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Prospect Update: Kevin Boyle

By Thomas Harrington

A year ago, Anaheim’s goalie prospect depth was incredibly weak. However, it started to improve when they signed Kevin Boyle. It was a one year deal, and he re-upped with Anaheim this summer on another one year deal.

Boyle’s first professional season was a pretty solid one. The original plan was for him to spend most, if not all, of the season in the ECHL. However, injuries to goalies in both Anaheim and San Diego led to him appearing in more games in the AHL than the ECHL. With the Utah Grizzlies, Boyle appeared in 16 games and went 9-6-1 with a 2.73 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Not stellar numbers, but the Grizzlies weren’t exactly a great team last year. They had the fewest points of any team to make the playoffs and they lost in the first round in five games. Boyle was in net for all five of Utah’s playoff games.

With San Diego, Boyle turned in much better numbers, showing that he is a good goalie when he has a better defense in front of him. Overall, Boyle played in 19 games for the Gulls and had a record of 10-5-1 with a goals against average of 2.27 and a save percentage of .924. His 19 games were second among games played for the Gulls goalies last season. The only San Diego goalie to post better numbers than him was Jhonas Enroth, a mid-season acquisition who helped turn San Diego’s season around. Despite some bumps along the way, it was a pretty good rookie season for Boyle.

Boyle’s fight for playing time could be even more difficult this season than it was a year ago. The real question for Boyle is, where does he fall on Anaheim’s depth chart? At the top is John Gibson and Ryan Miller, but things get a little murkier after that. Right now, Anaheim’s third string goalie would be Dustin Tokarski. Both Matt Hackett and Enroth have moved on from last year’s team, but there is also the recently signed Angus Redmond. The Ducks gave Redmond a three-year entry-level contract, so they clearly think he has a future with the team. Most likely, one of Redmond or Boyle will split time with Tokarski in San Diego, while the other will be in Utah.

This coming season, Boyle’s expectations all come down to where he plays. He’s shown that he can put up solid numbers in the AHL, better than Tokarski did last season. However, he’s also only had limited exposure at the AHL level. If he is with the Gulls, it would be great if he were to play 25 to 30 games or more and really show what kind of goalie he is. However, if he is with the Grizzlies, he needs to be the team’s starter and to improve on the numbers he posted in the ECHL from a year ago. While the Grizzlies aren’t a great team, if Boyle can be a great goalie for them and make them better than they are, he would show how valuable he could be one day.

Boyle’s contract is up next summer and he’ll be a restricted free agent then, and right now, it’s hard to say whether or not he will be re-signed a year from now. For the first time in a number of years, the Ducks have a decent amount of goaltending depth in their prospect pool. Besides Boyle and Redmond, the Ducks also have Garrett Metcalf and the recently drafted Olle Eriksson Ek. While Metcalf looks to be a long way from turning pro, Eriksson Ek could make things interesting in the next couple of years. The other question is whether or not Tokarski will re-sign next summer. He likely wants another shot at the NHL, and with Gibson and Miller ahead of him for the next couple of seasons, that likely won’t come in Anaheim. If Tokarski stays, the Ducks will likely go with him and Redmond in San Diego. However, if he walks, Boyle will likely be retained for the Gulls. Boyle’s play this coming season will also dictate whether or not Anaheim brings him back a year from now. If he can turn in a solid season with San Diego, his odds go up. However, if he spends most of the season in the ECHL and doesn’t put up great numbers in Utah, I think it likely the Ducks let him go as a free agent.

Given that there are at least three goalies ahead of him on the depth chart, it’s unlikely that Boyle makes his NHL debut this season. If he has a strong season with the Gulls, he could get a chance to make his NHL debut in the 2018-2019 season. However, that will largely be dependent on the health of Gibson and Miller, and if Tokarski has moved on. If Miller is not re-signed in two years, Boyle could have an outside chance to land the backup job behind Gibson for the 2019-2020 season. It’s too soon to tell who will have the inside track for that spot in two years time, but if Boyle can play well enough for the Gulls, he could be one of the leading candidates.

The next prospect update will be on Max Jones.

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September 12th, 2017


Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, Ducks, ducksnpucks, kevin boyle, Prospect update

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