Anaheim Ducks Interviewing Internal GM Candidates
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported today that the Anaheim Ducks have started the process of interviewing internal options to fill the general manager position, currently filled by assistant GM Jeff Solomon. LeBrun named Solomon, Dave Nonis, and Martin Madden as the candidates they’ve interviewed.
The position opened up last November when Bob Murray, their GM of 12 years, resigned from the club to enter a treatment program for alcohol abuse.
The 64-year-old Solomon is actually in his first year with the Ducks organization. He was named assistant general manager and VP of hockey operations this past summer after a 14-year career with Los Angeles’ hockey operations department.
Nonis is the only one of the named candidates who have general manager experience in the NHL. He was the GM of the Vancouver Canucks from 2004 to 2008 and the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2012 to 2015. He’s worked in the NHL since 1998 and has been with Anaheim ever since departing Toronto in 2015.
Madden was also mentioned as a prospective candidate for Montreal’s GM vacancy, but those rumors have since cooled. The Québec City native was Anaheim’s director of amateur scouting from 2008 to 2020 before transitioning to his role as assistant general manager.
LeBrun mentions that Anaheim hasn’t yet begun the process of interviewing external candidates, but that should begin soon. He also notes that they haven’t yet reached out to the Tampa Bay Lightning for permission to interview their assistant general manager, Mathieu Darche, who’s one of the hotter candidates on the managerial market.
Sonny Milano Suffers Upper-Body Injury
- Ducks winger Sonny Milano left tonight’s game against Minnesota due to an upper-body injury, mentions Eric Stephens of The Athletic (Twitter link). He took an elbow to the face from Wild defenseman Jon Merrill and did not return. The 25-year-old recently set a new career high in points and is up to 25 this season in 35 games.
Troy Terry, Andrej Sekera Placed In COVID Protocol
Two of the teams playing tonight will be doing so shorthanded, as the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars have both announced COVID-related absences.
For the Stars, it’s Andrej Sekera who has been placed in the COVID protocol meaning Joel Hanley will enter the lineup according to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. Sekera joins Alexander Radulov, Denis Gurianov, and Braden Holtby on the sideline for tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers. Jake Oettinger will be in net as the Stars try to build on their last game and get back into the Central Division playoff race.
Sekera is averaging just 14 minutes a night for the Stars in the second season of a two-year, $3MM deal signed in 2020. The 35-year-old will miss at least two games if he has tested positive, as he’ll face a minimum of five days in isolation.
For the Ducks, it is much worse, as Troy Terry is now in the COVID protocol. He joins Vinni Lettieri, Simon Benoit, and John Gibson on the sidelines. While the latter was expected out of the protocol soon, Elliott Teaford of the OC Register reports that Gibson is not with the team in Minnesota. Even just losing Terry is a problem though, given how important he’s been to the Ducks’ attack this season.
The 24-year-old is having one of the most incredible goal-scoring seasons in years, scoring on 24.4% of his shots so far this year. That’s resulted in 22 tallies, nearly twice as many as Terry had in his entire career to this point. Through 38 games he has 36 points, including six just since the start of the new year. If he’s tested positive, he’ll be out tonight, tomorrow against Chicago and potentially next Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Ducks have recalled Jacob Larsson from the taxi squad to the active roster, while assigning Benoit-Olivier Groulx to the taxi squad from the AHL.
Mason McTavish Traded In OHL
He’s already played professional hockey for the Anaheim Ducks, San Diego Gulls, and Olten EHC, but now Mason McTavish is heading to Hamilton. The Peterborough Petes have traded the Ducks’ top prospect to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, where he will spend the rest of the season and likely close out his junior career. Jeff Marek of Sportsnet was among the first to report a deal was likely for McTavish, with Scott Wheeler of The Athletic confirming it. The Petes will receive:
- Jonathan Melee
- Alex Pharand
- 2nd round pick 2022 (North Bay)
- 2nd round pick 2022 (Sarnia)
- 3rd round pick 2023 (Kitchener)
- 3rd round pick 2023 (Sarnia)
- 3rd round pick 2024 (Hamilton
- conditional 4th round pick 2025 (Hamilton)
McTavish, 18, technically could return to the OHL again next season, but after showing well at every level it seems unlikely he’ll be anywhere but on the Anaheim roster at the start of 2022-23. If this is his last kick of the can in the OHL, he’s going to certainly get a lot of playing time on a Hamilton team built to contend in the Eastern Conference. McTavish will join undrafted center Logan Morrison and Montreal Canadiens prospect Jan Mysak to create a trio of elite offensive options down the middle of the ice, though obviously one of them could shift to the wing to accommodate their new star.
Selected third overall in 2021, McTavish scored three points in nine games with the Ducks at the beginning of the season and another two in three games with the San Diego Gulls on a short conditioning stint. He had five points in two games for Canada at the World Juniors before the tournament was shut down, and has dominated since returning to Peterborough. In five games he has scored six times, using his strong frame and ability around the net to consistently drive pucks into the back of the net.
