Anaheim Draft Day Two Recap

By Thomas Harrington

The Anaheim Ducks began day two of the draft with five picks: one in every round from two through six; they did not have a seventh selection. However, towards the end of the draft, the Ducks traded a conditional seventh-round draft pick to Columbus in exchange for their seventh-round pick this year, 207th overall. Columbus will receive Anaheim’s seventh-round pick in either 2021 or 2022.

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With their six picks, Anaheim chose right-winger Sam Colangelo 36th overall, defenseman Ian Moore 67th overall, defenseman Thimo Nickl 104th overall, left-winger Artyom Galimov 129th overall, center Albin Sundsvik 160th overall, and center Ethan Bowen 207th overall. As I thought, the Ducks took another defenseman (two more actually), a center (two as well), and a couple of wingers. Overall, Anaheim chose three defensemen, three wingers, and two centers in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. One interesting note, all three defensemen that Anaheim chose are right-handed, really filling a void in their prospect pool.

36th Pick – Sam Colangelo

Colangelo was actually on my initial list of potential players for Anaheim to select at 27th overall, so I was very happy to see the Ducks pick him up 36th overall. Colangelo played for the Chicago Steel of the USHL this past season, scoring 28 goals and 58 points in 44 games. He will attend Northeastern University this season. He’s a player with good vision and an accurate shot. Colangelo is also big and strong, the kind of power forward that the Ducks like to draft. Along with Jacob Perreault, the Ducks now have two highly skilled right-wing prospects who are known for putting the puck in the back of the net. I expect Colangelo to spend at least a year or two in the NCAA before turning pro, and then get some seasoning in San Diego before we see him in Anaheim.

67th Pick – Ian Moore

Moore is big, standing at 6’3”. Despite his size, Moore is a surprisingly fast skater. He played at St. Mark’s School “A” and scored 12 goals and 46 points in just 28 games. He has an offense-first mentality and does need to work on his defensive game. This coming season, he’ll join the Chicago Steel of the USHL, before going on to Harvard University in the 2021-2022 season. Moore is a number of years away from making his way to the NHL. He’ll start out with a year in the USHL, and I think he’ll then spend two or three years in the NCAA before turning pro, followed by some time in the AHL. So, realistically, we might see him in Anaheim around 2024 or 2025. He’s got a lot of raw talent, but he does need to work on his overall game. If he can develop as hoped, the Ducks might have found a really good player.

104th Pick – Thimo Nickl

Nickl was the final defenseman that the Ducks selected, and the first Austrian-born player ever selected by Anaheim. He doesn’t have the offensive upside that Jaime Drysdale has, but he did score 10 goals and 39 points in 58 games for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL. Nickl does most of his damage on the powerplay, scoring six goals and 25 points on the man advantage. He’s another excellent skater who can jump into the attack when needed. He does need to do a better job of handling the puck under pressure, but he is a great passer and does a very good job of finding his teammates with the puck. Normally, he’d probably spend the next two years in juniors before turning pro. However, he’s instead going to play in Sweden this coming season. He may spend a couple of years over there before coming back to North America, or it could be just for this coming season. Regardless, I think he’s probably two years away from turning pro and joining San Diego.

129th Pick – Artyom Galimov

Galimov was the first Russian player that Anaheim has selected in the draft since they took Igor Bobkov in 2009. He’s actually already 21 and is currently playing in the KHL. He was rookie of the year in the KHL last season, scoring 13 goals and 23 points in 55 games. Given his age and professional experience, he’s much closer to being in the NHL than most late-round picks. However, he is signed beyond this season, so it still maybe a couple of years before we see him in the NHL. Still, for a fifth-round pick, he’s got a ton of offensive upside. So far, in 12 games this season, he’s scored three goals and seven points.

160th Pick – Albin Sundsvik

Sundsvik was initially Anaheim’s final pick of the draft before they made the deal with Columbus. At 19, he’s a little older than most of the other picks and similar to Galimov, already has a wealth of pro experience, suiting up for 38 games in the SHL last season. He only scored three goals and four points, but it’s the professional experience that will hopefully help him develop in the long run. He also played in 19 games in the J20 SuperElit, Sweden’s version of junior hockey, and scored 13 goals and 22 points, so against players in his age group, he has the ability to put up some offensive numbers. Sundsvik has played in four games so far this season and has one assist. He’s more known for his two-way play than his offensive numbers and could turn into an effective checking center down the road. I expect him to play this year in the SHL, and possibly one more before he comes stateside and joins San Diego. Given his age and professional experience, he’s also closer to the NHL than many late-round picks.

207th Pick – Ethan Bowen

Bowen ended up being Anaheim’s final pick of the draft after they made sure to get one final pick to grab him. He played for the Chilliwack Chiefs of the BCHL and scored 12 goals and 31 points in 41 games this past season. At 6’2”, Bowen is tall but needs to add a lot of muscle to his frame in the years to come. He’s got one more year in the BCHL before heading to the University of North Dakota for the 2021-2022 season. He’s probably four or five years away from turning pro and joining the Gulls. From there, depending on how he has developed and where the Ducks are at, he might get a look at the NHL soon after, or he might need to continue to develop in the AHL before getting a shot at the NHL.

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Anaheim filled a lot of needs in their prospect pool over the last two days. First, they added three right-handed shooting defensemen who are all excellent skaters and have some serious offensive upside. Second, they added a number of scoring wingers, most notably Perreault and Colangelo, though Galimov is also a nice addition. The defenseman and wingers that they added are also all known to put up points on the powerplay, something that Anaheim has desperately needed over the last couple of seasons. Finally, they added a couple of centers who probably won’t be top scorers in the NHL, but could have a shot at a bottom-six role someday. Overall, it was a good two days for Anaheim, and I’m looking forward to seeing these players in an Anaheim uniform in the years to come.

Related Article:

Ducks First Round Recap

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October 8th, 2020