Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has been in trade speculation dating back to last season, a year in which he struggled and battled injuries. That speculation isn’t going away as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (video link) Anaheim is still listening to offers for the 23-year-old. Unfortunately for them, Zegras has also battled injuries this season and has struggled when in the lineup. A year ago, he had six goals and nine assists in 31 games, numbers that were underwhelming for a two-time 60-plus-point player. However, that also happens to be his stat line so far this season which can’t help his value. Zegras is signed through next season at a $5.75MM price tag and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights in the 2026 offseason. Given his struggles, Anaheim may have to sell low if they opt to move him before March 7th or hope for a better market in the summer.
Ducks Rumors
Trade Deadline Primer: Anaheim Ducks
With the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We start our look around the league with the Anaheim Ducks.
The 2024-25 season has returned the Anaheim Ducks to a very familiar spot. They’re once again fending off last place in the Pacific Division and being propped up by a dismal San Jose Sharks lineup. Another middling year has meant another year of trying to rebuild the Ducks lineup into a team that’s both capable of making a late-season push and fits the vision of head coach Greg Cronin and general manager Pat Verbeek. They’ve already acquired rough-and-tumble veteran Jacob Trouba and burly depth forward Justin Bailey via trade – pushing a clear message of size and grit that’s sure to carry through their Trade Deadline.
Record
21-24-6, 7th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Sellers
Deadline Cap Space
$78.49MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2025: ANA 1st, ANA 3rd, TOR 3rd, DET 4th, EDM 5th, ANA 5th, ANA 6th, ANA 7th
2026: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 3rd, ANA 5th, ANA 6th, ANA 7th
Trade Chips
Another year of trade conversation inevitably leads to another year of conversation around now-backup goaltender John Gibson. The 31-year-old netminder has been the talk of trade discussions dating back to, at least, 2020 – but Anaheim hasn’t yet found a suitor. That’s in large part thanks to his daunting $6.4MM cap hit – making him the seventh-most expensive goaltender in the league. Gibson has struggled to vindicate the lofty cap hit since signing the deal in 2019. He’s set an 82-138-35 record and .901 save percentage over the course of the deal, which is set to expire after next season. Those are middling numbers but Gibson has finally found relief from them this season, largely thanks to emerging star Lukas Dostal shouldering the starting responsibilities.
Finally relieved from playing at a 50-game pace, Gibson has posted an admirable .913
Sv% through 22 games this season – actually leading the team in the stat, compared to Dostal’s .908 in 30 games. It has been a resurgence for the struggling veteran, but a move out of Anaheim still seems like his only option. Dostal has gained control of the starter’s crease at the young age of 24, and backed his rise with an impressive, Gold Medal performance at the 2024 World Championship. While two strong netminders are a great asset for a playoff team, Anaheim seems far removed from that acclaim – and stands to benefit most from giving Dostal a clear runway. That means Anaheim will continue on in the difficult spot of trying to move Gibson’s hefty deal. They’ll likely be forced to retain at least part of his salary, and may need to ask for a new backup in return – with Calle Clang and Oscar Dansk each posting save percentages below .900 in the minor leagues.
Top forward Trevor Zegras could stand as the more rationale trade chip. He has also been oft mentioned in trade rumors, backed by talks of a stylistic divide between the nimble and skilled Zegras and the hard-nosed coaching of Cronin. Zegras wasn’t helped along by persistent injuries last season. He missed more games than he played – appearing in just 31 of Anaheim’s 82 games. That made it incredibly difficult for the young forward to find a scoring groove. He ended the year with just six goals and 15 points – far below the 60-point pace he managed in his first two seasons. Zegras hasn’t been free from injuries this year – suffering a torn meniscus in December that limited him for five weeks. But he’s been healthier than last year, and mounted 13 points in 29 games as a result. That’s an 82-game pace of just 36 points – still far from his scoring ceiling – but the improved performance could be enough to market Zegras as a scorer with upside to teams in need of a boost to their top-end. The former top-10 draft pick will turn 24 two weeks after the Trade Deadline, and carries a cost-controlled $5.75MM cap hit through the end of next season. While certainly a riskier bet than some on the market, Zegras brings tantalizing goal-scoring upside and youth to a league-wide trade board lacking in both categories.
