Graduated Prospect: Troy Terry

Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News

By Thomas Harrington

A fifth-round pick from 2015, Troy Terry still has a long way to go before he’s a legitimate NHL star. However, this past season, he started showing why he had become one of Anaheim’s top prospects.

After playing in two NHL games in the 2017-2018 season, Terry made Anaheim’s roster out of training camp this past season. He had a good training camp and preseason, but not a great one. If not for the number of injuries that Anaheim was dealing with at the start of the season, there’s a chance he could have started the year in the AHL. Terry played in six games with the Ducks in October and went scoreless. He had some good chances, but overall, he just didn’t look ready for the NHL and he was assigned to the Gulls in mid-October.

Sometimes, when a top prospect is assigned to the minors, they pout and it doesn’t go well. With Terry, that didn’t happen, and he quickly regained his confidence. In his first two games with the Gulls, he scored three goals and five points. He started his time in the AHL with an 11 game point streak. In December, he had a nine-game point streak. Terry was called back up to Anaheim for a few games in January but then went back to the Gulls. In February, he was called up to Anaheim for the rest of the season. Overall, Terry played in 41 AHL games and scored 16 goals and 41 points. Despite missing over 25 AHL games, he still finished tied for fourth on San Diego in scoring. In the AHL, he finished 20th in rookie scoring, and every single player ahead of him played in more games than he did; most of them played a significant amount more. His point per game average was fourth among AHL rookies. He had 11 multi-point games with the Gulls.

When Terry was recalled to Anaheim, he played in four games, picked up his first goal and an assist against New Jersey, and then went back to San Diego. However, it was his second call-up where he showed that he belonged in the NHL. Terry returned the Ducks in mid-February and stayed with them through the rest of the season. He went scoreless for a couple of games, but he scored two more goals before absolutely exploding in early March. Against St. Louis, he recorded his first three-assist game. Two days later, he scored a goal and two assists against Montreal. Overall, Terry had seven points in three games and was named the NHL’s third star of the week.

Unfortunately, Terry was injured while blocking a shot at the end of March. He missed the rest of the regular season for the Ducks and Gulls, and San Diego’s playoff run. Overall, he played in 32 games for the Ducks and scored 4 goals and 13 points. His 32 games played led all Anaheim rookie forwards, while he led all Anaheim rookies in assists and points and was second in goals. Terry led all Anaheim rookies in powerplay ice time per game. The Ducks clearly see a lot of powerplay points in his future, and he showed flashes of that this season.

Terry pretty much met my expectations for this past season. When he was in San Diego, I wanted him to be one of their top scorers. Well, he tied with Sam Carrick by averaging a point per game, and he would have eclipsed 50 or 60 points if he’d spent the entire season with the Gulls. In Anaheim, I just wanted him to play as much as possible; I wasn’t too concerned with his point production. I also wanted him to learn from his mistakes, and there was a noticeable difference in Terry’s game from the start of the season to the end. He clearly learned a lot in San Diego.

Anaheim is flush with right-wingers, from Corey Perry to Jakob Silfverberg to Ondrej Kase to Daniel Sprong to Kiefer Sherwood. However, Terry should be right in the mix with those players for one of Anaheim’s four right-wing spots next season. If Perry is gone this summer, then the Ducks clearly expect Terry to shoulder even more of an offensive burden. We saw him line up at times with Ryan Getzlaf last year, it will be interesting to see if the two play together this coming season. There’s a chance that he could play in some AHL games next season, but I think he’s shown that there’s little more for him to do in San Diego. If the Ducks really want Terry to be part of their long term future, he needs to spend most, if not all, of the season in Anaheim.

Terry has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer. I expect him to be re-signed, likely on a one-way deal. If he has a great season, it could be for a number of years as well. The Ducks could also try to get him signed to an extension this summer, starting on July 1st.

While Terry may never be a top line winger, he has an excellent chance of becoming a very good second line player who scores 20 goals a season. He still needs to get stronger and continue to adjust to the physical nature of the NHL, but he’s clearly got the tools to play with the Ducks.

The next graduated prospect will be Brendan Guhle.

Related Articles:

Graduated Prospect: Jacob Larsson

Graduate Prospect: Andy Welinski

Graduated Prospect: Jaycob Megna

Graduated Prospect: Kiefer Sherwood

Are Perry’s Days Numbered In Anaheim?

Anaheim’s Group Six Free Agents

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June 12th, 2019