Pacific Notes: Willander, Raty, Lekkerimaki, Eichel, Uljanskis, Thornton
After the Canucks made another piece of offseason business in trading goaltender Arturs Silovs to the Penguins over the weekend, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance took a deep dive into the roster math that lies ahead and what other moves could be coming.
Among those could be something of a crunch on defense. After signing 2023 first-rounder Tom Willander to his entry-level contract in May, Drance reports the club has him penciled in on Vancouver’s opening night roster, not on assignment to AHL Abbotsford to begin his professional career. He expects that the defenseman named Elias Pettersson, not their highest-paid forward of the same name, has received a similar designation.
As such, Drance relays to expect Vancouver to carry 13 forwards and eight defensemen out of the gate instead of the slightly more commonplace 14/7 breakdown, with prospect Victor Mancini and recent depth signing Pierre-Olivier Joseph likely the only legitimate candidates for the eighth spot. Mancini is still waiver-exempt, so that could work in Joseph’s favor.
For the forwards, Aatu Raty has the best candidacy for a job out of all their young fringe NHLers coming off a Calder Cup championship with AHL Abbotsford because of “the club’s needs down the middle,” Drance writes. One name that likely won’t be in contention for a depth job is top wing prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki.
“It sounds like the club is open to slow-cooking Lekkerimäki in the AHL to begin next season,” Drance said. “The gifted scoring winger is waiver exempt, and the club wants to be cautious about managing his development and not rushing him.” Older but lower-ceiling names like Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson will be in contention for open fourth-line/press box slots instead.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- There isn’t anything new to report on extension talks between the Golden Knights and star center Jack Eichel, writes David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. An “open line of communication” remains after negotiations reportedly began over the past few months, but the needle hasn’t moved much since.
- Ducks defense prospect Darels Uljanskis is making the jump from Europe to North America to finish out his junior career, via Derek Lee of The Hockey News. Anaheim selected the left-shot Latvian in the seventh round last year. He’ll play out 2025-26 for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds after recording 39 points and a +12 rating in 44 games for AIK’s under-20 squad in Sweden last season.
- The Sharks announced on Tuesday that they’ve formalized a front-office title for Hall-of-Famer Joe Thornton, naming him as a player development coach and hockey operations advisor amid a slew of other minor staff changes. Thornton had remained in the San Jose area and worked frequently with the club in an unofficial capacity since retiring in 2022, but the franchise icon will now be firmly embedded in the process of building the team’s next window of championship contention.
Justin Bailey Signs AHL Contract With San Diego
An NHL veteran has found a place to play next season but he will have some work to do to get an NHL shot. The AHL’s San Diego Gulls, affiliate of the Ducks, announced that they’ve signed winger Justin Bailey to a one-year, one-way contract.
The 30-year-old spent last season in the minors on a one-year, two-way deal but never got an NHL opportunity despite playing in 59 games with the Sharks the year before. Starting off with the Barracuda, Bailey had 14 points in 33 games but he was more productive with the Gulls after being traded to Anaheim back in January. With them, he notched 12 goals and 10 assists in 35 outings.
Over his career, Bailey has played in 141 career NHL contests, picking up 10 goals and 23 assists along the way. He also has recorded 157 hits while averaging a little over ten minutes per game of playing time, primarily on the fourth line. In the minors, however, Bailey has been a much more consistent contributor, picking up 155 goals and 122 assists in 438 games over parts of 10 seasons.
It’s likely that Bailey will officially sign a PTO agreement with Anaheim over the next couple of months, allowing him to suit up for the Ducks in training camp where he’ll count toward their veteran quota for exhibition action.
Tristan Luneau Poised To Make Big Impact For Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks have quietly built an impressive stockpile of talented, young defenders. Players like Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov are beginning to prove as much on the left-hand side, but Anaheim is still searching for that same kind of breakout on the right-side. After a fantastic rookie season in the minor leagues, Tristan Luneau who seems best positioned to bring exactly that jolt as soon as next season.
