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The Anaheim Ducks did some wheeling and dealing on Friday night with the Buffalo Sabres. Anaheim acquired veteran defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Sabres in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round draft pick.
The Ducks were expected to make a few trades this offseason. Anaheim has a few interesting trade chips that certainly can help contending teams. However, those trade chips remain on the roster as of this writing.
The Ducks kick off their 2023-24 season with a matchup against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. Anaheim will face Vegas on October 14 in Vegas before playing their home opener on October 15.
Anaheim certainly could enter the upcoming NHL season with the team set up as is. However, there is one trade the Ducks would benefit from making now rather than waiting until the trade deadline.
Anaheim's trade chips
As mentioned, the Ducks have a number of interesting trade chips. Two of them are rather obvious. Goalie John Gibson has seen his name in the rumor mill throughout the offseason. In fact, the rumors around a potential trade sparked a war of words on Twitter.
The other obvious one is Adam Henrique. Anaheim's 33-year-old forward still brings value despite being in the back end of his career. Henrique is an unrestricted free agent after this season. There is some hesitation regarding a trade given his injury history and his salary commitments.
Outside of them, you have veterans in Jakob Silfverberg and Cam Fowler. Silfverberg, like Henrique, is a free agent at the end of this season. There are some obstacles in the way, as Silfverberg has struggled over the last few seasons.
Fowler has three years left on his current contract. The 31-year-old posted his best offensive season in 2022-23, dishing out a career-high 38 assists for the Ducks. Interest in the veteran blueliner could be as high as it'll ever be right now.
Of course, the Ducks don't have to trade all of them ahead of the season. However, if they do trade one of them before October 14, moving one of them now could prove more beneficial for the team.
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Anaheim's ideal trade
The Ducks must trade John Gibson. Gibson has a solid track record, though his numbers haven't been the greatest. As the Ducks have sunk lower in the standings, Gibson's numbers have sunk in lockstep.
Goaltending in the NHL is extremely volatile. Your highest-performing goalies from one season could very well struggle the very next season. And to be fair, this can swing the other way as well. Good goalies can play out of their minds from one year to the next. Look at what Boston Bruins puck-stopper Linus Ullmark did in 2021-22 and 2022-23 for proof of this.
Players like Henrique and Fowler can still provide some value even if their play falls off a bit. Henrique is a leader, wearing the A as an alternate captain. He also knows what it takes to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Fowler, while never reaching the Final, has an abundance of experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This can be incredibly valuable, especially for a team with a younger roster finding themselves in contention.
Gibson, however, is less of a sure thing by the nature of his position. It's hard to know which goalies are going to play at a consistent level and which are going to play well one year before falling off a cliff the next.
There are contending teams who could use insurance in net. Namely the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres. Gibson's trade value may never be higher, and pulling the trigger sooner rather than later might be the best course of action for the Anaheim Ducks.
