Year to year, bad teams make wholesale changes.

Elite ones usually limit their modifications to a few selected tweaks.

Well, the Ducks have rarely worried about conventional wisdom. A surprising renovation by the Western Conference finalist is only one of the eye-catching elements and raises more than a few questions as the Ducks open training camp Friday:

How long will it take the Ducks to integrate the newcomers?


Eight players on the opening-night roster from 2014 are no longer with the Ducks organization. That represents more than one-third of the roster. Again, those major shifts are something you usually see with a lottery-bound group, not a top-four team.

Ducks General Manager Bob Murray was an active man at the trade deadline and did not let up during the summer, bringing in five more newcomers: defenseman Kevin Bieksa, speedy winger Carl Hagelin, veteran center Shawn Horcoff, right wing Chris Stewart and goaltender Anton Khudobin.

The message: Don’t get too comfortable. Or, in real estate language: Rent, don’t buy in Orange County.

Who is going to shoulder the offensive load after Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry?


Getzlaf and Perry, fondly called the Twins, need some scoring help. If they can’t add a triplet to the line, then how about at least a second cousin?

Getzlaf had 70 points and Perry had 55 last season, and Perry was limited to 67 games. The drop-off to No. 3 in scoring was Ryan Kesler’s 47 points.

They will be looking for bigger contributions on a consistent basis from youngsters Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell.

How will Hagelin fit in with Perry and Getzlaf?


If anything, Hagelin, the former New York Ranger, is the X-factor this season. The Ducks traded Emerson Etem and a draft pick to the Rangers for Hagelin and two draft choices.

He will certainly get a shot on a line with Perry and Getzlaf and receive every opportunity to become a top-six forward once again.

His acquisition means the Ducks will be a much faster team. They already were trending in that direction by adding swift left wing Jiri Sekac in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens in February.

Can one of the dynamic young defensemen take the next step?


In Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen, the Ducks have two of the best young defensemen in the NHL, poised to hit another level — that all-in, big-minutes domination you need to win Cups.

When the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007, they had two iconic defensemen, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. Now it’s Duncan Keith of the reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and Drew Doughty of the Kings’ 2012 and 2014 Cup winners setting the standard.

How does Coach Bruce Boudreau handle the playing time for his goalies?

The Ducks didn’t want to face an emergency like last season, when they were hit with injuries to backup goalies John Gibson and Jason LaBarbera and had to sign former Duck Ilya Bryzgalov.


Murray traded for Khudobin at the NHL’s draft in June and immediately faced questions about starter Frederik Andersen’s future as well as Gibson. Murray had to dispel speculation that Gibson was about to be traded and referenced the injuries from last season, saying, “The different ways we tried to fix it didn’t work.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa