe one or two games per week until we get to the midway point in the season.
My question is does this approach actually make sense? We know the Ducks aren’t winning the Stanley Cup. I’ve just never heard of a case where a top end pick is getting load managed in the NHL. Hockey players HATE missing games. The other top players from the draft class (Connor Bedard & Adam Fantilli) there is no plan to load manage them.
For what it’s worth, Carlsson looked damn good in his debut outing too.
I’m curious what other people think. Is this actually beneficial for his development? More importantly, will load management become more of a thing at the NHL level?
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