Lee reports that Verbeek is looking to reshape Anaheim’s bottom six by adding some speed and grit to the third and fourth lines and he reportedly would also like to add a right-handed defenseman to play alongside the many left-handed defensemen on the team.

In other Ducks notes:

• Derek Lee also reported that Ducks forward Mason McTavish is dealing with a sprained MCL in his knee but shouldn’t require offseason surgery. The 21-year-old didn’t play in the final six games of Anaheim’s season and was spotted wearing a knee brace two weeks ago as he dealt with the injury. McTavish finished his second full NHL season with 19 goals and 23 assists in 64 games this season and should compete for a role on the Ducks’ top two lines next season.
• Lee also tweeted that Ducks winger Max Jones is dealing with an injury as the former first-round pick has a separated shoulder. The light-scoring 26-year-old missed the final 11 games of the regular season with the injury and finished the year with five goals and 10 assists in 52 games. Jones played the season under a $1.295MM cap hit and is a restricted free agent on July 1st. He will require a qualifying offer of $1.5MM and given his lack of offensive production, the Ducks may opt to not qualify Jones and let him become an unrestricted free agent.

Zegras has struggled with his health and consistency this season as he already missed 20 straight games earlier this season and has scored just four goals and three assists in 20 games since his return. It’s been a tough few months for the 22-year-old as he had contentious contract negotiations with the Ducks in the summer and missed training camp. After he returned from injury, he struggled to get to his game in recent weeks and even found his name bandied about in trade rumors over the past few days before getting hurt.

Mintyukov is the Ducks’ 10th overall pick from 2022 and has been a pleasant surprise this year on their backend with two goals and 17 assists in 40 games. On top of being a solid offensive contributor, the 20-year-old has provided the Ducks with a physical presence as well as some solid work in the defensive zone. The Ducks figure to utilize newly acquired Gustav Lindstrom in Mintyukov’s absence.

Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek has been active on the trade market over the past week, and it will be interesting to see if he re-ignites the Zegras trade talks when he is healthy once again.

The Ducks are already missing several key young pieces at training camp who are without contracts for next year and can ill afford to miss McTavish for any length of time. Although the Ducks aren’t expected to be a contender this season the club is hoping that their young players like McTavish can take a big step forward and develop into frontline NHL players.

McTavish was the Ducks’ third overall pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft and had a good rookie season last year posting 17 goals and 26 assists in 80 games. Despite his decent numbers, McTavish ran out of gas for the last stretch of the season posting just a goal and an assist in the final 12 games of the regular season. He also suffered an injury on April 11th that effectively ended his season. A strong training camp will go a long way to getting McTavish some of his confidence back that he seemed to lose towards the end of last year.

If Verbeek’s assessment is correct it shouldn’t be an issue for the young McTavish to be well-prepared for the Ducks regular-season opener on October 14th against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Getzlaf will work under director of player development Jim Johnson to “prepare and educate” the team’s prospects. General manager Pat Verbeek released the following:

We are thrilled to have a player of Ryan’s stature stay with the club into his post-playing career. His experience and knowledge from his NHL and international career will be invaluable for our young prospects. He can help prospects reach their full potential on and off the ice based on his 17 years as an NHL player and valuable insight of the necessary steps from junior or college hockey to the NHL.

The 38-year-old Getzlaf needs no introduction. Selected 19th overall in 2003, he quickly became a key part of the Ducks’ organization, winning a Stanley Cup in his sophomore year. The dynamic duo of Getzlaf and Corey Perry would lead the Ducks to annual regular season success, and several long playoff runs over the years.

In 1,157 regular season games, all with Anaheim, Getzlaf scored 282 goals and 1,019 points, reaching a career-high of 91 in 2008-09. He served as captain for more than 12 years, the longest stretch in franchise history.

Now, after retiring in 2022, he’ll transition to the other side of hockey and start a front office career. While his specific duties are not clear, bringing his leadership and experience back into the room should only serve the Ducks positively.

Julien had a busy 2022-23 as he led the Sherbrooke Phoenix to a Central Division title with a record of 50-13-3-2 and earned Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Coach of the Year as well as the General Manager of the Year. He was also an assistant coach for Team Canada’s gold medal effort at the 2023 World Junior Championship. To top it all off Julien was the head coach of Canada’s U18 squad at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Not a bad 12 months.

