- Ducks prospect Rodwin Dionicio is having a breakout year in the OHL and had a strong showing at the World Juniors but it appears an entry-level deal won’t be coming his way anytime soon. Instead, EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland announced that they’ve inked the blueliner to a three-year contract which will begin next season. Anaheim has until June 1, 2025 to sign the 19-year-old who has 31 points in as many games at the junior level this season but will they want to commit two seasons of that contract to someone who will be playing overseas? That’s a decision GM Pat Verbeek will have to ponder down the road.
Ducks Rumors
Ducks' Brett Leason Out With Upper-Body Injury
- Ducks winger Brett Leason is not in the lineup for today’s game against the Panthers after leaving Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Lightning with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old has already set a career-high in points with 12 through 36 appearances this year, scoring six goals and posting a -6 rating in bottom six minutes. Entering the game against the Lightning, he had been a healthy scratch in two of the last four games. He hasn’t been given a return timeline by the team yet.
Ducks To Activate Leo Carlsson
The Ducks will activate rookie center Leo Carlsson ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Panthers, according to the team. It’s an ahead-of-schedule return for Carlsson, who was expected to miss four to six weeks after sustaining a right MCL sprain against the Flames on December 21.
Carlsson will return to a top-six role centering a line with Adam Henrique and Troy Terry as he looks to continue his strong pre-injury play. The MCL sprain, plus some load management-related scratches, have limited him to 23 out of 42 games this year, during which he’s scored eight goals and seven assists while averaging over 18 minutes per contest.
The 19-year-old has been a pleasant surprise in terms of how well he’s translated to the NHL in his post-draft season. It wasn’t the most popular choice when Ducks GM Pat Verbeek selected Carlsson over Adam Fantilli at second overall in last year’s draft, but his two-way game has shined with solid production against other teams’ first and second lines. The Ducks’ 2-7-1 record in their last ten games without Carlsson is a solid bit of evidence of how important his minutes are to the team already. More recent injuries to Pavel Mintyukov and Trevor Zegras have exacerbated the team’s struggles, though.
Already 6-foot-3 and 194 pounds, Carlsson has two seasons remaining after this one on his entry-level contract, which carries a $950K cap hit.
Anaheim Ducks Send Down Robert Hagg
Continuing with their five-game homestand this week, the Florida Panthers may be without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks (X Link). It is unclear what exactly is plaguing Kulikov, but he only managed a tad under 14 minutes of ice time in the team’s most recent loss to the New Jersey Devils.
- Per the AHL transactions page, the Ducks have returned defenseman Robert Hagg to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Hagg was originally recalled on an emergency basis on January 9th, in correspondence with Anaheim’s trade of Jamie Drysdale to the Philadelphia Flyers only a day prior. Fortunately for Hagg, he was ultimately able to make his Ducks’ debut, playing in two games overall, with no points to show for.
Injury Notes: Gibson, Kochetkov, Forsberg
Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson left the team’s Thursday night game with an upper-body injury, being replaced by backup Lukas Dostal. Gibson has missed time for a variety of reasons this season, being placed on the non-active list earlier in the year for the birth of his child, missing one game due to illness, and now nursing an injury that could limit him further. The absences have kept Gibson to just 26 appearances this season, with the former William Jennings Trophy-winner recording a 7-17-0 record and .900 save percentage on the season. He leads the league in losses.
While Dostal has shown promise, his stat line doesn’t fair much better than Gibson’s, with the 23-year-old goaltender setting a 7-9-1 record and .903 save percentage in 19 games this season. Dostal entered the season with just 23 NHL games under his belt, setting a combined .902 save percentage since making his debut in the 2021-22 season. The Ducks acquired Dostal in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He was the sixth goalie to be taken that year and currently carries the most games played of any goalie in the class.
Other injury notes:
- The Carolina Hurricanes also lost their goaltender, with Pyotr Kochetkov leaving the team’s game after a collision with Anaheim’s Isac Lundestrom. Kochetkov was hit in the head but seemed to get his leg awkwardly stretched, making it hard to speculate what injury he could be facing. The 24-year-old has played in 23 games this season, goin 11-7-3 and setting a .900 save percentage.
- Ottawa Senators’ goaltender Anton Forsberg also joined the long list of injuries to occur on Thursday, leaving the team’s game after apparently tweaking something in his groin. The 31-year-old has managed 16 games, a 7-8-0 record, and a .889 save percentage this season.
