Ducks AHL Coach Roy Sommer To Retire
It won’t just be a new head coach in Anaheim that Ducks GM Pat Verbeek will be looking for in the coming weeks. There will be a vacancy to fill with their AHL affiliate in San Diego as well; the team announced that head coach Roy Sommer will retire following tonight’s season-ending contest against Colorado.
The 66-year-old is in his first season outside of San Jose’s organization in the better part of three decades. Sommer spent 26 years behind the bench with their affiliates before departing and joining Anaheim last summer. He is the winningest coach in AHL history with 828 while tonight’s contest will be his 1,814th, also a league record.
This season didn’t go as planned for Anaheim who finished at the bottom of the Western Conference and the NHL. Meanwhile, things didn’t go much better for the Gulls as they also sit last in the Western Conference and AHL with just 43 points through 71 games. With the Ducks battling injury trouble throughout the season, that put extra strain on San Diego that they clearly weren’t able to overcome.
This will be the second straight summer under Verbeek that he’ll be seeking an AHL bench boss. Last summer, he fired Joel Bouchard after just one season in the role and with Sommer calling it a career after tonight, that search will resume.
Anaheim Ducks Reassign Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Drew Helleson
The Anaheim Ducks have wrapped up their season, but their AHL affiliate isn’t done quite yet. The San Diego Gulls are receiving some reinforcement from the parent club late in the season. Per a team release, both Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Drew Helleson have been sent down to the Gulls. Unfortunately, not only have the Ducks finished last in the NHL standings, but the Gulls sit at the bottom of the AHL standings as well. They do have two games remaining against the Colorado Eagles this weekend before closing out their regular season schedule.
Groulx was a second-round pick of the Ducks back in 2018. The 23-year-old forward has played most of the past three seasons in the AHL, though he now has 20 NHL games under his belt as well. He has scored one goal and three points with the Ducks, and sits second in points on the Gulls roster this season. His 18 goals and 39 points in 61 games are decent production, but the fact he is second on the team in scoring with those numbers shows why the Gulls are sitting in the cellar of the AHL.
Helleson is a promising defenseman who was a second-round pick of the Ducks in 2019. He turned pro just over a year ago after a stellar NCAA career at Boston College. He is still learning the ropes of the pro game, but has shown he could become a dependable right-shot two-way defender for the Ducks down the road. He scored five goals and 18 points in 63 games for the Gulls this season, and suited up for three NHL games in the past week, scoring his first NHL goal against the Vancouver Canucks while averaging 13:39 per game.
Both players were called up in the past week as a late-season audition which is a good sign that the team thinks they could contribute at the NHL level in 2023-24. The Ducks remain in transition as they try to build a contending team for the future and Groulx and Helleson should get longer looks next season to see if they are capable of being NHL regulars.
Anaheim Ducks Won’t Bring Back Dallas Eakins
The Anaheim Ducks won’t renew the expiring contract of head coach Dallas Eakins, the team announced in a release Friday morning.
Eakins has been at the helm of the team since the start of the 2019-20 season. Anaheim made the decision following a season that finished beneath already low expectations, finishing last in the NHL with 58 points.
Under Eakins’ leadership, the Ducks were one of the worst defensive teams of the post-lockout era in 2022-23. Their 4.09 goals against per game were the highest in a single season since the 1995-96 San Jose Sharks.
“This was a very difficult decision, one that comes after careful and considerable deliberation,” said Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek. “At the end of the day, I simply feel that a fresh perspective and new voice will be beneficial for the team. Dallas has handled himself with class and character through a difficult season, and we wish him the best in the future.”
Eakins previously served as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers from 2013 to 2015. This was his eighth season with the Ducks organization, having served as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, from 2015 to 2019.
The Ducks have not announced an interim or permanent replacement for Eakins. This is the first NHL head coaching vacancy of the 2023 offseason, with other expiring contracts including Washington’s Peter Laviolette and New Jersey’s Lindy Ruff, as noted by Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic.
Despite their recent struggles, Anaheim’s next head coach will be leading with a stronger, more developed foundation in place. They’ll have the benefit of a more experienced Trevor Zegras, who led the Ducks with 65 points in 81 games this season.
The Ducks will also have defenseman Jamie Drysdale returning from injury next season. The team’s first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft played just eight games in 2022-23 before a shoulder injury ended his campaign.
Their talented young core will also receive a big boost this offseason, with the team now guaranteed a top-three pick in the stacked 2023 draft thanks to their last-place finish. With a new head coach in place, the Ducks will look to return to competitiveness in the near future. For this offseason, though, the focus rests on finding the right voice to lead the third generation of Ducks stars after Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry in the right direction.
Mason McTavish Out For The Rest Of The Season
Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune is reporting that Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an injury in last night’s 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. McTavish scored a powerplay goal in the game but was limited to just 8:09 in ice time after he left with an upper body injury. He will now miss Anaheim’s season finale on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.
The 2021 third overall pick will finish his first full NHL season with 17 goals and 26 assists in 80 games, pretty good numbers for a 20-year-old who was tasked to play against top line opponents on a nightly basis. McTavish is among a group of young, skilled, exciting forwards that Anaheim has been able to draft and develop over the past few years. But, with all that youth there have been growing pains, Anaheim will finish this season out of the playoffs for a fifth straight season and are currently tied for the second worst record in the NHL.