Lashoff on the other hand was a defenseman for the Griffins for parts of 14 seasons including two Calder Championships in 2013 and 2017. The native of Albany, New York played 628 career games for the Griffins and accumulated 132 points. The 32-year-old announced his retirement from playing in April of this year and will begin his professional coaching career just a few months after officially hanging up his skates.

In other evening notes:

• The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Vukie Mpofu is the new director of hockey operations and legal affairs. Newly hired Kyle Dubas made the announcement today on behalf of the franchise. Mpofu’s role will have a wide scope, but his main responsibilities will be to advise and assist the hockey operations department with salary cap compliance, contract negotiations, as well as compliance with the collective bargaining agreement and he will have an active role in the leadership of the Penguins hockey research and development department. The Saskatoon native has spent the past two years with the Los Angeles Kings as the manager of hockey operations and legal affairs and now joins the Penguins as one of Dubas’ first big hires as he builds out a new hockey operations department in Pittsburgh.
• Sadly, the Anaheim Ducks announced that goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy in Toronto. Maharaj is planning to continue his treatments and hopes to have a planned surgery. His goal is to then re-join the club after that. In the interim Maharaj and Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek are planning to hire an assistant goaltending coach and will be making an announcement in the not-too-distant future.

The 21-year-old defenseman wasn’t going to sign with Anaheim. Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek explained:

While we are disappointed Henry chose to not sign with our club, we appreciate being notified of his intentions in advance of him becoming a Unrestricted Free Agent. We wish him the best of luck in his career.

For a player they weren’t going to sign, Anaheim has done rather well to recoup a third-round selection. Thrun was picked 101st overall in 2019, meaning they’re moving up quite a few spots, regardless of where San Jose finishes in 2024.

Still, with how well the 6’2″ defenseman has developed in college, it is disappointing for the Ducks to lose him. Thrun has always been an excellent puck-mover for Harvard, and has 26 points in 28 games this season. While there’s no guarantee that production will carry over to the NHL level, Anaheim is still looking for all the talented prospects they can as they move through a rebuild.

For San Jose, nothing is guaranteed, either. Thrun could still decide to wait until August to become a free agent, able to choose which team to land with as he starts his professional career. We’ve seen that scenario play out in the past, like when the Buffalo Sabers acquired Jimmy Vesey’s rights, only to have him sign with the New York Rangers instead.

Still, the Sharks are excited about Thrun as a prospect. General manager Mike Grier released the following:

Henry is a very good two-way defenseman with high character and leadership skills. He was named captain for Harvard this year and has a solid pedigree as a player, earning All-American honors last season after helping guide Harvard to an ECAC Championship.

It is a reasonable risk for the Sharks, and one that hints at their plans moving forward. The team is not satisfied tearing things down and collecting draft picks—they want players that can make an impact much quicker than that.

More from the Pacific:

• While things haven’t gone well for the Ducks this season (they enter play tonight dead last in points), don’t expect a coaching change anytime soon. In his latest podcast (audio link), GM Pat Verbeek indicated that his intention is to evaluate the coaching staff only at the end of the season.  With the team clearly still in a rebuild, there’s no immediate need to make a change but if Dallas Eakins is hoping to stick with Anaheim beyond this season, they’ll need to play at least a little better than they have so far.
• The Sharks could get James Reimer back this weekend, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The veteran is currently on IR with a lower-body injury, his second one from November but he’s eligible to be activated as early as Saturday.  San Jose plays both Saturday and Sunday so there’s a good chance he’ll be able to suit up for one of those.  Reimer has a 3.00 GAA and a .903 SV% in 15 starts so far this season.

General manager Pat Verbeek released a statement on his new assistant:

Rob brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our front office. He’s helped build a Stanley Cup-winning club and he will play an integral role for us in all areas of hockey operations moving forward.

Many fans will remember DiMaio from his playing days, which included nearly 900 regular season games. The physical bottom-six winger suited up for the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, and Carolina Hurricanes over a 17-year career, racking up 277 points and 840 penalty minutes.

