Ducks’ Painful Exit Still Leaves Room For Hope

The Ducks have the kind of ending that stings now and gets re-litigated all summer. But buried inside an unhappy finish is the bigger question every rebuilding team wants answered - did this season leave behind real proof that the climb is finally starting? Anaheim’s brass will spend the offseason trying to separate empty optimism from something sturdier, because those are very different things in this league.