Prospect Update: Garrett Metcalf

By Thomas Harrington

The Anaheim Ducks selected goaltender Garrett Metcalf in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Metcalf was a freshman at the University of Massachusetts Lowell this past season, but things didn’t go for him as hoped; he only appeared in four games for the River Hawks and had a record of 1-0-1 with a 2.59 goals against average and a save percentage of .913. The reason for Metcalf’s low playing time was another freshman goaltender: Tyler Wall. Wall played in 37 of Umass’ 41 games last season. With Wall firmly entrenched as the starter for the foreseeable future, Metcalf decided to leave UMass Lowell and transferred to Mercyhurst University for next season.

A year ago, I knew that, as a freshman, Metcalf could struggle to get starts, but I was surprised that he only received four games total, and even more so that it was another freshman who took almost all of the time in the crease. A year ago, I had hoped that Metcalf would have a much more consistent season than his final year in the USHL, where his play was up and down throughout the course of the season. However, with only four games under his belt, it’s safe to say that Metcalf didn’t achieve that goal. While his personal numbers weren’t bad and were better than what he did in the USHL, getting action in only four games was simply not enough for him to have met the goal I set for him.

This coming year, I just want to see Metcalf get into as many games as possible with his new school. If his numbers can be similar or better than what he did at Umass Lowell, even better, but my priority for him is to just play as much hockey as possible. That won’t be easy, as Mercyhurst has a number of goalies on its roster, but I have to think that his decision to go here means that he’s going to get more playing time this coming season.

Right now, after only playing four games in the 2016-2017 season, Metcalf’s NHL future isn’t looking great. However, goaltending is notoriously hard to predict, and things could turn around for him. Starting this season, hopefully, they do.

The Ducks will own Metcalf’s rights through the rest of his NCAA career. When it’s finished, the Ducks can choose to either sign him to a deal or let him go as a free agent. Right now, I think that it’s more likely the Ducks choose to not sign him. However, he’s still got three more years of college hockey to go, and things could turn around for Metcalf. If the Ducks do decide to sign him, they could bring him to San Diego, but I think it’s more likely that he’d start out in Utah of the ECHL, and work his way up from there.

The Ducks actually have a decent number of young goalies right now so they can afford to be patient with Metcalf. As a sixth round pick, he was a longshot when he was selected, but a number of late round goalies have beat the odds over the years to become NHL players. It remains to be seen if Metcalf will be able to join their ranks someday.

My next prospect update will be on Jack Kopacka.

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August 16th, 2017

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, Ducks, ducksnpucks, Garrett Metcalf, Prospect update