After retirement, he joined Dallas in a scouting role, before accepting a role with the Blues in 2008. Named director of pro scouting in 2012, he was a big part of the success of the Blues in the last decade and will now continue his rise up the management chart with a new opportunity in Anaheim. Considered by many a future NHL general manager, his control of the Gulls will be the perfect stepping stone.

Some more notes on some deadline assets:

• Josh Manson is another Duck on an expiring deal who could find a new home next week, likely with some added value as he’s a right-shot D. LeBrun says the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the teams that have checked in on Manson, but with their limited salary cap space at this point, getting a deal done may be tough. Any Manson/CAR trade would likely require a third team to broker the deal, adding to the acquisition cost for Carolina. At this moment in time, that acquisition cost is too high for the ’Canes, according to LeBrun.
• As the Washington Capitals continue to putter, now likely locked in as the second Wild Card in the Eastern Conference, they’re looking to add to their forward group that’s seen significant injuries this year. LeBrun says Montreal’s Artturi Lehkonen is a name that makes sense, but with Montreal not in a rush to trade the pending RFA, it’ll likely mean Washington (or any other team) needs to yield a first-round pick to acquire him. Between that and a potential first-round pick that could head the other way in a Ben Chiarot trade, Montreal could be called up to the podium many times at their hometown 2022 NHL Draft.

Recently, reports emerged that the team has reached out to Lindholm’s camp to try and make progress on a potential extension. The question then became whether the team would try to continue those negotiations through the trade deadline if a deal hadn’t yet been hammered out. Verbeek made it pretty clear how he feels about that while speaking with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic:

I think going into this, I’m looking at it like we could make the playoffs, we could miss the playoffs. At the end of the day, there’s no guarantee I can get those three free agents back. I’m going to attempt to sign them, if it doesn’t happen, I just can’t let them walk out the door free.

With just three weeks to go before the March 21 deadline, the Ducks have nine games to show Verbeek whether they’re true playoff contenders–though that may not even matter. They could win all nine and it seems as though the new GM would have to move on, should extensions not be on the table with Rakell, Manson, and Lindholm.

For Anaheim, this isn’t just one crucial player that they might normally keep for a stretch run. These are three sought-after talents that could bring back assets that could drastically change the direction of the franchise. Lindholm alone will bring back a huge package if he’s dealt, especially if an acquiring team believes they can sign him long-term. At 28, he is still in the prime of his career as a true first-pairing defenseman capable of playing in all situations. Averaging nearly 23 minutes a game, Lindholm has 20 points in 53 games, plays hard defensive matchups, and logs plenty of time on the penalty kill.

Manson and Rakell too could bring back substantial packages, if lesser ones than Lindholm. The former is a tough-as-nails defensive defenseman that punishes attackers in front of the net and in the corners, though his offensive upside is limited. The latter, a two-time 30-goal scorer, is having a nice bounce-back season with 14 goals and 25 points in 45 games and could likely slot into the top-six on several contenders. The fact that all three of them come at reasonable cap hits–Lindholm at $5.2MM, Manson at $4.1MM, and Rakell at $3.8MM–makes them a possible target for almost anyone, especially if the Ducks ate a bit of salary for the post-deadline stretch of games.

The Ducks already have a wave of young talent making an impact at the NHL level, making this a crucial set of decisions for Verbeek that could have a serious impact on the league’s playoff picture for years to come. There’s no guarantee that any future picks or prospects ever turn into someone like Lindholm, and taking him out of this lineup could have serious ramifications. Fans of the team should be happy to hear that their big assets aren’t going to be allowed to walk away for nothing though, which would certainly seem like the worst of the three possible outcomes in this situation even if they do make a playoff run this season.

There is of course the possibility that the Ducks extend any one of those players before the deadline, taking out any risk of losing them for nothing in the offseason. That appears to be the tactic Verbeek is trying to take with Lindholm, as Pierre LeBrun explained on TSN’s Insider Trading:

When you talk to other teams around the league, they view Hampus Lindholm as the number one rental defenseman on the market–if he is indeed on the market. One of the first things that Pat Verbeek has done is reach out to Lindholm’s camp, led by agent Claude Lemieux, and start the process of seeing if there is enough common ground to sign an extension before the trade deadline, to remove Hampus Lindholm from the trade market. That would be a heartbreaker for a lot of teams who would love to throw some assets at Anaheim for a player who plays 23 minutes a night on the top pairing. 