Other potential trade chips: F Isac Lundestrom, F Mason McTavish, D Tristan Luneau
Team Needs
Rough and Tumble Forwards: The Ducks are paving their path with recent trade
buzz. Talks of Zegras’ departure, coupled with the arrival of multiple bruting skaters, points towards the team clearly wanting a roster capable of winning games by force. They’ll need more size and grit in the lineup if they want to pull that off, putting the Ducks firmly in the market for some of the market’s heaviest options. Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic seems like the most compelling bet – offering the flexibility to play center or wing, and bringing plenty of grit to either role. Frederic has just seven goals and 14 points in 48 games this season, but his heft down the lineup has proved helpful for a Bruins team in need of a star-protector. Frederic has four fighting majors this season, and was voted as the clear winner in all of them by fans on HockeyFights.com. He could be a low-cost acquisition as the Ducks look for a physical spark in their bottom-six. Anaheim could also turn towards Montreal’s Jake Evans, or Seattle forwards Brandon Tanev or Yanni Gourde, for a physical presence with more scoring upside – but each of the three are likely older than the team would prefer.
Young Scoring Forwards: Anaheim will need to be careful to not fall too far down the well of bruising forwards as the Deadline approaches. Their bottom-six is averaging just 11.5 points, and that number is helped along quite significantly by rookie Cutter Gauthier’s 21 points. With this season already looking lost, the Ducks can afford to be patient with the impact of whoever they acquire. Main trade rumors haven’t revealed a lot of options for that role – though Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens could be a speedy, high-cost option with the heft to stick in Anaheim’s forward group. But more realistic options could be Toronto’s Nicholas Robertson, or Nashville’s Thomas Novak. Both players bring admirable physicality – particularly Novak – and likely wouldn’t cost Anaheim much to acquire mid-season.
Ducks Assign Rodwin Dionicio To Swiss League
It has been an interesting day for Ducks prospect Rodwin Dionicio. Earlier in the day, the AHL revealed that they suspended the defenseman for three games for his actions in San Diego’s game on Wednesday. Soon after, the Gulls announced that they’ve loaned Dionicio to EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland. While no timeline for the length of the loan was announced, it’s presumably for the remainder of the season.
Anaheim selected the 20-year-old in the fifth round in 2023 but he has outperformed his draft stock since then. Dionicio was quite productive at the OHL level last season, recording 73 points in 60 games between Windsor and Saginaw while adding 17 points in as many playoff contests. In between, he played a big role for Switzerland at the World Juniors, tallying four points in five games in that event.
Dionicio originally signed a three-year deal with Biel-Bienne but that deal was overridden by Anaheim signing him to an entry-level contract back in May. He had played exclusively with the Gulls this season, picking up five goals and four assists along with 42 penalty minutes in 24 games but he won’t be adding to those numbers now as he’ll return home to play out the season.
Dionicio won’t be able to bypass the AHL suspension overseas as he’ll have to serve his three-game ban whenever he returns to the Gulls. Meanwhile, he will continue to count against Anaheim’s 50-contract limit.
Ducks Reassign Nikita Nesterenko
The Ducks reassigned left winger Nikita Nesterenko to AHL San Diego on Friday, per a team announcement. Their active roster count drops to 22.
Anaheim gave the 23-year-old his first call-up of the season on New Year’s Day. He appeared in seven of the Ducks’ 12 games since the calendar flipped, recording a goal and an assist while averaging a limited 9:33 per game. He did not dress for Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Penguins.
Acquired from the Wild in 2023’s John Klingberg trade, Nesterenko now has three goals and an assist in 19 appearances for Anaheim, dating back to his debut shortly after the swap. The 2019 sixth-rounder remains waiver-exempt for the remainder of the campaign, so he can be moved between leagues at will.
Nesterenko, who has five goals and 12 points in 29 AHL games this season, is on track to be a restricted free agent this summer for the second time in as many years. He’ll be arbitration-eligible after inking a two-way deal equivalent to his qualifying offer in mid-July.
The 6’2″ New York native certainly did what was asked of him in a fourth-line role in his latest NHL audition. He recorded three blocks and 16 hits, pairing that with an on-ice 1.8 GA/60 that ranks tops among active Ducks at even strength.
A strong finish to the season in San Diego should put him in consideration for an opening-night roster spot as a bottom-six piece or extra forward in 2025-26, assuming Anaheim tenders him a qualifying offer.
Ducks, Sharks Swap Justin Bailey, Pavol Regenda
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.
