With the Ducks allowing many players to become Unrestricted Free Agents, there are some roster spots opening up for new players. There are also temporary spots open due to injury. Mike Leclerc (LW) and Dan Bylsma (RW) both are expected to be out until November recovering from knee surgery and Andy MacDonald (C) is still questionable on his return from post-concussion syndrome.
One of the prime candidates to move up is 2002 first rounder, Joffrey Lupul. The right winger signed a three year entry-level deal with the Ducks back in November of last year. He still has another year of junior left, but expect him to get a long look at training camp. He may be a short term replacement until Leclerc comes back and then be returned to Medicine Hat in the WHL.
Expect left winger Mikael Holmqvist to replace Patrik Kjellberg on the third line. Holmqvist did very well at the rookie camp last season and agreed on a deal with Anaheim for the upcoming season. The Swede is a talented playmaking winger with good all-around skills. He is older then most rookies (24) so he should be able to fit into the lineup a little easier. Holmqvist played with TPS Turku in Finland last season.
Cam Severson will no doubt earn a spot on the fourth line. The Ducks let go of Kevin Sawyer (LW) and Marc Chouinard (C), opening up room on the fourth line for players like Severson. Severson, a center, is a good energy player, who plays a hard-hitting agitating style. He played in two regular season games and one playoff game with Anaheim last year and spent the remainder of the season in the AHL on the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
Jonathan Hedstrom (RW) will also get some time with the team. His two games last season with Anaheim were unimpressive, but at the time, he was coming back from a scary eye injury, so it is understandable that he was a little jittery. Hedstrom is an RFA, but should be resigned without too much difficulty. Like Holmqvist, Hedstrom spent quite a few years in Europe before coming to North America to play hockey. He spent last season with Cincinnati in the AHL.
The Ducks have prospects such as left wing Chris Kunitz and centers Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Igor Pohanka, Joel Perreault and Joel Stepp along with right winger George Davis and 2003 draft pick defenseman Juha Alen, signed to entry-level deals as well, but they will no doubt spend some time in Cincinnati before seeing time with the big team. However, if they impress management in training camp, they could start the season as a replacement for one of the injured players. Alen, 21, and Kunitz, 23, played hockey on the college level last season (with Northen Michigan and Ferris State, respectively) while the other players listed were playing their last year of major junior hockey. Parenteau, 20, played with both Chicoutimi and Sherbrooke of the QMJHL and also played on Canada’s World Junior team with Lupul. Davis and Perreault also played in the QMJHL; Davis, 19, played with Cape Breton and Halifax and Perreault, 20, played with Baie-Comeau. Meanwhile, Stepp, 20, suffered through an injury-shortened season with Red Deer and Pohanka, 19, played with Prince Albert, both in the WHL.
The Ducks also recently signed undrafted free agents Eddie Ferhi and Sheldon Brookbank. Ferhi, 23, is a goaltender, who will no doubt back up Ilya Bryzgalov in the AHL. He played one game for the Baby Ducks last season on a try-out contract. He starred between the pipes for Sacred Heart in the MAAC, posting the best career GAA in school history with a 2.63. Brookbank, 22, is strong defenseman who will add depth to Cincy’s blueline. He split time between Mississippi of the ECHL and Grand Rapids of the AHL last season. Mike Mottau, Casey Hankinson, Garrett Burnett and Chris Armstrong were also signed by Anaheim. Mottau, 25, and Armstrong, 28, are defenseman, while Hankinson and Burnett, both 27, are left wingers. No longer considered prospects, all of them will no doubt play with Cincy in the AHL as depth players. They will help replace departed veterans such as forwards Ben Guite, Mike Brown, Jarrett Smith, Francis Belanger, Rob Valicevic and Brendan Yareema, and defenceman Chris O’Sullivan, Peter Podhradsky and Josh DeWolf. Some of those players may still be brought back like center, Nick Smith who has been signed back on for another year in Cincinnati. Next season’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks team looks to have even more young prospects playing for them, and depending on the progress of those prospects, it could be another unimpressive year for the Baby Ducks.
Cincinnati players from last year, such as defenseman Mark Popovic and goaltender Bryzgalov deserve at least a cup of coffee in the NHL. If a contract can’t be reached with Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Bryzgalov could start the season as Martin Gerber’s backup. However, there are no signs so far that the Ducks Conn Smythe Trophy winning netminder won’t be back. With blueliner Niclas Havelid heading towards arbitration and all the other defenseman RFAs already resigned, Popovic will need to wait for an injury or poor play to push someone out of the lineup.
A lot of the other roster spots depend on the moves the Ducks make for the rest of the off-season and into the regular season. All of the available spots seem to be on forward, and there are two to three full-time spots available as well as another two to three injury fill-in spots. But, the Ducks are rumored to be still talking to right winger, Steve Thomas about coming back for another season. He would play on the third line if he did, possibly taking that spot from Holmqvist or Hedstrom. Also, a decision has to be reached about where Lance Ward will play. Ward is versatile enough to play both forward and defense. If he is a forward, that could mean Severson would go back to the AHL, but then again, there aren’t any openings on defense either.
Last season, Stanislav Chistov, Martin Gerber, Kurt Sauer and Alexei Smirnov all moved up to the big team, while players such as Hedstrom and Severson experienced some time with Anaheim as well. Like last season, training camp this year, should be an exciting time with many spots up for grabs and many hungry young players looking to take the opportunity that has presented itself. If these new players coming in have anywhere close to the same impact last year’s rookies had, then Anaheim will be very fortunate.
