The Ducks haven’t been overly active so far in free agency and that’s probably not going to change. In his latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Anaheim’s focus at this stage of the summer is to lock up a pair of key players to extensions. Goalie John Gibson and center Adam Henrique are both entering the final years of their respective contracts and the team clearly wants to lock both up long-term. Gibson will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer while Henrique will be an unrestricted free agent.
Meanwhile, while the Ducks probably won’t be active in unrestricted free agency the rest of the summer, they still have some work to do with their own players. Defensemen Brandon Montour and Andy Welinski, as well as wingers Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase, are all in need of new contracts.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- The Flames are prioritizing signing newly-acquired forward Elias Lindholm to a long-term deal, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). Treliving added that Lindholm’s camp is open to that type of contract as well. Calgary acquired Lindholm back at the draft after his contract talks with Carolina failed to yield a new deal. As things stand, he’s a candidate to fill their long-standing vacancy on the right wing of the top line next season.
- Coyotes center Laurent Dauphin suffered a setback in his rehab from a knee injury that has put his availability for the start of next season in question, reports Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. Arizona reacquired the 23-year-old back in January as part of the Anthony Duclair trade with Chicago but he spent most of last season in the minors. However, given that he’s now waiver-eligible, he’d have likely got a long look at a roster spot with the big club in training camp, something that doesn’t appear to be an option now.