Ducks’ Brock McGinn Out For Season Following ACL Surgery, Trevor Zegras Activated
Jan. 22: The Ducks announced later Tuesday that forward Trevor Zegras, who’d missed the last six weeks after undergoing right knee surgery, was activated from injured reserve. McGinn was already on IR and Anaheim had an open roster spot, so there was no corresponding transaction. Zegras suited up in last night’s game against the Panthers, recording a minus-two rating and four shots in 15:48 of ice time. His point totals remain at a sluggish four goals and six assists through 25 appearances.
Jan. 21: Ducks winger Brock McGinn underwent successful ACL reconstruction surgery in Los Angeles last week, the team announced. McGinn has a seven-to-nine-month recovery window as a result, ending his 2024-25 campaign and putting his availability for the start of the 2025-26 regular season in jeopardy.
McGinn, a pending unrestricted free agent, last played on Dec. 23 against the Golden Knights. The 30-year-old left that game in the first period after awkwardly twisting his knee while attempting to throw a check. It didn’t appear he’d miss too much time after skating off under his own power and initially being termed day-to-day by the club, but he’ll now finish the season hurt for the third time in his three seasons in Anaheim.
A second-round pick of the Hurricanes back in 2012, McGinn’s tenure in Southern California has been riddled by injuries. He first missed the final four regular season games of the 2022-23 campaign with an upper-body issue after being acquired from the Penguins at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. McGinn then missed over half of the 2023-24 season due to various injuries, including season-ending back surgery in March.
The 6’0″, 187-lb forward also missed seven games earlier this season with a lower-body issue. It’s unclear if the two are related or if a cumulative/re-aggravated knee issue led to such a major procedure being required.
Understandably, the once productive bottom six piece’s production has taken a hit in Anaheim due to his health and the team’s underwhelming roster. He’s managed only seven goals and 14 points in 65 appearances as a Duck since the 2023 trade, averaging 11:38 per game. His eight points in 26 games this year was on pace to be his best offensive showing since posting 22 points in 64 games with Pittsburgh in 2021-22, however.
While McGinn was already going to need to take a pay cut on his expiring $2.75MM AAV on the open market this summer, the injury likely locks him in as a candidate for a PTO in September. He likely won’t be cleared to resume contact until around then, so any interested teams will likely be wary of giving him a guaranteed contract earlier in the summer.
For the Ducks, McGinn’s continued absence leaves a permanent hole in the bottom six. That opening should mean more playing time for fringe youngsters like Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko in addition to veteran AHL call-ups like Jansen Harkins.
Anaheim Ducks Reassign Sam Colangelo
According to a team announcement, the Anaheim Ducks have reassigned forward Sam Colangelo to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. The roster move indicates one of Trevor Zegras or Brock McGinn will be activated from the injured reserve before Anaheim’s contest against the Florida Panthers tomorrow.
There is also a very real chance that this move could be performance-related. Colangelo has been more than impressive in his first full year in the AHL with 13 goals and 22 points in 24 games but that level of performance hasn’t translated to NHL action.
Colangelo has skated in 12 games for the Ducks this season over two separate call-ups. He went scoreless from November 19th to December 9th averaging 10:04 of ice time per game and managed only one in his recent four-game stretch averaging 12:46 of ice time per night.
As much as his AHL performance has given credibility to his being on an NHL roster, Anaheim simply needs more from Colangelo if they’re to keep him in the lineup. The Ducks have the league’s worst offense averaging 2.37 GF/G and need more production across the board.
Still, it won’t hurt Colangelo to return to the Gulls on a full-time basis. There are no expectations they’ll compete for playoff positioning in a tough AHL Pacific Division but Colangelo is still tied for the team lead in scoring with winger Sasha Pastujov.
Anaheim Ducks Close To Signing Artyom Galimov
Originally reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on ’32 Thoughts’ and passed along by Patrick Present of The Hockey News, the Anaheim Ducks are close to signing one of their relatively recent draft picks. According to the report, the Ducks are close to signing Artyom Galimov from the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan and it could come before the end of the KHL season.
Anaheim selected Galimov with the 159th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft and there wasn’t much expected of him at the time. He scored 13 goals and 23 points in 55 games for Ak Bars Kazan during his draft year and stayed relatively consistent over the next four years.