While they don’t have a ton of talent at the NHL level, Anaheim boasts one of the best farm systems in the entire NHL. Should they land another top tier prospect in the 2023 entry draft, they could be turning the corner on their rebuild sooner than later. And while they didn’t get a first round pick for John Klingberg, they do boast an awful lot of second and third round picks in the next two drafts.
The Ducks will be busy this summer, on top of what will be a busy draft day, they will need to work out new contracts for Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Maxime Comtois, and Jamie Drysdale. The Ducks will have plenty of cap space to work with though, as they currently sit $38MM under the salary cap for the 2023-24 season.
Ryan Strome Fined $5,000
- The Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct to Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome for his actions in last night’s game against the Avalanche. Strome threw a water bottle from the bench as Colorado won the game in overtime, and will have to pay a small fee.
- The Ducks have also made a roster move, sending Olle Eriksson Ek back to the minor leagues. This is the fourth time in just a few days that Eriksson Ek has been involved in a transaction, bouncing up and down through the last part of the season as Anaheim tries to get to the summer break.
Anaheim Ducks Sign Jackson LaCombe
Another Minnesota Golden Gopher is turning pro after a crushing loss in the NCAA Championship. Jackson LaCombe has signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks, ending any speculation that he could test free agency later this summer.
The contract will begin immediately, meaning LaCombe is eligible to play in the Ducks’ final two games and will burn the first year of the deal in 2022-23.
LaCombe, 22, was a second-round pick in 2019 and developed into the most consistent two-way defensemen in the country, racking up points and playing big minutes for the University of Minnesota.
In four years at the NCAA level, he registered 99 points, including a 35-point senior campaign. Had he decided to wait, he could have become an unrestricted free agent in August, allowed to sign with any team in the league.
Few organizations can give more opportunity to young defensemen though, as Anaheim goes through a complete rebuild. Kevin Shattenkirk, Nathan Beaulieu, Michael Del Zotto, Andrej Sustr, and Scott Harrington are all pending unrestricted free agents, leaving plenty of spots to fill with players like LaCombe.
He’ll also be reunited with some familiar faces from the US junior program. In 2021, LaCombe was part of the team that took home gold at the World Juniors, a group led by Trevor Zegras, who had 18 points in seven games, and included recent Ducks call-up Drew Helleson.
Max Comtois To Miss Final Three Games With Upper-Body Injury
- The Ducks announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Comtois will miss the final three games of the season due to an upper-body injury. His year comes to an end with just nine goals and ten assists in 69 games. The 24-year-old is a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights but with a $2.55MM qualifying offer, he looks like a potential non-tender candidate in June.
Ducks Recall Drew Helleson
It appears that Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson will have a chance to make his NHL debut tonight against the team that drafted him. Per the AHL’s transactions log, Anaheim has recalled the blueliner from San Diego.
The 22-year-old was a second-round pick by the Avs (47th overall) back in 2019 but has certainly outperformed his draft stock. Helleson had a strong three-year career at Boston College while also representing Team USA internationally at both the World Juniors and the Olympics. That made him the key part of the trade that saw Anaheim send Josh Manson to Colorado last season.
Helleson signed soon after, getting his feet wet in the pros but this has been his first professional campaign. He hasn’t exactly lit it up like he did in college with just five goals and 13 assists in 63 games. However, it’s at least worth noting that the Gulls are the lowest-scoring team in the AHL and sit dead last in points with many of Anaheim’s top prospects still at the junior level.
Scott Harrington was a late scratch for Anaheim yesterday in their overtime loss to Arizona, forcing them to play with just five defensemen and 13 forwards while also resulting in Cam Fowler setting the NHL record for most ice time for a player in a regular season game at 38:55. If Harrington isn’t able to suit up against Colorado, Helleson will be in line to make his debut while allowing the Ducks to get back to a more traditional lineup in the process.
Scott Harrington Out With Upper-Body Injury
- Anaheim Ducks defenseman Scott Harrington will miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, per a team statement. The 30 year old has played 45 games this season with the Ducks, and has played over 20 minutes in each of the team’s past three games. The team did not give any further details other than to say Harrington would not play tonight.
Ducks Recall Olle Eriksson Ek
Apr. 7: Another day, another Eriksson Ek transaction. This time, he’s back on his way to Anaheim with the team announcing that he has been recalled once more from San Diego.
Apr 6: Eriksson Ek has been returned to the AHL today. The Ducks don’t play again until Saturday, after losing to Edmonton last night.
Apr 5: In case of a potential injury to starting goaltender John Gibson, Derek Lee of the Sporting Tribune reports that the Anaheim Ducks have recalled Olle Eriksson Ek from their AHL affiliate San Diego Gulls. This will mark Eriksson Ek’s third call-up to the professional club so far this season.
After being drafted 153rd overall in the 2017 NHL draft, Eriksson Ek has had a difficult time moving up in the Ducks’ organization. He has spent the last four seasons in North America, splitting time between the AHL and the ECHL. Understandably, he has produced much better numbers playing with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers.
Unfortunately for the Ducks, Eriksson Ek has produced increasingly depressed numbers each season he has been within the organization. In his rookie season in the AHL, he played in 15 games, going 8-6-1, carrying a .901 SV% and a 3.14 GAA.
Last year, Eriksson Ek followed his rookie campaign up with a 7-15-3 record in 26 games, posting a .880 SV% and a 3.44 GAA. This year hasn’t been any better, going 2-14-0, with a .852 SV% and a 4.81 GAA in 20 games. If Gibson is injured for tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, and Eriksson Ek does play, it will be his first-ever start in the NHL.