Notably, McTavish’s entry-level contract won’t kick in this season unless he plays in another NHL game, but that’s not actually out of the question at this point. He would be eligible to return to the Ducks after Hamilton’s season ends, and with Anaheim looking at a potential playoff run there could be a decision to be made whether to insert him into the lineup to help that Stanley Cup chase.
There is also the upcoming Olympics to think about, as McTavish’s name has been linked to Team Canada in recent days given the NHL’s withdrawal. It appears as though despite technically being signed to an NHL contract, McTavish could participate because he was assigned back to junior. What a year it could be for the young forward if he fails to get a World Junior medal but instead gets an Olympic one.
Panthers, Ducks Announce More COVID Protocol Additions
The Florida Panthers will not have Patric Hornqvist in the lineup this evening when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes, as he has entered the COVID protocol. Hornqvist joins Mason Marchment, Sam Reinhart, and Spencer Knight, stealing quite a few important names from the team’s regular roster.
The Panthers, among the league’s elite teams so far this season, lost their last game against the Dallas Stars in a shootout and have now called two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division. The team is not only without these key players due to COVID-related absences, but also names like Sam Bennett due to a suspension and Markus Nutivaara due to injury. Despite that, they will need to try to take down the red hot Metropolitan-leading Hurricanes.
Lucas Carlsson and Aleksi Heponiemi will both enter the lineup tonight, while Sergei Bobrovsky will take the net again, his fifth start since returning from the holiday break.
In Anaheim, the Ducks are facing their own COVID absences. Vinni Lettieri is the latest addition to the protocol, where he will join John Gibson, Hampus Lindholm, Derek Grant, and Sam Carrick. Ryan Getzlaf has technically left the protocol, but he’ll also miss tonight’s game against the New York Rangers as the team gets him back up to speed.
The Ducks have recalled five players ahead of the game. Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Jacob Perreault, Buddy Robinson, Greg Pateryn, and Lukas Dostal are all up from the San Diego Gulls. Perreault, still just 19, would be making his NHL debut when he hits the ice tonight (he is expected to play with Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milano). Selected 27th overall in 2020, Perreault has 18 points in 23 games for the Gulls this season as one of the few junior-aged players eligible to play in the minor leagues. That’s thanks to the number of games he played last season–27–during the OHL’s postponed campaign. The son of longtime NHL forward Yanic Perreault, he would be the 16th player from the 2020 first round to make his debut–the second for Anaheim, after Jamie Drysdale.
NHL Postpones Detroit/Anaheim Game To Sunday
3:55 pm: The Anaheim Ducks added defenseman Hampus Lindholm and forward Vinni Lettieri to COVID protocol. With the announcement coming so quickly, it was likely the motivator behind tonight’s postponement.
3:50 pm: The NHL has postponed tonight’s game between the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks to Sunday, January 9 at 7:00 PM CT.
In the statement, the league says the game was postponed due to COVID issues affecting Anaheim. Currently, the team has five players in COVID protocol – goalie John Gibson and forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Derek Grant, Sam Carrick, and Nicolas Deslauriers.
Trevor Zegras was previously in COVID protocol but was activated from the list today. However, after just one morning skate, he wasn’t going to play in tonight’s game as originally scheduled.
The postponement gives Anaheim a chance to regroup. Getzlaf was placed in protocol on January 2 and could be available by then. Gibson entered today, however, and likely won’t be available for that game.
Golden Knights Considering Acquiring Kesler's LTIR Contract
- The Golden Knights are considering the possibility of acquiring the rights to Ryan Kesler from the Ducks, notes David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Kesler, who hasn’t played since 2019, carries a $6.875MM cap hit that is LTIR-eligible. In theory, if Vegas moved out enough salary to bring Kesler in and remain in cap compliance with their current cap situation, he could then be added to their LTIR pool, enabling them to eventually activate Jack Eichel. There’s precedent for teams acquiring injured players to boost their LTIR pool – Toronto (David Clarkson) and Tampa Bay (Brent Seabrook) – are recent examples and with Max Pacioretty and Alec Martinez both expected to return before the end of the regular season, Vegas may need to get creative to make the cap work when their players are healthy.
Latest On Anaheim Ducks GM Search
The Anaheim Ducks are one of several teams around the league currently searching for a new general manager after Bob Murray resigned from the position in early November. In his place, vice president of hockey operations Jeff Solomon was named interim GM and ownership indicated that a “methodical, extensive search” would begin to fill the position.
Now, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that a search committee has been formed, which includes a few familiar names for Ducks’ fans. CEO Michael Schulman and president of business operations Aaron Teats will be joined by Scott Niedermayer and Paul Kariya on the committee, which will also include owners Susan Samueli and Henry Samueli.
It’s difficult to find two more beloved figures in franchise history than Niedermayer and Kariya. The pair of Hall of Fame players had huge impacts on the success of Anaheim, with the former leading them to the organization’s only Stanley Cup. Niedermayer won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2007 and raised the Cup for the fourth time in his career after averaging just shy of 30 minutes per game on the Ducks’ championship run.