There’s a steep learning curve for young defenders transitioning to the pro flight – especially for slight-framed, puck-movers who don’t engage physically like Luneau. He showed signs of those struggles in the seven NHL games, and six AHL games, he played through in the 2023-24 season. While Luneau’s three points in the NHL was an impressive jump to production, he struggled to clear out the front of the net or stop opponents from entering the defensive end. Luneau was set to mitigate those early-career learning pains with a trip to the 2024 World Junior Championship – where he surely would’ve dominated his younger peers – before an illness and eventual knee infection effectively ended his season before the tournament even began.
With that, Luneau’s first year of pro hockey – and his first chance to represent Team Canada – came to an abrupt close. It left the Victoriaville-native in a confusing spot. His nifty puck-handling and blue-line playmaking translated seamlessly to the top flight, but he showed through multiple areas of needed growth. With a long-term absence to boot, Anaheim opted for the safe approach for Luneau’s return in the 2024-25 season – defaulting him to the minor-leagues for the entire season after a brief, six-game stint in the NHL in October.
A year removed, that decision has paid dividends. Luneau finished the year with 52 points in 59 games. That scoring pace – 0.88 points-per-game – is the third-highest a U21 defender has managed in the AHL since 2000, and interestingly the highest from a defender outside of the Los Angeles Kings pipeline (Brandt Clarke, 0.92 in 2023-24; Jordan Spence, 0.91 in 2021-22). On top of reaching a tremendous scoring height, Luneau also added a heap of confidence in the gritty areas of the ice. He was diving into puck battles and scrums in the slot with the prowess his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame should provide. The result was not only an increased ability to win pucks in the corners, and hold his ground in the slot – but truly more opportunities for Luneau to win possession and command movement up the ice.
He, in many ways, returned to the end-to-end commander role he became known for in the QMJHL. Luneau was creating as many plays as he joined, and worked his way onto the AHL’s end-of-season All-Rookie team as a result. He was once an incredibly high-regarded prospect, earning first-round acclaim through points of his juniors career. Anaheim eventually landed Luneau in the middle of the 2022 second-round, and early returns seem to suggest he’s on the way to becoming a day-two steal. Luneau showed his ability to score at a top level through his first seven games in the NHL two seasons ago. Now – after vindicating that ability with a dominant year in the minors – he’s added the additional oomph needed to stretch his offense across a full season.
With a season-ending injury now well in the rearview mirror, Luneau seems poised to jump quickly back into the NHL, where his downhill-drive could pair perfectly with the all-three-zones ability of LaCombe or Mintyukov. He’ll be a favorite to make the Ducks roster directly out of training camp, and could soon be yet another young player to find his way to success on the Anaheim blue-line.
McQueen Won't Move To NCAA If He Doesn't Make Anaheim's Roster
- If Roger McQueen doesn’t make the Ducks’ roster in training camp, he told Global News’ Scott Roblin (Twitter link) that he will return to WHL Brandon instead of pursuing NCAA options. McQueen was the tenth pick last month, sliding in the draft after being limited to just 17 regular season games last season due to back troubles but he was quite productive in those outings, picking up 10 goals and 10 assists. Given that he missed most of the year, it’s not overly surprising that he’d elect to return to junior to get more game action in to try to make up for some lost time.
Ducks Rebuffing Interest In Zellweger And Mintyukov, Suchanek Fully Recovered From ACL Tear
The Ducks received trade interest in young defensemen Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link). The 21-year-olds are believed to be a big part of Anaheim’s future but were in and out of the lineup at times, something that Friedman notes resulted in both players going to management about their playing time. Zellweger had 20 points in 62 games last season while Mintyukov had 19 in 68, a drop of nine points from his rookie-season performance. Despite the trade interest, Friedman relays that Anaheim doesn’t have any interest in moving either youngster.
- Still with the Ducks, prospect goaltender Tomas Suchanek has fully recovered from the torn ACL sustained last summer just after development camp, relays Derek Lee of The Hockey News. The 22-year-old impressed in his first professional season back in 2023-24 where he put up a 2.92 GAA and a .910 SV% in 29 games with AHL San Diego, earning him an entry-level contract along the way. As things stand, Suchanek seems likely either to be the backup with the Gulls behind Ville Husso or starting at ECHL Tulsa to give him a shot at more playing time.
Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration
Eleven players across the NHL have elected for salary arbitration, per the NHLPA.
Those names include:
- F Morgan Barron (Winnipeg Jets)
- G Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks)
- D Drew Helleson (Anaheim Ducks)
- F Kaapo Kakko (Seattle Kraken)
- F Nicholas Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- D Dylan Samberg (Winnipeg Jets)
- G Arvid Soderblom (Chicago Blackhawks)
- D Jayden Struble (Montreal Canadiens)
- D Conor Timmins (Buffalo Sabres)
- F Maxim Tsyplakov (New York Islanders)
- F Gabriel Vilardi (Winnipeg Jets)
The deadline for second club-elected arbitration is Sunday at 5 p.m., with arbitration hearings scheduled from July 20 to August 4. Two seasons ago, 23 players filed for arbitration, and last summer, that number dropped to 14 — a downward trend that continues this year.
As a reminder, not every player is expected to head to a hearing, as negotiations will continue leading into July 20. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet.
Ducks Finalize Coaching Staff
The Anaheim Ducks have hired Jay Woodcroft, Ryan McGill, and Andrew Brewer as assistant coaches, finalizing head coach Joel Quenneville’s new staff, according to a team release.
Woodcroft’s hiring had been previously reported, and today’s announcement marks his return to the NHL. He last coached in the league during the 2023–24 season, when he was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Woodcroft, 48, brings 20 years of coaching experience to the table, and in three seasons as head coach of the Oilers, he led the club to a 79-41-13 record in 133 regular-season games and led them to the 2022 Western Conference Final. It wouldn’t be surprising if Quenneville tasks Woodcroft with leading the team’s power play, as under his watch during the 2022-23 season, the Oilers set an NHL record with a 32.4 percent success rate.
McGill, 56, has 10 years of experience as an assistant coach in the NHL. Most recently, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils, following five seasons in the same role with the Vegas Golden Knights. In contrast to Woodcroft, McGill specializes in leading the penalty kill and helped guide the Devils to the league’s second-ranked unit last season. With over 25 years of coaching experience, McGill also spent time as a head coach in the AHL, CHL, and WHL.
Brewer, 39, has 15 years of coaching experience, including eight at the NHL level. Brewer is an experienced video coach with previous stops in Detroit (2014–15) and Florida (2020–22). Between those stints, he spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He most recently served as an assistant coach for the Utica Comets of the AHL.
The team also announced that Dave Manson and Michael Babcock have been named assistant coaches for their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Manson, 58, has years of experience coaching in junior hockey, most recently serving as an assistant coach for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL. He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Oilers, working under Woodcroft during that time. Manson was also the 11th overall selection in the 1985 NHL draft and appeared in 1,103 career games through 16 seasons. Babcock, 30, spent the last two seasons as a skills coach and also spent time in the Ottawa Senators organization in a developmental role. He is the son of long-time NHL coach Mike Babcock.
Ducks Sign Mikael Granlund To Three-Year Deal
One of the top remaining free agents is off the board. Center Mikael Granlund has signed a three-year deal with the Ducks, the team announced. The contract carries a $7MM cap hit, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports.
Granlund will earn a nice pay raise over the $5MM cap hit he carried over the last four seasons. His last deal, a four-year contract worth $20MM, was originally signed with the Nashville Predators in July of 2021, though it ultimately carried him across tenures with four different clubs He earned the deal on the heels of scoring 13 goals and 27 points in 51 games of the shortened 2020-21 season, and quickly made it look like a value contract with 11 goals and 64 points in the 2021-22 season. He carved out a clear role platooned between Nashville’s top-line wings and second-line center roles, but was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a second-round pick ahead of the 2023 Trade Deadline. Pittsburgh retained Granlund through the rest of the 2022-23 season, before including him in an August 2022 trade that sent Granlund alongside four other players, a 2024 first-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick in exchange for Erik Karlsson, two other players, and a 2026 third-round pick.
Granlund instantly took to a lead role on a young Sharks lineup, and maintained his hot scoring through the transition. He recorded 12 goals and 60 points in 69 games with San Jose last season, then returned for 45 points in 52 games at the start of this year. But with such a red-hot veteran scorer in their mix, San Jose opted to trade Granlund and defender Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars at this year’s Trade Deadline, in a deal that landed them a 2025 first-round pick (Joshua Ravensbergen) and a conditional second-round pick that wasn’t exercised. Granlund continued to produce in Dallas, with 21 points in 31 regular-season games and 10 points in 18 postseason games.
The Ducks will be landing a mobile, athletic forward with strong playmaking upside in Granlund. He likely projects into a second-line role, but could offer the team upwards of 40, 50, or even 60 assist upside with the right linemates. He could be an enticing veteran presence to play off of youngsters like Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson, or offer the visionary passing to set up fellow newcomer Chris Kreider on line two. In either mix, Granlund’s speed and passing ability offer a refreshing boost to Anaheim’s bulky lineup.
Granlund has spent a collective 13 years in the NHL, and amassed 610 points in 902 career games. To boot, he’s also averaged north of 19 minutes in ice time in three of the last four seasons. He’ll be a toolsy addition to a Ducks’ top-end that’s looking to make a postseason run — though a three-year deal will carry him through his age-36 season.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
PHR’s Gabriel Foley contributed significantly to this article.
Ducks Sign Ville Husso To Two-Year Extension
The Ducks announced Sunday they’ve signed depth netminder Ville Husso to a two-year extension. PuckPedia reports the deal is worth $4.4MM with a $2.2MM cap hit.
It’s a peculiar contract for Anaheim to dole out, given they already acquired young starter Lukáš Dostál‘s presumed backup for next season. They recouped fellow Czech netminder Petr Mrázek in yesterday’s trade that sent veteran netminder John Gibson to the Red Wings, and he’s signed through next year at a $4.25MM cap hit. General manager Pat Verbeek indicated he fully intended on keeping Mrázek next season after the deal went through yesterday, per Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune.
That turns Husso into an extremely expensive third-string option who still will cost the Ducks $1.05MM against the cap if he’s buried with AHL San Diego. The two-year term does at least ensure the backup position behind Dostál for another year past 2025-26, and Anaheim is still far off from needing to worry about running into the salary cap’s Upper Limit, but it still far exceeds what Husso likely would have commanded on the open market. AFP Analytics projected Husso to receive a one-year, league minimum contract.
Husso, 30, is finishing up his three-year, $14.25MM contract he signed with the Red Wings in 2022 following a breakout season with the Blues. Husso’s spectacular platform year saw him finish seventh in Vezina Trophy voting after posting a .919 SV% with a 25-7-6 record in 40 games for St. Louis, but they were reluctant to bet on him as their future starter over Cup champion Jordan Binnington.
That was a prudent move on the Blues’ part. Husso has gone on to post a .894 SV% and 3.25 GAA in 88 appearances in the three years since, spending portions of the last two years in the AHL after starting 56 games for Detroit in the first year of the deal. He was especially underwhelming in his brief NHL action with Detroit this past year, posting a .866 SV% and 1-5-2 record in nine games before being traded to the Ducks for future considerations in February as Anaheim craved goaltending depth amid a rash of injuries.
