Pro Hockey Rumors

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus several others who have already been eliminated.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Anaheim.

As expected, this season was a rough one for the Ducks who didn’t exactly improve their fortunes much from 2022-23.  While they finished seventh in the Pacific instead of last, they only had one more point than the year before with a mixed bag of performances from their young core.  GM Pat Verbeek made one big move to shake up that core in-season when he moved Jamie Drysdale to Philadelphia and it’s quite possible that another significant swap could be on the way.  That’s one of the items on their checklist for the coming months.

Add Impact Pieces: Verbeek indicated in his end-of-season press conference that he’s looking to add some impact players this summer, including a top-six forward and a top-four blueliner so let’s start here.  They did this last offseason, signing Alex Killorn to a four-year, $25MM contract and Radko Gudas to a three-year, $12MM deal.  Both players got a bit more money than expected but they felt the overpayment was worth it to get them into the fold.

While they could look to add those types of players again over the summer (bringing in veteran leaders to fill a specific role and overpaying a bit in terms of AAV), it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to aim a little higher this time around.  Instead of culture builders, they could look to add more productive pieces to take some pressure off the young core and then when that core is a bit more ready in a couple of years, they’ll be a deeper team which should line up with when they want to try to get back into contention.

Additionally, Verbeek will likely want to add to Anaheim’s bottom-six group as well.  They tried several younger players with varying levels of success this past season but if they intend to try to be more competitive, bringing in a veteran that can play some heavy checking minutes would help accomplish that.  The days of just being sellers should be over now and they will have more cap room than most other teams.

Examine Zegras Options: Of course, while they’re going to start being buyers more often, it doesn’t mean Verbeek won’t look to sell in the right situation.  One of those could involve Trevor Zegras, a player who, at a minimum, Anaheim would be wise to explore their options with.

Drafted as a center, Zegras may not be there much longer.  The team explored moving him to the wing at times this season.  With Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson in the fold and needing top-six minutes, that made sense over dropping Zegras to the third line.  In a season that saw him battle injuries, it would be difficult to fully assess his ability to handle the switch.

However, ready or not, that switch could be permanent if he stays in Anaheim with Cutter Gauthier now under contract; he’ll likely play down the middle as well before too long until he’s ready for full-time top-six duty when one of him, Carlsson, or McTavish will need to shift to the wing full-time as well.

From a value perspective, is it better for the Ducks to see if Zegras can overcome a down year and thrive with a full-time switch to the wing or cash in on him now as a center, a position always in high demand?  The year he had means he wouldn’t be getting moved at his peak value but he’s a 23-year-old with two 60-plus seasons under his belt, signed at a reasonable $5.75MM price for two more years with two more seasons of club control after that.  That’s still a pretty valuable trade chip if Verbeek wants to make another move to shake things up.  Is the time right to play that chip?  They’ll have to figure out that answer within likely the next couple of months.

Look Into Moving Gibson: The question of when will the Ducks move goaltender John Gibson has been around for several years now.  There has been speculation at times that the team would have liked to move him while other times had some suggesting he’d like to leave.  Each time it looked like something could happen, it didn’t.

This might be the summer when that changes.  There are a handful of teams who either will be looking to move their starter while a couple of others might be looking to simply shake things up between the pipes.  If all of those moves wind up coming to fruition, it could be a situation of musical chairs for veteran starting goalies.  Perhaps that will be able to help spark a move.

Gibson will have three years left on his contract heading into next season at a $6.4MM cap hit.  That’s still on the pricey side; he has the sixth-highest AAV among netminders for 2024-25 and one of the ones he’s behind is Carey Price who is going to be on LTIR until his contract expires.  At a time when a lot of teams are shifting more toward lower-cost platoons, that makes him a little harder to move.

But some teams have potential ‘change of scenery’ candidates with a price tag that’s somewhat close to Gibson’s.  At first glance, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Columbus all have netminders who are being paid like a starter but lost the starting role at some point; all three goalies have an AAV within $1.025MM of Gibson’s and three or more years left on their respective contracts.  Is it possible that one or more of them might be willing to make a change?  (And would Anaheim in that circumstance?)

The idea of getting a high-end return is off the table at this point.  Between the other goaltenders available, Gibson’s struggles (he’s coming off a career-low .888 SV%), and his price tag, the market conditions aren’t there for a big return.  But if the Ducks want to give Gibson a chance to try to win somewhere else and are willing to roll the dice on a new partner for Lukas Dostal, this might be the summer where a move actually happens.

Tender Decisions: It wasn’t that long ago that the Ducks were hoping that forwards Isac Lundestrom and Max Jones were going to be a big part of their future plans.  Now, they need to decide if it’s worth even tendering them qualifying offers next month, an idea that would have seemed crazy just a couple of years ago.

Lundestrom was a first-round pick back in 2018 and profiled as a potential two-way pivot.  After a quality 2021-22 campaign that saw him put up 16 goals and 13 assists, the expectation was that his value would be on the rise.  However, he scored just four times in 61 games in 2022-23 and then tore his Achilles tendon in offseason training, costing him 36 games this past season.  When he returned, Lundestrom notched just five goals and six assists.  One good season followed by two tough ones; is that worth tendering a $1.8MM qualifying offer and giving him arbitration rights?  They have the cap room to give him one more look but, like Max Comtois last year, they could prefer to simply move on.

As for Jones, he was a 2016 first-round selection but hasn’t become the impactful power forward they were hoping for.  Instead, when healthy, he has strictly been a depth player and barely logged 12 minutes a game this season.  Jones has yet to reach the double-digit goal or 20-point marks in his six professional campaigns and is coming off a five-goal, ten-assist showing in 52 games this past season.  He’s owed a $1.5MM qualifying offer with arbitration eligibility that could push that a little higher.  Again, they have the money to afford to give him one more look but could earmark his spot for a different prospect or a free agent signing.

A few years ago, both Lundestrom and Jones were viewed as potential longer-term pieces for the Ducks.  Now, there’s a possibility that neither is with the team two months from now.  Verbeek will need to decide if the time is right to cut bait or to give one or both of them one more opportunity.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.