Training camp is well underway and October is just around the corner. The Anaheim Ducks still have plenty of work to do before the start of the 2023-24 season. Head coach Greg Cronin has been busy implementing the team’s new systems and getting to know his players. Meanwhile, Anaheim general manager (GM) Pat Verbeek still has to sign key restricted free agents (RFA) Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. The Ducks have plenty of roster decisions to make between now and opening night.
Negotiations Ongoing with Zegras and Drysdale
Anaheim has the most cap space in the league, with just over $16.6 million available for use, so it is a shocking development that cornerstone players like Zegras and Drysdale are still unsigned. It is also not encouraging that neither deal appears to be progressing toward completion in the near future. The unanswered question of when will they be signed remains, and it is a problem that will fester the longer it goes unaddressed.
When it comes to Zegras, TSN insider Peirre LeBrun said, “there’s still a tangible gap in talks between the Anaheim Ducks and his representative Pat Brisson.” It has been reported that the two sides have settled on the idea of a three-year agreement, but they are, “far apart on the average annual value.” According to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, the Ducks were aiming to get Zegras to sign for between $3 million and $4 million per season. Negotiations are a fluid situation, with plenty of give and take, but a lowball offer like that at this stage feels like a futile exercise. The cap hit will need to be larger, especially if the contract is for three years.
On the Drysdale front, it is believed that a bridge contract will be the likely result, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is, “not convinced there’s a term agreement” yet. The 21-year-old blueliner only appeared in eight games last season due to shoulder surgery. Despite being fully recovered, he is missing valuable camp time because of a contract dispute. Drysdale has been keeping himself busy and trying to stay in shape, skating with the men’s hockey team for Toronto Metropolitan University.
No Plans to Name a New Captain
Anaheim GM Verbeek is in no hurry to announce a captain. “I think it’s going to be status quo based on last year for me. We’re still in a transition stage,” he said on the opening day of training camp. “Being able to see who’s going to emerge and Greg is going to go through this process of figuring out who the leaders are from that aspect. So I don’t see any change in that aspect. I think we’re going to do it by committee again and then at some point we’ll see.” The organization has left the captaincy vacant since Ryan Getzlaf retired following the 2021-22 season.
Good Start to Exhibition Schedule
The Ducks have eight games on the preseason docket and the team currently has a 2-0-0 record following a 3-2 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 24 and a 4-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 26.
Sam Carrick is among the top scorers of the 2023-24 preseason with two goals and two assists through two contests. Jackson LaCombe netted a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, in Anaheim’s exhibition opener. Not to be outdone, Olen Zellweger made an impact in the team’s second preseason matchup with one goal and one helper.
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Carrick is looking to lock up a depth spot on the NHL roster entering the regular season, while LaCombe and Zellweger are vying for top-six positions on Anaheim’s blue line. Being waivers exempt has the potential to work against LaCombe and Zellweger despite the strong cases they are both making for roles with the big club. LaCombe and Zellweger were also among the standouts for the Ducks at the 2023 Rookie Faceoff Tournament.
Intriguing Anaheim Line Combinations
Reading too much into lines during training camp is typically unwise, but it is not a completely fruitless endeavor and any experimentation can glean some insight into how the Ducks may deploy some players. It is also exciting to see where some prospects are placed in the lineup and then evaluate how they respond to those opportunities.
In the absence of Zegras, Adam Henrique has been practicing as a center. He has skated with Brock McGinn on a couple of occasions. Mason McTavish, who returned to the ice Tuesday from an upper-body injury, centered a line between Nikita Nesterenko and Zack Kassian, who is attending camp on a professional tryout. Leo Carlsson has been linked with big free-agent signing Alex Killorn in recent sessions, while fellow newcomer Radko Gudas has been paired with Cam Fowler and Zellweger on the back end. In Wednesday’s preseason rematch versus the Sharks, Anaheim is projected to feature the Carlsson-Killorn and Gudas-Zellweger combinations. Another partnership worth keeping an eye on is the prospect duo of Pavel Mintyukov and Noah Warren. Their blend of size, puck-moving ability and skill could make them a future top defense pairing for the Ducks.
Ducks Make First Roster Cuts
Anaheim moved eight skaters back to their respective junior teams this week. Rodwin Dioncio was returned to the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); Connor Hvidston was sent back to the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL); Nico Myatovic was loaned to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds; Coulson Pitre was assigned to the Flint Firebirds of the OHL; Vojtech Port was given back to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL; Konnor Smith was shipped to the OHL’s Peterborough Petes; Yegor Sidorov was returned to the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL; and Carey Terrance was restored to OHL’s Erie Otters.
Seven of the eight players cut were part of the Ducks’ 2023 NHL Draft class. The training camp roster currently has 55 players, so there is still plenty of trimming left to do ahead of puck drop for the 2023-24 season. The puzzling contract situations of Zegras and Drysdale could impact those roster decisions if their holdouts continue to linger.
