Anaheim: Opening Night Roster Set

By Thomas Harrington

Today, Anaheim’s opening night roster was announced as Michael Sgarbossa was assigned to San Diego after clearing waivers and Yann Danis was released from his pro tryout agreement. With Nate Thompson and Nic Kerdiles placed on IR, the Ducks now have their roster set with two goaltenders, eight defensemen, and 13 forwards.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, John Gibson and Jonathan Bernier will be Anaheim’s goalies this year. Expect Gibson to get a majority of the starts, but in the preseason Bernier showed that he deserves a decent amount of playing time.

At forward, there are the usual suspects making up most of the 13 players: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, Andrew Cogliano, Jakob Silfverberg, Jared Boll, Ryan Garbutt, Antoine Vermette, and Chris Wagner. After signing a two-way deal in the summer, Mason Raymond was able to carve out a spot for himself in the lineup. After putting up four points in 33 games a year ago, Nick Ritchie has made Anaheim’s roster. He showed last year that he was too good for the AHL, now he has to prove that he belongs in the NHL. Rookies Joseph Cramarossa and Nick Sorensen were both excellent in the preseason and earned their spot in Anaheim’s lineup to start the season. However, both are going to have to perform at a high level going forward. If Rickard Rakell is re-signed and healthy, Anaheim will need to demote someone to San Diego, meaning Cramarossa and Sorensen are not guaranteed a spot in Anaheim for the entire season. The only way that happens is if they can maintain a high level of play.

On defense, the Ducks once again have a cast made up of largely the usual suspects: Cam Fowler, Simon Despres, Sami Vatanen, Kevin Bieksa, Josh Manson, Korbinian Holzer, and the recently waived Clayton Stoner. For now, Stoner is on Anaheim’s roster, but we’ll see how much playing time he gets going forward. The Ducks also have a surprise on their blueline: rookie Jacob Larsson. It looks like he’ll start the season in Anaheim, but it remains to be seen if he will stay there the entire season. Once Hampus Lindholm is hopefully re-signed, the Ducks will need to move a body out on defense. The easiest thing would be to send Larsson down. However, if he is cut from Anaheim, he’ll be SHL bound for the rest of the season. Right now, I think Anaheim’s plan is for him to get a few games of NHL experience, and then send him to the SHL. With that experience, he’ll have a good idea of what he needs to work on this year in order to be a more effective player going forward. As long as he plays less than 10 games in the NHL, his rookie contract will not begin this year.

Given how busy Anaheim’s schedule is in the first half of the season, players will get injured or just need a rest, so it’s entirely possible that there could be a rotating cast of players between Anaheim and San Diego. Players like Sgarbossa, Shea Theodore, Brandon Montour, Kalle Kossila, Julius Nattinen, and Stefan Noesen could all make their way to Anaheim throughout the season. For now, the opening night roster is set, but it will be constantly changing and evolving as the season progresses.

Possible lineup:

Offensive Line Combinations
Nick Ritchie – Ryan Getzlaf – Jakob Silfverberg
Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Nick Sorensen
Mason Raymond – Antoine Vermette – Corey Perry
Ryan Garbutt/Joseph Cramarossa – Chris Wagner – Jared Boll

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, Ducks, ducksnpucks, Opening night roster, preseason, Roster Cuts, training camp