Kids’ disability rights cases stalled as Trump began to overhaul Education Department

• February 21, 2025

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, COLLIN BINKLEY and ANNIE MA

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was obvious to Christine Smith Olsey that her son was not doing well at school, despite educators telling her to leave it to the experts. The second-grade student stumbled over words, and other kids teased him so much he started to call himself “an idiot.”

Though her son had been receiving speech and occupational therapy, Smith Olsey said his Denver charter school resisted her requests for additional academic support. She filed a complaint with the state and then, in September, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

In January, her son’s case came to a halt.

“I have to postpone meetings with you to discuss the case,” a department mediator wrote to her on Jan. 23, three days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “I am sorry for the inconvenience. I will be in touch as I am able.”

As Trump began to reshape the Education Department, investigations and mediations around disability rights issues came to a standstill.

Standing up for children with disabilities has been a primary role of the department’s civil rights office, which enforces protections guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Historically, most complaints to the department have involved disability discrimination — parents saying their disabled child is not receiving accommodations they need to learn, which schools must provide under federal law.

It’s not unusual for new presidential administrations to freeze cases while they adjust priorities, but exceptions typically are made for urgent situations, such as a child’s immediate learning situation. The freeze on pending cases and Trump’s calls to dismantle the department altogether left many parents worrying about the federal government’s commitment to disabled students’ rights.

In the first weeks of the Trump administration, the Education Department has launched investigations of complaints involving antisemitism and transgender athletes allowed to compete in women’s sports, delivering on Trump’s vow to use federal funding as leverage to assail perceived “wokeness” in schools.

It’s worrisome the administration has said so little about responding to complaints from families of students with disabilities, said Catherine Lhamon, who led the Office for Civil Rights under former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

“If it is not aggressively engaged in protecting those rights, the office is not doing its job,” Lhamon said in an interview.

An Education Department spokesperson said the Office for Civil Rights ended the pause on its review of disability complaints Thursday, after The Associated Press asked for comment on the findings of reporting for this story. The Trump administration lifted its pause on disability cases sooner than the Biden administration did in its first months in office, spokesperson Julie Hartman said.

Progress stalled for families relying on federal intervention

The freeze had upended progress for families like Smith Olsey’s, whose children’s special education services may hinge on the outcomes of the department’s dispute resolution process.

“It’s a scary time right now to be a parent of special needs kiddos,” Smith Olsey said.

Her son has been diagnosed with attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, autism, dyslexia, and dyscalculia, a learning disorder caused by differences in parts of the brain involved with numbers and calculations. Since preschool, he has had an individualized education program for a developmental delay.

This month, the school agreed her son needs extra academic help, but she is seeking compensatory services to make up for time he went without adequate support. She also is seeking reimbursement for money she spent out of pocket on therapy, tutoring and testing.

When families believe their child is not receiving adequate services for their disability, filing a complaint with the Education Department is one way of prompting districts to provide additional help. Parents may also file a complaint with state agencies or pursue litigation.

Education Department serves as referee of disability rights cases

Between 2021 and 2024, the department’s Office for Civil Rights received 27,620 complaints related to disability rights. The office is required to process all complaints it fields, but politics can play a role in setting priorities and choosing which cases to pursue.

Typically, more than half of the complaints to the department have involved disability discrimination, but last year accusations of sex discrimination surged to account for a majority of them, according to an annual report. Disability discrimination accounted for 37%, while discrimination over race or national origin accounted for 19%.

In recent years, the office has seen a significant decline in its staffing, even as the number of cases it must look into has increased.

Parents and advocates say they are concerned about the future of the department’s oversight role as Trump and his nominee for education secretary, Linda McMahon, outline a vision for a dramatically reduced footprint for the agency.

At her confirmation hearing, Democrats pressed McMahon on whether she would support the department’s enforcement role in disability rights. She suggested the Department of Health and Human Services could take over that work.

“There is a reason the Department of Education exists, and it is because educating kids with disabilities can be really hard,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said during the hearing. “It takes national commitment to get it done.”

The freeze leaves families feeling outraged and adrift

In the fall, DarNisha Hardaway was relieved when an Education Department mediator found her son’s school needed to reevaluate him and provide tutoring. She had filed a complaint with the department after a series of suspensions that she said stemmed from her son being overwhelmed and not getting enough academic help. The 12-year-old has an intellectual disability, autism and epilepsy.

The Education Department, Hardaway said, “made the school system do what they’re supposed to do.”

If the school district broke the mediation agreement, she was told to contact the Office for Civil Rights again. This month, after her son had an outburst in class, his suburban Detroit school told her he would need to learn online for the rest of the year — a ruling Hardaway saw as a violation of his disability accommodations. On Tuesday, an Office for Civil Rights representative told her they could not respond with any substantive information.

Every day she waits, her son learns in front of a computer. “He can’t learn online, and DarNisha is not a teacher,” said Marcie Lipsitt, who is working with the family. “The OCR is just closed for business, and I’m outraged.”

Complaints about racial discrimination in schools are also pending.

Tylisa Guyton of Taylor, Michigan, filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights on Jan. 20 over her 16-year-old son’s repeated suspensions from a suburban Detroit school district, alleging a white administrator has been targeting him and a group of other Black children.

The teen has been out of school since Dec. 4 with the latest suspension, and she has heard nothing about when he might be allowed to return or be placed in an alternative school. Since missing so much school, she doubts he will be able to graduate on time.

“I just feel lost,” she said.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Ana Unified settles lawsuit over allegedly antisemitic ethnic studies courses

• February 21, 2025

The Santa Ana Unified School District agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by several Jewish advocacy groups for allegedly violating open meeting laws by secretly developing ethnic studies courses that the organizations said were “infected with antisemitism.”

As part of the settlement, SAUSD schools will stop teaching the ethnic studies courses after the current school year until they are redesigned with public input. The district is also required to acknowledge that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a “controversial” topic, per the settlement.

The settlement reads, “Materials that, for example, teach, state, or imply that the Jewish people do not have a right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor) or teach, describe, or refer to double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation shall not be used unless taught through an appropriate critical lens.”

District spokesperson Fermin Leal declined to comment on the settlement.

The SAUSD school board approved ethnic studies courses in 2023 that taught about colonialism and cultural appropriation, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In September 2023, a group of Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging that the approved curriculum taught “false and damaging narratives about Israel and the Jewish people.”

The lawsuit alleges that SAUSD’s ethnic studies courses “include one-sided anti-Israel screeds and propaganda that teaches students — falsely — that Israel is an illegitimate, ‘settler colonial,’ ‘racist’ country that ‘stole’ land from a pre-existing country called Palestine and engages in unprovoked warfare against Palestinian Arabs.”

The suit also alleged that the ethnic studies courses were developed behind closed doors by a committee handpicked by the superintendent, violating the state’s open meeting laws. The Ralph M. Brown Act gives the public the right to attend and participate in the meetings of public entities.

“The public was deprived of its legal opportunity to address the content of these courses before the Board approved them, because the Board failed to give the community the legally required opportunity to learn about the content and comment on it at public meetings of the Board,” the lawsuit alleged.

Carly Gammill, director of legal policy at the nonprofit StandWithUs said the settlement is important to ensure that Jewish students do not become targeted and “generations of students are not indoctrinated with false and hateful information.” StandWithUs, a nonprofit Israel education organization, provided legal support in the lawsuit.

“My hope is that they will do what ethnic studies is actually intended to do, which is to promote multiculturalism, not to promote bias, favoritism or disfavor views regarding one group or another, but in fact, to talk about the ways in which different communities have contributed to various aspects of life in California,” Gammill said.

Acknowledging that the Israel-Palestine conflict is controversial, Gammill said, ensures that SAUSD will include all voices and multiple perspectives and narratives.

“This is very meaningful to me to know that antisemitism isn’t being secretly brought into our local classrooms, you know, under the guise of ethnic studies,” said Marci Miller, director of legal investigations at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “We entirely support ethnic studies. It should be told from all of the perspectives that it needs to be told from. It shouldn’t be used as a cover for biased materials.”

Miller said she hopes other districts learn from this suit that transparency is important and will be enforced.

“When future courses are developed, there will be full transparency, and the public and parents and any groups who have a stake will be included in the development of the curriculum before it’s approved,” Miller said. “What’s done in the dark allows for a lot more bias and inappropriate material to come in, and that’s why it’s so important that we have these laws like the Brown Act, which requires everything to be done in public.”

CAIR-LA Legal Director Amr Shabaik said he is concerned that SAUSD will cease to teach ethnic studies courses that highlight the stories and histories of marginalized people, most specifically the experiences of the Palestinian people.

“Anytime anyone mentions Palestine, there are these targeted attacks. This is just another example of that, unfortunately,” Shabaik said. “The Nakba, the displacement of Palestinians in 1948, the history leading up to the displacement of Palestinians and how that continues to this day with the genocide and exile or apartheid systems put in place, or illegal occupation of Palestinian lands — those are real, actual experiences and events, and that’s really what ethnic studies is intended to center and tell the stories of, to discuss the systems of oppression and marginalizing.”

It is crucial, Shabaik added, that school districts, including SAUSD, continue to center the voices of communities that have been historically oppressed and marginalized in their ethnic studies curriculum.

“Especially here in Orange County, there is a large Arab American population,” Shabaik said. “What is the message you’re sending to your students when you continue to sideline them, not include their stories, tell them impliedly or explicitly that they are less than, that their stories aren’t important? That is devastating and damaging to a student, especially given the fact that ethnic studies is intended to address much of that.”

The settlement is an attack on education, truth and justice, said Rashad Al-Dabbagh, executive director of the Arab American Civic Council.

“At a time when Palestinians are experiencing a genocide, it is more important than ever for students to learn about their history and struggles,” Al-Dabbagh said. “Our schools should foster critical thinking, not bend to political pressure that seeks to silence marginalized communities.”

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers without Luka Doncic, Jarred Vanderbilt tonight in Portland

• February 20, 2025

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Lakers will be without one of their star players and one of their better defenders for tonight’s road game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Lakers listed Luka Doncic (left calf injury management) and Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery management) as out against the Blazers at Moda Center, which was the second night of a back-to-back following Wednesday night’s home loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

Doncic was sidelined for 6½ weeks because of a strained left calf before making his return and his Lakers debut in the Feb. 10 home win over the Utah Jazz.

He had his minutes restrictions eased against the Hornets, playing 33 minutes after playing 23 and 24 minutes in his first two games with the Lakers.

Vanderbilt was sidelined for nearly a year because of foot ailments and had surgery on both feet during the offseason. He made his return to the floor in the Jan. 25 road win over the Golden State Warriors. Vanderbilt hasn’t played in both games of a back-to-back set since returning.

The Lakers listed star forward LeBron James as questionable because of left foot injury management.

He played against the Hornets, recording 26 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots in 38 minutes after sitting out of Sunday’s All-Star Game because of lingering left foot/ankle soreness, which he’s been listed on the team’s injury reports with consistently since December.

More to come on this story

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​ Orange County Register 

Scottish Highland bull on the loose in Connecticut’s rural hill country

• February 20, 2025

KENT, Conn. (AP) — A Scottish Highland bull is the talk of the town in the rural hills of western Connecticut, where it has been roaming for over a month in the frigid winter weather after escaping from its confines.

Local residents have reported sporadic sightings, including a few over the past week, said Lee Sohl, the animal control officer in Kent. It was recently seen just over the town line in New Milford.

“People keep spotting it and they don’t know that people are looking for it,” Sohl said in a phone interview Thursday. “If somebody calls me about a sighting, then I tell the owner and they’ve been doing their best. They run right out and try to get to it. But it’s hard. It’s hard in this weather, and it’s very scared.”

The owner, Jo Ann Joray, said there have been people out looking for the bull, but they haven’t been able to catch it.

Photos posted on social media by people who have spotted the bull have drawn a range of comments, from ones expressing sympathy for its plight, to others saying the bull is adorable to one saying it would produce good steaks.

Stray farm animals are nothing new in the area. Cows, horses and goats get loose on occasion, Sohl said.

“That’s just where we live,” she said.

The bull’s story evoked memories of Buddy the beefalo, a bison hybrid who roamed the woods in central Connecticut for months in 2020 and 2021 after escaping on the way to the slaughterhouse. Buddy was eventually caught and moved to a Florida animal sanctuary.

Scottish Highland cattle are known as a hardy breed that can live outside all year, according to the Highland Cattle Society in Scotland. That’s good for the Connecticut bull because temperatures have been below freezing for several days.

​ Orange County Register 

New arrivals at Guantanamo Bay are Venezuelan immigrants with final deportation orders

• February 20, 2025

By MORGAN LEE, Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. immigration and military authorities say they have transferred exclusively Venezuelan immigrants who are subject to final deportation orders to the U.S. naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where nearly 180 new arrivals are being held in tents and high-security facilities, according to court documents published Thursday.

The court filing by U.S. Justice Department attorneys provides the most thorough official accounting to date about who is being held at the remote military complex and why.

President Donald Trump in January said he wanted to expand immigrant detention facilities at Guantanamo to hold as many as 30,000 people, although current capacity at Guantanamo’s low-security migrant operations center is roughly 2,500.

The naval base is best known for housing suspects taken in after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but it also has been used for holding people caught trying to illegally reach the U.S. by boat and to coordinate the resettlement of immigrants in the U.S.

Authorities initiated on Feb. 4 near-daily flights from a U.S. Army base in West Texas to Guantanamo. Fifty-one of the newly arrived immigrants are being held in low-security tent facilities, while 127 more are confined to a high-security area.

The Departments of Homeland Security and Defense argued in Thursday’s court filing that the detainees do not have a right to legal counsel because they all are subject to final orders of removal to Venezuela, affording them “very limited due process rights.”

Relatives of the new Guantanamo detainees and advocacy groups have accused the U.S. government of holding immigrants without access to counsel or any means of vindicating their rights, amid unsubstantiated or disputed accusations of criminal ties. U.S. authorities have not publicly confirmed the individual identities of immigrants recently transported to Guantanamo Bay.

A lawsuit on behalf of three immigrants detained at Guantanamo seeks a court order for authorities to provide unmonitored telephone and in-person access to legal counsel and advance notice before immigrants are transferred to Guantanamo or removed to other countries.

A U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., has ordered authorities to provide phone access to legal counsel, and authorities at Guantanamo said in Thursday’s court filing that they have complied, while pushing back against in-person access to legal counsel, as well as the right to communicate with relatives.

The Departments of Homeland Security and Defense “are not presently offering the opportunity for in-person visits to immigration detainees at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay but will continue to evaluate whether to extend this option in light of significant logistical challenges, the availability of alternative means of counsel communication, and the anticipated short duration of immigration detainee stays.”

The court filing notes that “Venezuela has historically resisted accepting repatriation of its citizens but has recently begun accepting removals following high-level political discussions and an investment of significant resources.”

Trump in January signaled that some migrants could be held indefinitely at Guantanamo.

“Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send ’em out to Guantanamo,” Trump said.

Relatives of immigrants believed to be at Guantanamo Bay and civil rights advocates say they have been left guessing about exactly who has been transferred there as they stitch together reports by immigrants in detention about people being led away from holding cells at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in El Paso. An online detainee locator is of limited use, they say.

“No one, to my knowledge, has heard from their loved ones” in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, said Anwen Hughes of Human Rights First, who helps provide legal counsel to indigent immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. “We don’t normally disappear people from within the country like this.”

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy teenager Ruben Ramos Jr. ready for what’s next

• February 20, 2025

CARSON — Ruben Ramos Jr. might seem a little quiet, but Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said his game speaks loud enough.

“His game isn’t quiet,” Vanney said. “He’s confident, he’s smart, he’s not going to be out there directing everybody, he’ll come out of his shell.

“He’s an intelligent player. He doesn’t play as a shy guy, he plays with a boldness that is beyond his years.”

Ramos, from La Puente, was signed as Homegrown Player last year. He originally signed his contract Feb. 19, making him the third-youngest signing in club history. He recently turned 18 and is looking to make an impact with the first team this season.

“I want to learn the game more this season,” he said. “I think last year, I was just trying to get comfortable as much as possible. This year, I’m going to try to focus more.”

Ramos was the U-15 MLS Next Pro MVP for the 2021-22 season. He made his professional debut the following year with Galaxy II. In 2023, he was the club’s Academy Player of the Year. He’s also been part of the U.S. national team youth system, playing on the U15s, U16s, U17s and recently playing up with the U20s.

He’s just completed his second preseason training camp with the first team, appearing in all four games. He played 45 minutes in the first preseason game in Indio and followed that with a full 90-minute performance.

“Knowing his quality, just showing, that as we play more and more MLS teams, that the things that we know he can do, that he can do them,” Vanney said of what he’s looking from Ramos. “I think he’s tactically astute …he’s played a lot of international games as a young player, so he’s been in really tough environments. Now, it’s about showing at the speed that the MLS game will be, that he can continue in the ways that he’s contributed with the second team, the way he’s contributed with the younger teams.

“The quality is there. He’s very two-footed, very intelligent about how he moves around the field and his game. He’s a wonderful finisher. He’s one of the better finishers on our team, left footed and right footed. He doesn’t have to change our team, he doesn’t have to do anything amazing, I just want to see his quality now inside of an MLS environment.”

Ramos made his first-team debut June 15 as a late sub in a 4-2 Galaxy win. He had an 11-minute appearance July 13. The rest of his game time came with Galaxy II/Ventura County Football Club.

“The more training I did with the first team made me feel more confident and made me feel a higher level as a player,” Ramos said. “Toward the end of the season, I was feeling more comfortable, I was knowing what the players were going to do and what their intentions were, so I was trying to build chemistry around them and I feel like I managed that.

“I struggled last year coming into the first team, how quick they think and how they move the ball was definitely a learning moment for me. I had to get used to it. I had to work harder to get into their playing style.

Ramos’ versatility could lead to him seeing more time this season. It helps that he can fit on the wing, an area on the field that’s a bit light for the Galaxy.

“We don’t have a ton of wingers, we don’t have a ton of 10s,” Vanney said. “Ruben can play a couple different positions along that front line and his versatility makes him useful for us.”

Ramos became the 19th member of the Galaxy Academy to sign a Homegrown contract. He grew up a Galaxy fan, with Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane as his two favorite players.

After a long preseason, his performance just backed up what Vanney knows.

“He’s shown that he’s capable of competing at this level,” he said. “He’s more powerful, technical and he has all the tools of a good player. We like where he’s at. “

As for Ramos, one of his goals is at least a goal.

“Hopefully this year I can get my first goal,” he said. “I like to score and another goal is to get more minutes (with the first team).”

​ Orange County Register 

Under Trump, corruption has moved from the shadows to the main stage

• February 20, 2025

As Americans, we’ve grown accustomed to our nation’s corruption to be relegated to the shadows. Corruption typically has to be uncovered in some way – some whistleblower drawing attention to some politician’s abuses. That’s what happened last year when the Department of Justice brought to light evidence that New York City mayor Eric Adams had taken bribes and solicited illegal campaign contributions. 