Husso had a strong finish to the year, posting a .925 SV% in three starts and one relief appearance, but that’s not a large enough sample size to warrant such a lucrative contract after falling out of a regular NHL role entirely. Barring an injury to Mrázek or a contract holdout on Dostál’s part (he’s an RFA this summer), Husso will likely spend most of 2025-26 in San Diego, where he had a .907 SV% in nine games with a 7-2-0 record after the trade.
Red Wings To Acquire John Gibson From Ducks
The Detroit Red Wings are set to acquire goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman later added that the return will be goaltender Petr Mrazek and two draft picks. The deal was first reported by NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes. There will be no salary retention, and the acquired draft picks are not part of the 2025 draft, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
The Red Wings have confirmed the trade. They will send a 2027 second-round pick and 2026 fourth-round pick to Anaheim alongside Mrazek.
This move stands as a monumental day for the Ducks franchise. Gibson was a cornerstone piece of their club for much of the 2010’s, and earned the lion’s share of starts from the 2016-17 season through the 2023-24 campaign. He set the record for most games played by a Ducks goaltender early into the latter season, taking it away from Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Gibson also ranks second in all-time wins in Ducks history, with 204 – just two behind Giguere’s record.
Gibson was once among the league’s most consistent, and dominant, goalies. He broke into the league as a red-hot rookie, setting a .920 save percentage through 40 games of his rookie season – enough to rank seventh in both Calder Trophy and Vezina Trophy voting. Gibson also took home the William Jennings Trophy with goalie partner Frederik Andersen that season. He went on to post a save percentage north of .915 in each of his first four full years in the NHL – including a career-high .926 through 60 games of the 2017-18 campaign. He also had a statement performance during Anaheim’s run to the 2017 Western Conference Finals, posting a .918 through 16 games.
Gibson continued to play north of 50 games each season through the 2019-20 campaign. In the first six years of his career, he combined for a .918 save percentage and 139-103-33 record through 287 games. But he couldn’t hold onto his consistency through a new decade, and began to slip nearly right as the 2020s rolled around. Gibson posted a .903 in 35 games of the shortened 2020-21 season, and has since recorded three more seasons with a save percentage below .905.
He seemed fully lost at sea last season, when a .888 save percentage through 46 games ultimately resulted in him losing the Ducks’ starting job to up-and-coming prospect Lukas Dostal. Gibson fell firmly into the backup role, and maintained that standing through this season.
But less responsibility may have been the right call for the now-31-year-old Gibson. He surged back to good effect this season, posting a 11-11-2 record and .911 save percentage through 29 games. He shined as a flashy compliment when Dostal was struggling, and gave Anaheim back the consistency in their net that they’ve long been known for.
It’s with that momentum that Gibson will enter the Red Wings’ system. He’s entering a true crowd, with both Cam Talbot and top prospect Sebastian Cossa signed through next season. The Red Wings also have Alex Lyon and Jack Campbell headed for unrestricted free agency. Gibson will step in as the goaltender with the priciest salary and longest term of the bunch – set to carry a $6.4MM cap hit through the next two seasons, while both Talbot and Cossa will need new deals next year. That fact could earn Gibson a starting role headed into the 2025-26 season, though it seems much more reasonable to bet on him being the consistent veteran manning the backup role while Cossa continues to climb into the NHL.
On the flip side, Anaheim will receive veteran Mrazek to fill their vacant backup role. Mrazek was the Chicago Blackhawks’ starter at the onset of the season – a role he’s filled since 2022. He wasn’t much sharp in Chicago, posting a 38-72-9 record and .899 save percentage through 128 games played. To his credit, though, he faced an absolute barrage of shots – averaging 31 shots against each game. Mrazek was dealt to the Red Wings at the Trade Deadline, and stood up to a reduced role much better – with a 2-2-0 record and .902 save percentage in five games. He’s a veteran of 13 NHL seasons and 428 games. In that span, he’s recorded a 180-176-40 record and .906 save percentage. Mrazek seems well beyond his golden days, but should still offer fine play situated behind starter Dostal.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports.