Anaheim Ducks Sign Lukas Dostal

May 13th: The Anaheim Ducks have confirmed the entry-level deal with Dostal, echoing that it is a three-year deal but refraining from disclosing any financial details. The team release made no mention of Dostal’s future plans, but did review his interesting season spent with several teams in Europe. It seems more likely than not that the teenage netminder will spend at least next one more season abroad before joining the Ducks.

May 10th: Lukas Dostal has broken news of his own signing, posting on Instagram that he has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks. Dostal spent this year playing in several leagues in Europe, including in the Czech Republic and Finland. The team has not yet officially announced the signing.

Selected in the third round last June, Dostal was the sixth goaltender off the board. The 18-year-old may be best known for his incredible performance at the World Juniors, where he posted a .957 save percentage and 1.25 goals against average through four games. The young goaltender was good for his Czech second league team as well, but really shined for Ilves in Finland’s Liiga. It’s not clear if he will come over right away, or if the plan is to leave him in Europe to develop further.

The selection of Dostal and fellow goaltending prospect Olle Eriksson Ek is the Ducks’ way of preparing for the future, despite John Gibson still being just 25 himself. The team won’t have issues as long as Gibson is around, but has shown a need for a capable second goaltender over the last few years when he dealt with injury. That might be Ryan Miller again this year, but before long the team is going to need a homegrown backup to break in.