Too often, Cam Fowler’s 14-plus years with the Anaheim Ducks were defined by the things that he was not.
He wasn’t a true No. 1 defenseman. Wasn’t a game-changing offensive force, or even a great defender. Wasn’t the next Scott Niedermayer.
The last one is a foolhardy exercise. There is no comparing Fowler to Niedermayer, even though they share the attribute of wonderful staking and even though Fowler was drafted by the Ducks in 2010, just as Niedermayer, the captain of their lone Stanley Cup championship team, ended his Hall of Fame career. The Niedermayer family also took Fowler into their home when he made the leap straight from junior hockey to the NHL.
After all, this is Scott Niedermayer we’re talking about. He was enough of a difference-maker that the Ducks retired his No. 27 and put it next to Teemu Selanne’s No. 8 and Paul Kariya’s No. 9 in the rafters, even though Niedermayer only played his final five seasons with the team.
Of the comparisons to Niedermayer, Fowler said in April: “I never really thought it was fair for people to even put that out there to begin with and, honestly, it doesn’t give the respect to Scotty that he deserves.”
Expecting him to fill those gargantuan shoes was never fair. Saying that he didn’t stack up well against the No. 1 defensemen on other teams might be fair, particularly when Drew Doughty was just down the road and at the peak of his Norris-level powers. For a time, when Hampus Lindholm was around, it could be argued that Fowler wasn’t even the best defenseman on his own team.
But it’s also not fair to denigrate what Fowler accomplished during his time with Anaheim, which ended with his trade to St. Louis on Saturday. He’s not going to be considered the best defenseman to ever pull a Ducks jersey over his head, even though he’s the highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history. That’s obvious. To suggest that he didn’t factor in the Ducks’ successful seasons would be ridiculous.
Take one shining example: Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 playoffs, the second-round series in which the upstart Oilers, with Connor McDavid beginning his ascent into being the best player in the game and Leon Draisaitl breaking out toward NHL stardom, were about to take a 3-2 series lead.
That night would become known as “The Comeback on Katella.” Three times coach Randy Carlyle pulled goalie John Gibson for a sixth attacker and each time worked in the final 3:16 of regulation as the Ducks erased a 3-0 deficit. The moments that might be remembered most are Rickard Rakell scoring the tying goal, or the resulting controversy about whether Ryan Kesler interfered with Oilers goalie Cam Talbot. Or it’s Corey Perry wrapping the puck around Talbot’s outstretched left leg pad and glove hand in double overtime to cap the stunning rally. Maybe it’s Ryan Getzlaf, whose goal started it and whose pass to Perry was pure perfection.
Those were spellbinding moments, for sure. The comeback also wouldn’t have happened if Fowler hadn’t found a shooting lane and threaded a shot from distance through a maze of Ducks and Oilers for the second goal. Also don’t forget when he managed to keep a bouncing puck from getting by him on the blue line and forced his teammates to pull back out of the Edmonton zone so none of them would be offside. Play continued as the final seconds of regulation crawled away and, well, then came Rakell’s backhand and arena-wide bedlam.
That is Fowler’s time with the Ducks in a neat nutshell: He was never the main guy in their biggest moments — and their run of success ended after that 2017 run to the Western Conference final — but he was a worthwhile contributor nonetheless.
What should be talked about regarding Fowler’s time in Anaheim is the amount of respect he has for a franchise and a fan base that doesn’t enjoy the stature or widespread appeal of older, more storied teams. And the injuries he played through and recovered from, which prevented him from reaching the 1,000-game milestone with Anaheim. Instead, that will soon be done in a St. Louis jersey.
The number of Ducks defensemen paired with Fowler is likely in the dozens. Many were youngsters breaking into the NHL. Ducks coaches paired them with Fowler because he was an ideal guide as they made their way in the league. It also spoke to how much he was leaned on, beyond all the on-ice situations in which he played his 991 contests. Perhaps he was leaned on too much, in a way, during the years when Lindholm wasn’t there to share the huge workload.
Along with that, Fowler dutifully and unfailingly represented the Ducks with class, whether in public at team events or within their locker room, breaking down a difficult loss for reporters, discussing a play or a teammate or speaking to the state of his club in realistic yet encouraging tones. Never was he disparaging, even though he had many chances to be, especially in these last seven years when the losses piled up and he saw a group of talented young defenders set to squeeze him out.
The trade had to happen. The timing is unfortunate since the Ducks’ faithful won’t celebrate him reaching 1,000 games with the team, but the logjam his presence created became a daily issue. Fowler wanted a move. So did the Ducks. General manager Pat Verbeek, whose path toward building a winning team is becoming cloudier by the day, said as much on Saturday and referenced how the two sides, including Fowler’s agent, Pat Brisson, navigated an eventual split. “Both of us realized it was time for a change,” Verbeek said.
Subtracting Fowler allows more space for others to grow. There’s Olen Zellweger, who stood out in the season’s first few weeks. There’s Jackson LaCombe, who scored his fourth goal in his last six games on Saturday against Columbus. On the day Fowler was dealt, LaCombe played a team-high 22:16. He has recorded consecutive multi-point outings.
Don’t count on either young defenseman being scratched again, which is what happened when Fowler was healthy and the Ducks traded for Jacob Trouba.
“It becomes a problem in the sense that the younger players don’t understand,” Verbeek said of scratching the two defensemen along with Pavel Mintyukov. “And it’s hard to explain to them (that) we have to kind of keep rotating guys in. We want to keep guys not sitting on the sidelines too long because they don’t deserve to sit out. I’ve been fairly happy with how our young group has been performing. It becomes difficult for them to understand, and that’s when you start to run into problems. I don’t want them to have to go through that when they don’t have to.
“I can see (LaCombe) growing. Pavel Mintyukov is going to get some power-play time. We’ve got three guys that we can use on the back end on the power play. And that’s all going to be experience that’s going to be needed down the road. I can see all of them taking advantage or taking a step with this opportunity.”
These things happen when a team evolves over time. As last season ended — and probably before then — Fowler saw that he would be eclipsed by this new group of defensemen. It’s fair to say his play over his many seasons often fluctuated between flawless and faulty. But it wouldn’t be fair to blame him for wanting a better shot at winning — the Blues are three points out of wild-card position — as he continues to play out the back nine of his very commendable career.
When the Blues visit Honda Center on March 7, Fowler will receive a tribute video and should have an appreciative crowd giving him a resounding ovation. If the Ducks ever invoke a team ring of honor, as some have suggested they should, he’s easily deserving of a spot. Remember him scoring all three of his team’s goals in a 2018 overtime win over the Blue Jackets. Remember him cutting loose as “Cam America” to celebrate his Olympics spot for Team USA. Remember him becoming an All-Star. Remember his steadying presence when the Ducks’ defense was a strong point, and when he shouldered more than he should have when it was a mess.
What shouldn’t come to mind first is what he didn’t do — or what he wasn’t.
(Photo of Cam Fowler: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
