The Ducks and Sharks exchanged minor-league forwards in a trade Wednesday, per announcements from both clubs. Pavol Regenda is heading north from Anaheim to San Jose, while veteran journeyman winger Justin Bailey is heading from the Bay Area to SoCal.
Bailey, 29, is in his 10th season of professional hockey. A second-round pick by the Sabres in 2013, the hulking 6’4″, 212-lb winger primarily suited up for their AHL affiliate in Rochester but did manage 52 NHL appearances for the club before they traded him to the Flyers in 2019 for winger Taylor Leier.
His tenure in the Philadelphia organization was short-lived, spending the back half of the 2018-19 campaign bouncing between the NHL and AHL before they opted not to issue him a qualifying offer at the end of the season. An unrestricted free agent for the first time, Bailey latched on with the Canucks on a two-way deal, where he’d spend three seasons as a call-up option and taxi squad mainstay during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After making a one-year stop in the Oilers organization in 2022-23 that didn’t result in any NHL time, Bailey landed with the Sharks for 2023-24 – first on an AHL contract, but that was torn up and replaced with a two-way deal a few weeks into the season. He quickly established a spot on a thin San Jose offense, turning himself into a full-time NHLer for the first time, even if just for a few months.
Bailey appeared in a career-high 59 games for the Sharks last year, recording five goals and nine assists for 14 points and a -15 rating. He averaged 11:17 per game and ranked eighth on the team with 76 hits.
Understandably, Bailey opted to ink a two-way extension to keep him in the San Jose organization for 2024-25. Also understandably, after the Sharks added multiple veterans in free agency and saw prospects Macklin Celebrini and William Smith make the jump to the NHL, there was no longer a spot for Bailey on the NHL roster.
The Buffalo native landed on waivers and cleared them in the middle of training camp. But after a lengthy history of top-six production in the minors, Bailey has struggled to the tune of seven goals and seven assists for 14 points through 33 AHL games with a minus-six rating. He’s tracking for his worst season in terms of AHL points per game in his career while playing on a San Jose squad having its best season in six years.
The Sharks evidently wanted a bit of an offensive jumpstart for their farm club, while the Ducks wanted a more veteran presence. They certainly land that for San Diego in Bailey but part ways with Regenda, a similarly-sized power forward who Anaheim signed as an undrafted free agent out of Slovakia in 2022.
The 25-year-old Regenda has a goal and two assists for three points in 19 NHL games with the Ducks, none of which have come in 2024-25. He’s been limited to four goals and 16 points in 36 games with AHL San Diego this season, down from his career-best 34 points in 54 games last season.
Both players will report directly to their new farm clubs without incident. Bailey will be a UFA at the end of the season, while Regenda will be a Group VI UFA since he’s logged three professional seasons without recording 80 NHL games.