2003–04 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season

The 2003–04 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season was the team's 11th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). After making it to the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals and losing in the seventh game, the team placed fourth in the Pacific Division and 12th in the Western Conference, thereby failing to qualify for the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Offseason
In the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, the Ducks selected Ryan Getzlaf with their first first-round pick, 19th overall, and Corey Perry with their second first-round pick, 28th overall.

Forward Steve Rucchin was named team captain following Paul Kariya's departure to the Colorado Avalanche via free agency.

Regular season
The departure of franchise player Paul Kariya marked another new era which had many fans angered as well as worried about the teams near future repeating the on-ice success. Signing Sergei Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal in the summer relieved most of the fans' fear. Both players delivered as expected but scoring decreased for several reasons: Mike Leclerc played only 10 games, Rob Niedermayer played only 55 games, though enjoying a good season and Andy McDonald stayed healthy but had trouble repeating his performance after missing half of last season due to a concussion; Chistov suffered from "sophomore jinx" collecting only 2 goals and Jason Krog could not repeat another season like the one he had before. Rookie Joffrey Lupul had a wonderful rookie campaign with a bright future ahead. Overall, while the team had more potential scoring depth, several players fell short to enjoy and repeat the scoring touch they showed last season.

The defense performed well enough but J. S. Giguere failed at times to play the way he did the year before allowing soft goals. Later that season backup goalie Martin Gerber saw more ice time challenging Giguere for the number one spot and nearly outperforming him.

Playing away from home did not do them well as the Mighty Ducks won 19 games at home but only 10 games on the road.

Schedule and results

 * Legend:
 * Legend:

Scoring

 * Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
 * † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.
 * ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Mighty Ducks only.

Transactions
The Mighty Ducks were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Draft picks
Anaheim's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Farm teams

 * Cincinnati Mighty Ducks