Ducks Development Camp; Ducks Hire Assistant Coaches

By Thomas Harrington

The Anaheim Ducks had a busy Wednesday. First, they announced the dates and roster of this summer’s Development Camp, which will feature all five players selected in the recent NHL Entry Draft. Second, they announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches. Finally, it was announced that prospects Kevin Boyle and Jaycob Megna had both been signed to two-way deals: Boyle for one year and Megna for two.

Anaheim’s Development Camp will start tomorrow and run through July 2nd, with the scrimmage this Sunday being the only event open to the public. This will be the first chance for us Anaheim fans to get a look at Anaheim’s newest draft picks: Maxime Comtois, Antoine Morand, Jack Badini, Kyle Olson, and Olle Eriksson Ek. Most of them will also attend Anaheim’s rookie and training camps in the fall, before heading back to their respective junior and European teams. None of these five will be in the NHL or AHL this season so this will be one of the few times this year for Anaheim fans to see these five prospects in action. All five of these players are likely several years away from being ready for the NHL, but we could see them in San Diego in the next couple of years or so.

Joining them will be all six players from Anaheim’s 2016 draft class: Sam Steel, Max Jones, Tyler Soy, Josh Mahura, Jack Kopacka, and Alex Dostie. Steel and Jones were Anaheim’s first-round picks from a year ago. Steel absolutely tore up the WHL this past season. Jones had another strong season in the OHL and even made his professional debut with San Diego in their playoff run. Soy was a seventh-round pick from a year ago and has yet to sign a professional contract with Anaheim. This will be one of his last chances to impress Anaheim to get that contract, or he’s likely back to juniors for an overage season. After missing all but two games of the 2015-2016 season, Mahura rebounded nicely this past season and even joined Steel’s Regina Pats for the second half of the season. His injury woes seemingly behind him, he’ll be eager to show how far he’s come in the last year. Similar to Jones, Kopacka had a strong season in the OHL before making his professional debut with San Diego in the playoffs. Dostie is another late round pick who hasn’t signed with the Ducks yet. If he doesn’t sign a contract soon, he’s likely headed back to juniors for an overaged season as well.

The 2015 draft class will also have six representatives in attendance: Brent Gates Jr., Jacob Larsson, Garrett Metcalf, Julius Nattinen, Deven Sideroff, and Troy Terry. Steven Ruggiero will be the only player from the 2015 draft class not in attendance. Gates just completed his sophomore season of NCAA hockey and improved significantly from his freshman season. Larsson is currently listed as injured and it’s unclear how much he’ll participate in the Development Camp. He made his NHL and AHL debuts this past season before heading back to the SHL. Expect to see him in North America this season, and possibly with Anaheim for most of it. Metcalf saw only a little playing time at UMass-Lowell last season, but he’ll hopefully get more playing time at Mercyhurst University next season. Nattinen almost made his AHL debut this season, but he was sent back to juniors for one final season. Expect him to be with the Gulls full time this coming season. Sideroff completed his junior career this past season, joined San Diego when it was over, and will be a full-time member next year. Between winning the World Juniors and winning the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, Terry had a pretty great sophomore season. He’ll be back at the University of Denver next season for his junior year.

Marcus Pettersson is the only player of the 2014 draft class who will be there. Given that Nick Ritchie, Brandon Montour, and Ondrej Kase were all 2014 draft picks, it’s unsurprising to see so few of them at this year’s Development Camp. Matt Berkovitz is the only player unaccounted for from the 2014 class. Pettersson has spent the last few seasons playing in Sweden, primarily in the SHL for the last two. He’ll likely be San Diego bound this coming season.

Besides drafted players, Anaheim will also have a few players in attendance who they signed as free agents over the last couple months: Giovanni Fiore, Mitch Hults, Angus Redmond, Austin Ortega, and Zach Saar. Fiore scored 52 goals in the QMJHL last season and will likely be in San Diego’s top six this coming season. After completing two years of college hockey, Hults joined the Gulls at the end of the season and played in a couple of playoff games. Redmond played one season of NCAA hockey before joining the Gulls. He didn’t play in any games with San Diego. Expect him to battle Dustin Tokarski and Boyle for playing time this season. Ortega played four years of NCAA hockey before joining the Gulls for the end of their season. Saar also spent four seasons in the NCAA and signed a one-year AHL only deal with San Diego at the conclusion of his college career.

Besides the free agents, there will also be a number of college and junior invitees in attendance: Matt Abt, Chris Forney, Corson Green, Teddy Hart, Alex Limoges, Rob Michel, Scott Moldenhauer, Eric Robinson, Jack St. Ivany, Michal Stinil, Jared Wilson, Mathieu Charlebois, Nikita Korostelev, Brady Lyle, Turner, Ottenbreit, and Brett Stapley. None of them are signed to an NHL contract and no NHL team holds any of their rights. They are attending for a number of reasons. First, to fill out the camp roster and increase the quality of competition. Second, to give Anaheim a look at a few more young players and see if they want to consider drafting or signing any of these players in the future. Third, to give these players a taste of what the NHL is like and give them a better idea of what to improve on going forward in their playing careers.

The development camp scrimmage is a lot of fun. It will be our first chance to get a look at Anaheim’s most recent draft picks and also see how the other young prospects are developing. If you have a chance, I highly encourage you to go.

The only public session will be Sunday, July 2nd at the Anaheim RINKS. Doors open at 8:45 AM with practice being at 9 AM followed by a scrimmage at 10 AM.

Ducks Hire Two Assistant Coaches, Sign Megna and Boyle

The Ducks also announced that Steve Konowalchuk and Mark Morrison have joined Anaheim as assistant coaches. Konowalchuk has been coaching the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL for the past several seasons, coaching former Anaheim prospect Shea Theodore. He led the Thunderbirds to their first WHL title this past season. He’s previously served as an assistant coach in Colorado from 2009 to 2011. Morrison has been an assistant coach in the AHL over the past several seasons, including the Manitoba Moose, Randy Carlyle’s former team.

Finally, the signings of Megna and Boyle signaled the start of Anaheim signing their restricted free agents. Both should feature prominently in the minors this coming season, though Megna did make his NHL debut this past season and could see some games early in the season, depending on how long it takes Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen to recover from their offseason surgeries.

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June 28th, 2017

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, Development Camp, Ducks, ducksnpucks