7:20 p.m.: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has somewhat contradicted Seravalli’s earlier report, saying Gibson indicated today that he hasn’t outright refused to play another game for Anaheim “if it comes to that.” Gibson’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, also called Seravalli’s statement “false, unjust and inflammatory” and said Seravalli did not reach out to him or Gibson before making the claim. He confirmed Gibson has not told the Ducks’ front office that he’d refuse to report for a game, although he didn’t refute reports of a trade request.
5:00 p.m.: The goalie trade market has sorely been lacking high-end names in recent years, but this summer, we have two: Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck and Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson. The former has made it clear he won’t be re-signing with Winnipeg when his contract expires next summer, while the latter is locked in longer-term but has told the team he’d like a change of scenery.
Now, it appears Gibson has given Anaheim more of a trade demand than a request. Per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Gibson’s indicated he is “not playing another game for the Anaheim Ducks.” Whether that means a potential refusal to report if Anaheim hasn’t moved him by the start of training camp remains to be seen.
If interest in Gibson wasn’t spiking already, it likely will be now. It’s also poor timing for something like this to leak, at least from Anaheim’s side. With the trade market for Hellebuyck shrinking after teams backed away due to his salary demands, more and more teams looking for goalie help would likely have turned to Anaheim and Gibson, who’s got four seasons left on a deal earning him $6.4MM per season. Now, with less leverage on Anaheim’s part, they might not be able to recoup as much value in a deal.
The New Jersey Devils have been the team with the most reported interest in Hellebuyck, but they’ve also balked at the $9MM-plus he desires on an extension. With Gibson as a more affordable option, could the two sides engage in trade talks soon? No team has been specifically named in Gibson trade talks yet; in fact, it’s been eerily quiet on that front. But New Jersey is the best contending team with long-term goalie uncertainty.
Neither traditional nor advanced metrics have been kind to Gibson since his eight-year extension kicked in for the 2019-20 season. The Ducks haven’t been terribly good in that timeframe, but even accounting for the team’s poor defense, Gibson’s come in below average over the life of the deal. It’s why you’ll find vastly split opinions of him depending on who you ask.
It’s worth wondering, though, if the toll of Anaheim’s rebuild has affected Gibson’s play beyond just poor defense. It can’t be particularly motivating to give your best every night when you know your team isn’t anywhere near a playoff race, and with Gibson still having plenty of term left on his deal, there was no quick or easy way out of his situation. With Anaheim posting one of the worst defensive seasons in recent memory in 2022-23, it likely changed Gibson’s tune on wanting to try and stick around for a rebuild – a sentiment he echoed as late as the summer of 2022.
Anaheim is in a position to retain a small amount of salary to facilitate a deal, but they likely wouldn’t be interested in retaining more than 25% ($1.6MM) of his cap hit. With a slew of quickly developing prospects slated to come into the fold over the next few years, the Ducks could envision being competitive again by the time his contract expires. It’s a factor that surely impacts league-wide interest or the value of a return package.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Coach28
He has said similar to this over and over and over in the past and it’s all been proven untrue at this point. Until I hear it from the team or Gibson himself, it will be untrue in my book.
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
This is the kind of junk that will age Steve & Dan even faster.
dave frost nhlpa
I think Dan is out.
dave frost nhlpa
What a genius play by the agent. Post draft and three days into FA…brilliant.
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
@Dave – Thanks for that heads-up. I just read one of the Ducks’ reddit feeds on it. It’s ridiculous for the team to state “they want to go in a different direction”. Now, we have to wait and see if Bonesy and Ralphie will be back in the Fall.
MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend
@Dave – You can almost hear the vise closing from here. Genius play by none other than Kurt Overcharge!
User 318310488
Verbeek’s Inexperience was on display with the Killorn signing so will see what he can do on the Gibson trade.
doghockey
I have always held out hope that you might attempt to make a sensible post. I am beginning to doubt that you have it in you.
dave frost nhlpa
I will say Verbeek dodged a Lindholm bullet. Got a 1st and a player.
Murphy NFLD
I was thinking that maybe the Habs do a Allen trade and then the ducks and Habs do a bad contract swap of Gibson and Gallagher. Both have the same term left and are within 100k AAV wise.
mario crosby
Why would Anaheim want Gallagher? You weren’t thinking rationally. Love how fans make ridiculous trade suggestions. Why not suggest trading Gallagher for McDavid?
MotownWings
If Gibson gets traded to a good team he may regain his form and if that’s the case his contract actually isn’t bad.