Just a few months later and the norm has changed quite a bit. Now, government officials are willing to freely and openly engage in corrupt practices. Attorney general Pam Bondi and acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove decided to request a dismissal of charges against Adams in return for the mayor’s cooperation with president Trump’s immigration agenda, also known as a quid pro quo. 

Initially, the order to request a dismissal was given to then acting US attorney Danielle Sassoon, who was in charge of the case against Adams. In response to being asked to completely dispense with any professional integrity, Sassoon opted to submit her resignation in protest – seven other federal prosecutors have joined her. 

Sassoon wrote to Bondi, alleging that attorneys for Adams had met with her and Emil Bove where they requested a quid pro quo by stating that the mayor could help with immigration enforcement, “only if the indictment were dismissed.” In the same meeting, Bove reprimanded one of Sassoon’s prosecutors for taking notes about the exchange and then took the notes from them. 

It seems that at the time (31st of last month), Bove was concerned that this exchange of favors would look like politically motivated corruption and wanted to limit records of it. 

That is no longer a consideration for Bove and Bondi though, given that Bove told the judge overseeing the case, Dale Ho, that the request for dismissal came as a result of the deleterious effects that the indictment had on Trump’s immigration and national security agenda and that it was, “a standard exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”

In a Fox and Friends appearance with Adams, border czar Tom Homan openly joked about the corruption saying, “and if he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City and we won’t be sitting on the couch, I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is this agreement we came to?’”

What Homan is alluding to here is that the DOJ is attempting to get the charges dismissed without prejudice, which means that they are free to refile the charges at a later time. This suggests that, if the DOJ wanted to, they could refile the charges if Adams were to step out of line from Trump’s agenda. 

Remember during Trump’s inauguration when he claimed that he would put an end to the weaponization of the Justice Department? Well, it’s been a month and he’s already pointing it at people like it’s a 12-gauge and he’s robbing a liquor store. I was truly surprised to see this, Trump gave us no signs that he would wield his power like a drunken criminal. 

There is no longer even a halfhearted attempt to act somewhat in accordance with the law. As Sassoon stated in her letter to Bondi, according to that stupid thing known as “the law,” “Federal prosecutors may not consider a potential defendant’s ‘political associations, activities, or beliefs.’” Bove, on the other hand, took the ride to the courthouse and told the judge directly that his motivation was that Adams agreed to abide by Trump’s immigration agenda. 

This here is one of the fundamental aspects of the legal system that would allow us to believe that it is administered impartially – that prosecutors not be motivated by political interests. This Justice Department is now completely compromised and is not even attempting to give the appearance that they are impartial seekers of justice. 

Judge Ho will consider whether to dismiss the case, and he will in all likelihood grant the request. This is an unprecedented moment in the history of the DOJ: it has been taken over by Trump sock puppets who don’t have that pesky conscience thing to stand in their way.

Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. He is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Rochester. You can reach him at [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks analysis: Top questions at the midseason break

• February 20, 2025

The Ducks coasted into the break by winning six of seven games and demonstrating a palpable confidence resulting from one of their best stretches yet under second-year coach Greg Cronin.

While there may be not a clear signal that recent gains will prove sustainable, the Ducks have scored more and done almost all their damage at even strength, all without losing any luster from their formidable goaltending tandem of Lukáš Dostál and John Gibson.

With the 4 Nations Face-Off break’s conclusion set to send the Ducks into a 28-game stretch run that could literally go either way – they entered the impasse precisely .500 in points percentage – the answers to these four inquiries might determine the outcome of their 2024-25 campaign.

Can this team create offense consistently?

While the Ducks remained the lowest-scoring team in the NHL overall on a per-game basis and in terms of total goals, they’ve climbed to 23rd of 32 teams since Christmas. During their 6-1-0 surge, the Ducks’ scoring average placed eighth in the NHL, just behind high-voltage attacks like Edmonton and Tampa Bay.

Fluid breakouts and sustained pressure have been more common occurrences, though consistency could still be an issue, as could finishing. The Ducks’ top three performances so far in terms of expected goals (per Natural Stat Trick) were all losses, and of their seven highest XG showings, none surpassed three actual goals on the scoreboard.

When the Ducks hit that mark, it’s something of a magic number. They’re 21-0-2 when scoring three or more times (15 regulation wins) and 14-0-0 with four goals or more (nine regulation wins).

Will the power play ever click?

The power play will always be part and parcel to any offensive discussion and it’s particularly pertinent for the Ducks, who only have the New York Islanders to look down upon in terms of man-advantage efficiency this season (12.1% for the Ducks, 11.5% for the Isles).

That hasn’t varied significantly, as the Ducks have nine power-play goals in their last 90 opportunities and just six tallies in their past 65 chances. They have owned the NHL’s worst conversion rate dating to Nov. 19 and even during their upticks in performance, both offensively and overall, the power play has ranged from peckish to outright famished.

Even as their 6-1-0 record gave them the NHL’s second-best points percentage during a short period, they were cashing in only 5.3% of the time with the extra man. The Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets combined to go 0 for 26 in that span to keep the Ducks out of last place. For both their personnel and first-year assistant coach Rich Clune, encouraging moments have been few and far between. In a two-month stretch, they also gave up all four of their shorthanded goals against this season, one of the league’s worst marks during that time. Individual players have provided intermittent bright spots, but the sum of their efforts has been dreadfully underwhelming.

Can they firm up their mushy middle?

While Trevor Zegras was injured, veteran Alex Killorn remarked that his absence made an impact, something the numbers then bore out with a 15.7% figure with Zegras dipping to 8.6% without him. But since his Jan. 21 return, the Ducks have improved only marginally, to 9.5%. That limited impact from the Ducks’ multitude of centers – some of whom, like Zegras and rookie Cutter Gauthier, have found themselves on the flank frequently as a result of the surplus – has not just been limited to a specific situation either.

Zegras, Killorn, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish have all charted courses for their production to stay level at best. Killorn and Carlsson were on pace for significant dips, while McTavish’s torrid stretch before this pause only accelerated his scoring pace to where it would reach 2023-24’s levels, but in more games played.

Ryan Strome has been the only Ducks pivot to noticeably raise his level of play and production alike, a troubling sign given that Strome, like Killorn, is in his mid-30s, while Carlsson, McTavish and Zegras all have peers in the NCAA.

Will they be buyers, sellers or neither at the trade deadline?

Strome was the most vocal Duck but hardly the only one to speak of the dressing room’s peaks and valleys in morale as the Ducks dealt veterans in recent seasons. Earlier this year, they welcomed Jacob Trouba via trade with open arms but bid farewell emotionally to Cam Fowler about a week later. That experiential ledger was back in the black when veteran winger Frank Vatrano re-signed for three seasons, with team-friendly terms on his contract extension no less.

Otherwise, the Ducks have retained a revolving-door feel with veterans, moving out Adam Henrique and Ilya Lyubushkin at the last trade deadline and replacing them in the offseason with Robby Fabbri and Brian Dumoulin, two veterans who were also entering the final years of their respective contracts. Their contract status and the depth chart behind them puts their futures on Katella Avenue in question. Gibson and Zegras have seen the murmurs resume, with Gibson-related chatter increasing in volume in recent weeks.

While selling may be reasonable, especially if they continue to hover around a playoff-precluding .500 points percentage, simply moving present-day pieces for futures could send a negative message to the rest of the roster. Instead, Verbeek could also explore opportunities to add to the young core of a franchise with cap space to spare this season and next.

​ Orange County Register