He hasn’t garnered many headlines in the KHL, and his odds of ever making it to North America were becoming increasingly long. In the subsequent four seasons after being drafted in 2020, Galimov scored 25 goals and 37 assists in 202 games for Ak Bars Kazan with another four goals and eight assists in 47 postseason contests. That kind of production hardly warranted an entry-level contract in the NHL.
As indicated by Friedman’s report, Galimov’s stock has dramatically changed this year. He’s scored 22 goals and 41 points in 44 games while managing a +23 rating. He’s tied for eighth across the entire league in goal-scoring and has helped Ak Bars into a comfortable second place in the Eastern Conference.
Depending on the urgency the Ducks have in bringing Galimov to North America, they may allow him to finish the season with Ak Bars and continue with their inevitable playoff run. Still, if Anaheim is confident Galimov can continue scoring goals in the NHL, they could certainly use an addition like him immediately.
Anaheim Ducks Recall Sam Colangelo
Sam Colangelo is receiving another opportunity to prove his worth at the NHL level. The Anaheim Ducks announced they’ve recalled Colangelo from their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
Colangelo has already accrued eight games with Anaheim this season thanks to a lengthier call-up in mid-November. He was given a consistent role in the team’s bottom six and picked up 14 hits and 10 shots on goal but failed to find the scoresheet.
The Ducks organization isn’t viewing Colangelo’s lack of production in the NHL as an indication of his talent level. The former 36th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft has been flat-out electric at the AHL level scoring 13 goals and 22 points in 24 games during his rookie campaign and is leading the Gulls in scoring.
While Colangelo may not be a top contender for the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award, which is given annually to the AHL’s most outstanding rookie, he is certainly in the running and could potentially earn a spot on the All-Rookie Team by the end of the season.
Unfortunately for Colangelo, unless another roster move is made before the team’s upcoming matchup against the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night, it’s unlikely he’ll crack the lineup given he’s the 14th forward on the active roster. Still, should Anaheim desire more offense in their bottom six, they could swap out Ross Johnston or Jansen Harkins on the team’s fourth line.
Ducks Sign Frank Vatrano To Three-Year Extension
In an announcement from himself and his young daughter, Frank Vatrano is committing to Orange County for another three seasons. In a quick follow-up from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Vatrano’s three-year pact will pay him $18MM in total but carries an uncommon method of deferred salary.
LeBrun shares that Vatrano will earn a base salary of $3MM each year of the deal with $9MM deferred. From 2035, Vatrano will earn $900K annually from the Ducks until 2044. LeBrun asserts that Vatrano plans to live outside of California in retirement giving him the flexibility to earn his annual disbursement in a tax-free state. Additionally, the creativity of the deferred salary brings Vatrano’s cap hit down to $4.67MM (instead of $6MM) which provides cost-savings to Anaheim.
Being primarily used in Major League Baseball, this is the most creative use of deferred salary in recent memory in the National Hockey League and may be a sign of things to come. There are increasing concerns that teams within states without an income tax have a competitive advantage over other teams, particularly in comparison to the Canadian market in recent years. The use of deferred salary by Anaheim may be a way to show players, particularly unrestricted free agents, that there are creative ways to dodge financial impediments.
For Vatrano’s part, it’s a healthy raise on his modest $3.65MM salary for the last three years. After a disappointing year with the New York Rangers, the Ducks signed Vatrano to a three-year, $10.95MM contract as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2022.
Subsequently, he’s enjoyed the two most productive seasons of his career. Vatrano scored 22 goals and 41 points in 81 games for Anaheim during the 2022-23 season finishing tied for third on the team in goal-scoring. Vatrano followed up that performance with the best season of his career scoring 37 goals and 60 points in 82 games last year shattering his previous record of 24 goals in 2018-19 with the Florida Panthers. 
Vatrano’s goal-scoring output has dissipated slightly this year with nine goals and 20 points in 37 games but he’s still proving to be a physical, offensive threat in the Ducks’ top-six. Unsurprisingly, the defensive side of Vatrano’s game is improving under head coach Greg Cronin’s hard-nosed system, with the veteran sniper managing the best 5-on-5 on-ice save percentage since his time with the Panthers.
The extension reflects Vatrano’s earnest commitment to a rebuilding organization. It also removes an important trade candidate from consideration as the deadline approaches. Vatrano’s style of play would be an asset to almost any contending team’s middle-six, but they will now have to seek such an advantage elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.