The Ducks announced they’ve recalled goaltender Vyacheslav Buteyets from AHL San Diego. Fellow netminder Lukáš Dostál was placed on injured reserve in the corresponding move.
Anaheim is now without both of its regular netminders. Dostál is facing a two-to-three-week absence because of an upper-body injury, while No. 2 option Petr Mrázek left Sunday’s start against the Blackhawks in the third period with a lower-body injury and did not return. He’s been ruled out for Monday’s game against the Blues, meaning Buteyets will dress for an NHL regular-season game for the first time tonight as the backup to veteran third-stringer Ville Husso.
Buteyets, 23, had started the season with ECHL Tulsa but was promoted to San Diego in mid-November after a strong start. He made seven appearances for Tulsa and posted a pristine .924 SV% with a 2.81 GAA and a 4-3-0 record. Life hasn’t been as smooth since the promotion, though. With Husso up with the Ducks, Buteyets has started San Diego’s last three games – all in a six-day span – and recorded a 3.72 GAA and .878 SV% with a 1-2-0 record.
While he’s shown upside in the lower minors, the NHL isn’t where the Ducks want Buteyets at this stage in his development. The 6’4″ Russian was a sixth-round pick in 2022 and is now in his second season in North America after signing a two-year entry-level deal in 2024. He was coming off a pair of strong showings with Chelmet Chelyabinsk of the VHL, Russia’s second-tier pro league, and recorded a .905 SV% in 36 appearances for Tulsa last year.
Anaheim doesn’t have any back-to-backs on its schedule until Dec. 15 and 16. Even if Mrázek’s absence is a lengthy one, Dostál’s return timeline puts him back in the lineup around then. If he’s available even for the second of those two games, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Ducks ride Husso for a series of seven consecutive starts leading into that back-to-back while Buteyets serves solely as yet another injury insurance option.