Kariya meanwhile was the franchise’s first superstar, entering the league in 1994 after his stint with the Canadian national team. He scored 39 points in 47 games as a rookie but would find a running mate in Teemu Selanne the following year and never look back. In 606 games for Anaheim, Kariya would score 300 goals and 669 points.
Yesterday, when discussing the multiple GM vacancies around the league on The Jeff Marek Show, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted that unlike some of the other spots, Anaheim has some big roster decisions to make in the coming months. Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, and Josh Manson are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the season and could bring back big returns should the Ducks decide to trade them at the deadline, while captain Ryan Getzlaf is also on just a one-year deal with the team. Anaheim has been good enough to perhaps consider adding, not subtracting at the deadline, but that kind of a decision would certainly be one that–in an ideal world at least–should be made by the team’s next GM.
Why The 2022 Trade Deadline Could Be A Seller’s Market
The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is not exactly imminent. The delayed March 21 date this season is 11 weeks away and a lot can change in that amount of time. However, the end of the holiday trade freeze is the unofficial start to trade season leading up to the deadline. In the first few months of the season there have been ten trades completed, but outside of the Jack Eichel deal there have been very few moves of any substance. That may not change any time soon either.
An active trade deadline requires there to be identifiable buyers and sellers and they must be willing and able to deal. Buyers should not be an issue this season; the eight teams currently in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference may be locked in, as nearly 100 percentage points separate the eighth and ninth team in the conference standings, while the Western Conference includes 13 teams with .500+ records. Therein begins the sellers problem though. Only three teams out west look like potential sellers right now, while there could be more teams willing to sell in the east but many are in a rebuild and don’t have much to offer, while others are merely lacking impact rentals. There are also a number of fringe teams that probably should be sellers, but are close enough to a playoff berth that would mean so much to their players and fan base that they may hold out.
The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek notes another wrinkle that could limit sellers: five teams are currently operating with an interim GM. The Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks have hired new heads of their respective front offices in Jeff Gorton and Jim Rutherford, but neither has in turn hired his GM yet and seem unlikely to make major moves independently. This could take Gorton’s Canadiens, one of the most obvious sellers on paper, off the market. Rutherford’s Canucks hope to be in the playoff race, but he has already vowed that the team will either sell or stand pat this season and the longer it takes to hire a GM, the more likely it will be the latter. The Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks are all operating with temporary GMs, all of whom have limited experience. Chicago and Anaheim fired their most recent GMs and have internal replacements for the time being, while San Jose GM Doug Wilson is currently away from the team for medical reasons. As Duhatschek points out, the likes of Kyle Davidson, Jeff Solomon, and Joe Will are not only new to the GM position, but lack the relationships around the league to make impact moves. So while the Blackhawks look like bona fide sellers and the Sharks and possibly the Ducks could get to that point, will they actually be willing to make trades?
The Seattle Kraken also fall into a category all their own. The NHL’s newest team was just put together in its entirety this off-season. Although they struggled mightily all season and do possess a number of expiring contracts, it remains to be seen if GM Ron Francis is ready to blow it up.
On top of all of this, the rental market among potential sellers is not strong. Of the top 20 impending UFA’s in per-game scoring this season, zero are on teams with sub-.500 records and just three are on teams not currently in a playoff spot. Expand that to the top 50, and only ten players are on sub-.500 teams: Phil Kessel, Travis Boyd, and Johan Larsson for Arizona, Vinnie Hinostroza for Buffalo, Chris Wideman for Montreal, P.K. Subban for New Jersey, Tyler Ennis for Ottawa, and Calle Jarnkrok, Colin Blackwell, and Mark Giordano for Seattle. Even if valuable defensemen like Ben Chiarot and Colin Miller or even a future Hall of Fame goaltender like Marc-Andre Fleury are considered, it’s not exactly an inspiring list for teams adding at the deadline. More importantly, it’s a short list for a potentially large group of buyers.
For those teams looking to make a meaningful trade this season, the conundrum is when to make a move. On one hand, with a small group of exciting targets it may be beneficial to make a trade early and possibly avoid the high prices of deadline bidding wars. On the other hand, the pool of sellers could also expand closer to the deadline and prices could drop if there is a flood of supply to meet the demand. Until that happens though – if it even does – there will be few moves to make early on and quite possibly right up to the deadline. Serious contenders should be prepared to pay up or sit tight this season.
Ryan Getzlaf Placed In COVID Protocol, Maxime Comtois Activated
The Anaheim Ducks placed captain Ryan Getzlaf in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today, per a team tweet. They also activated forward Maxime Comtois from the list and swapped taxi squad bodies, recalling Greg Pateryn and sending Jacob Larsson down.
Getzlaf’s having somewhat of a resurgence for Anaheim this year, already getting more points than he had last year in 48 games. His 20 assists through 29 games are most on the team. He’s had great chemistry with Troy Terry, as evidenced by the latter’s 18 goals on the year.
With Getzlaf’s absence, Comtois likely returns to the lineup in a top-six role. That’s a good sign, showing that the team trusts him to improve on his singular assist through 14 games.
The team already had Trevor Zegras on COVID protocol, so it’s a lot of offensive firepower taken out of the lineup for Anaheim at the moment.