Trevor Zegras, Pavel Mintyukov Out Long-Term
Ducks center Trevor Zegras and rookie defenseman Pavel Mintyukov both sustained long-term injuries Tuesday night against the Predators, the team announced. Zegras will undergo surgery on a fractured ankle and miss six to eight weeks, while Mintyukov will be sidelined for six weeks with a separated shoulder.
Zegras has struggled with his health and consistency this season as he already missed 20 straight games earlier this season and has scored just four goals and three assists in 20 games since his return. It’s been a tough few months for the 22-year-old as he had contentious contract negotiations with the Ducks in the summer and missed training camp. After he returned from injury, he struggled to get to his game in recent weeks and even found his name bandied about in trade rumors over the past few days before getting hurt.
Mintyukov is the Ducks’ 10th overall pick from 2022 and has been a pleasant surprise this year on their backend with two goals and 17 assists in 40 games. On top of being a solid offensive contributor, the 20-year-old has provided the Ducks with a physical presence as well as some solid work in the defensive zone. The Ducks figure to utilize newly acquired Gustav Lindstrom in Mintyukov’s absence.
Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek has been active on the trade market over the past week, and it will be interesting to see if he re-ignites the Zegras trade talks when he is healthy once again.
Cutter Gauthier Expected To Sign After College Season
Cutter Gauthier shared that he is currently planning to sign his entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks following the conclusion of Boston College’s season, per team reporter Derek Lee. This news comes after Gauthier’s sudden trade to Anaheim, with the Ducks sending Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick back to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Anaheim Ducks Claim Gustav Lindstrom Off Waivers
Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the Anaheim Ducks have claimed defenseman Gustav Lindstrom off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens. Lindstrom was originally acquired by the Canadiens from the Detroit Red Wings along with a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for defenseman Jeff Petry. The trade happened towards the end of last summer after Petry had been moved to Montreal by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 25-year-old Lindstrom was drafted by Detroit 38th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft and emerged as an NHL option during the 2019-2020 season as he posted one assist in a 16-game NHL audition. The following year during the pandemic-shorted season, Lindstrom dressed in just 13 NHL games and put up three points, while struggling with turnovers and defensive miscues.
The turnovers became a theme in Lindstrom’s play during his first full NHL season in 2021-22 when Lindstrom dressed in 63 games and averaged over 16 minutes of ice time per game. Lindstrom did emerge as a talented shot blocker and a physical option on the back end, but his sloppy play with the puck became a problem for the young defender.
This year with Montreal, Lindstrom has played in 13 games and has a career-high three goals and an assist. Despite his goal-scoring, Lindstrom has not played for Montreal since December 9th and was expected to be sent to the Laval Rocket of the AHL if he cleared waivers.
With the waiver claim, the Ducks will have a free look at a talented, albeit flawed, young defenseman.
Zegras Has Been Discussed In Trade Talks, Suffers Lower-Body Injury Vs Predators
After moving out Jamie Drysdale, some are wondering if Ducks GM Pat Verbeek might have another big move up his sleeve. To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Verbeek has discussed center Trevor Zegras with teams this season although it’s not known how far those discussions advanced. After a tough contract negotiation that eventually yielded a three-year bridge deal with a $5.75MM cap hit, things have not gone well for the 22-year-old. Injuries have limited him to 19 games heading into tonight’s action while he has struggled offensively with just four goals and three assists. Unfortunately for Zegras and Anaheim, he suffered a lower-body injury during tonight’s game against Nashville in the first period and did not return. Any extended absence could put the idea of a possible trade on hold fairly quickly.
Ducks Recall Robert Hagg
When the Ducks moved Jamie Drysdale to Philadelphia as part of yesterday’s trade that saw them acquire prospect Cutter Gauthier, a spot on their back end was opened up. It didn’t take long for them to fill it as Anaheim has recalled defenseman Robert Hagg from the minors, per the AHL’s transactions log.
The 28-year-old was an NHL regular on the blueline only a few years ago but injuries have limited him since then. After only getting into 38 games last season with Detroit, Hagg didn’t have the strongest of markets last summer in free agency, resulting in him settling for a one-year deal at the league minimum.
The thought was that Hagg would provide some grit at the back of their back end with GM Pat Verbeek clearly making toughness a priority over the summer. But things didn’t go quite as anticipated as Hagg wound up clearing waivers in training camp with several of Anaheim’s top defensive prospects getting roster spots instead.
Since then, Hagg has played regularly with the Gulls, getting into 22 games so far in his first taste of AHL action since the 2016-17 season and has four points in those appearances. This is his fourth NHL recall of the season but he didn’t get any playing time in the first three. He won’t be in the lineup tonight against Nashville so his season debut will have to wait a little longer.