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The Anaheim Ducks have officially been eliminated from contention in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, meaning that they will have missed participating in the annual dance for the seventh consecutive season.
Their last time in the playoffs was 2018, and they were swept in a quick four-game series by their in-state rival San Jose Sharks.
While the Ducks threatened at times to be in the conversation for one of the final pair of Wild Card playoff spots in the Western Conference, they were never able to put together enough sustained winning streaks to make it happen. General manager Pat Verbeek will have several decisions to make in the coming weeks and months as to what his club will look like in the fall for the 2025-26 NHL season.
But what are three moves that have the highest potential of taking place for the Ducks?
Ducks will finally trade goaltender John Gibson
It's been one of the more ongoing storylines surrounding the Ducks franchise in recent years, and this summer could present the prime opportunity for general manager Pat Verbeek to finally move on from goaltender John Gibson after much speculation.
Gibson was selected by the Ducks with the 39th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft and has played his entire career for a squad that hasn't qualified for the postseason since 2018. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Lukas Dostal has essentially taken over the official starting duties in the Anaheim crease.
Gibson is under contract for another two seasons with a $6.4 million cap hit. At age 31, he has several more years of competitive hockey in him and is only a year removed from an alleged trade request, something that his agent later refuted.
The Ducks already boast a deep pool of goaltending talent, including Oscar Dansk, Calle Clang, and Damian Clara. Moving Gibson would not only give Dostal more opportunities to build on the promise he showed both last season and this season but also allow one of these prospects to gain experience by competing for the backup role.
Ducks will trade forward Trevor Zegras
There has also been rampant speculation that the Ducks could be looking to move on from young forward Trevor Zegras.
According to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman in his most recent “32 Thoughts” column, the Montreal Canadiens wanted to acquire Zegras but reportedly were not willing to part with top prospect Ivan Demidov, via Sportsnet.
“Second was the Canadiens’ attempt to acquire Trevor Zegras,” he wrote. “I’ve never received complete clarity on why that deal didn’t happen, but I suspect it's because the Canadiens changed their minds when they realized Demidov would fall to five, although they were not offering that particular pick in the Zegras deal.”
Before this season began, NHL Insider David Pagnotta revealed that there were several clubs interested in acquiring Zegras despite the high price that Verbeek has set for him, via The Fourth Period.
“Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has set a very high price for Zegras, and several teams have continued to communicate their interest in the 23-year-old,” he wrote.
“At least eight teams have expressed serious interest in Zegras, including the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Buffalo Sabres, and I believe other clubs have also been in the mix.”
This will be the summer that a deal finally gets put together for both parties to turn the page from one another – Zegras can get a fresh start elsewhere, and the Ducks will have a considerable return in value for him.
Ducks will make a run at a major free agent
One of the positive aspects about the Ducks' offseason is that there will be plenty of cap space for Verbeek to utilize, considering that multiple contracts are coming off the books.
Why not take a major swing at one of the high-profile free agent names that will be available on the open market? Forwards Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks are both going to hit the open market on July 1, and Verbeek could be interested in expediting his club's rebuilding process by bringing in a major offensive force that would immediately propel his club forward.
As of now, the Ducks have just over $15 million of cap space to utilize, and that number could rise depending on which players aren't brought back, combined with the salary cap number rising.
Could Mitch Marner be convinced to take his talents to the West Coast and become a member of the Ducks next season?
