Ducks Notes: Marchessault, Stamkos, Gibson, Gudas

Anaheim was also one of the many teams making serious pitches for star forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos during their brief stints on the free agent market earlier this summer, said Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on today’s “32 Thoughts” podcast. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported at the time that the Ducks were among the top five teams making competitive offers for Stamkos, but Marchessault wasn’t linked to Anaheim until now. Many expected Anaheim to be a major player in free agency after picking up veterans Gudas and Alex Killorn in last year’s frenzy, especially with ample cap space to spend, but their offseason moves ended up being more conservative after Marchessault and Stamkos opted to both sign deals with the Predators instead.

There’s more from Friedman on Orange County:

• The Ducks haven’t given up on trying to move goaltender John Gibson and are still shopping him with three years left on his contract, Friedman said. But there hasn’t been any significant progress, and no deal appears close with less than two weeks to go until training camp. They’ve been in trade discussions regarding the 31-year-old, who posted a career-worst .888 SV% in 46 appearances last season, for the entirety of the offseason, per Friedman.
• With trade rumors now surrounding the Ducks’ longest-tenured player, Cam Fowler, expect them to name Radko Gudas their next captain before the season starts, Friedman said. The hulking 34-year-old defender was Anaheim’s best defensive player last season by a wide margin after signing a three-year, $12MM deal in free agency, leading the team with a +14 rating, 128 PIMs, 154 blocks, and 232 hits. The captaincy in Anaheim has been vacant since Ryan Getzlaf retired in 2022.