Earlier in the segment, Darren Dreger had noted that the Toronto Maple Leafs could now be interested in Lindholm after Jake Muzzin’s recent injury, though they will have to take their time to see what his recovery timeline is like. Of course, the Maple Leafs wouldn’t be the only team interested in the 28-year-old Lindholm. One of the most consistent two-way performers in the league since the moment he entered the NHL, Lindholm has 20 points in 50 games this season while playing in all situations. There’s no one that averages more even-strength ice time on the Ducks than the 6’4″ defenseman, and he has shown an ability to contribute both on the powerplay and penalty kill.

If you’re looking for someone who can reshape your entire defense corps, Lindholm is the kind of talent you can target. Though with any player like that, it will come at a cost. Not only will Lindholm cost you a big package at the deadline, but any team hoping to extend him after acquiring him would need to put a huge offer forward. Just recently, Eric Stephens of The Athletic suggested that on any extension, the pending free agent defenseman would be looking at a raise over the $6.75MM he earns this season, making him a huge commitment to any team, including the Ducks. Lindholm himself told Stephens that being on a competitive team in the playoffs is important to him, something that Anaheim is still chasing.

The Ducks currently sit just outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference, two points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the final wildcard spot. That’s with 52 games played though, the most in the league and two more than both Los Angeles and the Edmonton Oilers, who currently hold the final spot in the Pacific Division. With a negative goal differential on the season and a so-so record recently, it’s not clear that the exciting Ducks will be able to actually take that next step and contend this season.

It does seem that playoff contention is coming though, with young talents like Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Isac Lundestrom, and Jamie Drysdale already showing how dynamic they can be at the NHL level. Third-overall pick Mason McTavish will be there soon enough to help, meaning on a long-term deal, Lindholm could certainly expect several years of postseason play in Anaheim.

Susan and I are delighted to welcome Pat Verbeek to our community to guide our hockey club as the next General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks. Pat’s outstanding work ethic and vast knowledge of the game as a successful executive and player throughout his 35-plus years in the NHL make him an outstanding fit to lead us forward. He brings a unique pedigree, having vast experience and serving in integral leadership roles for championship teams as both a player and executive at the NHL level.

Verbeek, 57, has a long history of success as a player, scout, and executive, being part of Stanley Cup-winning teams at all three levels. He has been moving through front offices right alongside Steve Yzerman for the last decade-plus but will now get a chance to run an organization of his own.

Replacing Bob Murray, who resigned earlier this year, Verbeek has an interesting challenge ahead of him with the exciting young Ducks’ group. There are core pieces reaching the end of their contracts this season–Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, and Josh Manson are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents–but the youth of Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and others have helped the team stay competitive in the Pacific Division. Selling off rentals isn’t something that playoff contenders do very often, but it would also be difficult to watch a player like Lindholm walk without getting anything in return.

With more than six weeks until the deadline, there is plenty of time to make those decisions and Verbeek comes right at the start of the All-Star break, meaning he’ll have a few days to get familiarized with his new staff and organization.

It’s an organization that does have a history of success, despite its relatively short lifetime. Since entering the NHL in 1993, Anaheim has reached the Stanley Cup Final twice, won it once, and gone to three other Conference Finals. The most recently long playoff run came in 2017, when a Randy Carlyle-led group fell in six games to the Nashville Predators in the third round. Currently, the Ducks sit seventh in the Western Conference with a 23-16-9 record, but they have played six more games than a couple of the teams chasing them and could quickly slip out of a Pacific Division playoff spot. Sorting by points percentage would drop them to ninth, making Verbeek’s job even more difficult in the coming weeks.

Of course, unlike some of the other managers that have taken over this season, Verbeek also isn’t really dealing with a cap table bloated with long-term deals. Only Adam Henrique, Jakob Silfverberg, John Gibson, and Cam Fowler are signed through the 2023-24 season, with just the latter two under contract past that. That sort of flexibility will allow Verbeek to put his stamp on the Ducks in short order, even if this case doesn’t require a tear-down.