Graduated Prospect: Pavel Mintyukov

By Thomas Harrington

Anaheim chose defenseman Pavel Mintyukov in the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, 10th overall. After three seasons of playing in the OHL, Mintyukov made the leap to professional hockey and spent all of last season in the NHL.

Mintyukov skated in 63 games for the Ducks, scoring four goals and 28 points. He was injured a couple of times during the year, including a separated shoulder in January and a bone bruise at the end of the year. If not for the injuries, he would have had a chance to threaten some Anaheim rookie defensemen scoring records, most notably, assists by a rookie defenseman. Cam Fowler holds that record with 30.

If Mintyukov had kept recording assists at the same rate, he would have finished with 31. If he had increased his offensive production, he would have had an outside shot at Anaheim’s rookie assist record, which Trevor Zegras has with 38. Mintyukov led Anaheim’s rookie defensemen with 1:56 of powerplay time per game, and finished second to Fowler in powerplay ice time. He also averaged 58 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game, second among Anaheim’s rookie defensemen; only Jackson LaCombe had more.

Mintyukov scored his first career goal in his second game and had a career-high three points against Columbus in February. Despite missing almost 20 games, he still finished tied for fourth in assists among all rookies, and 13th in points. Among rookie defensemen, he finished third in assists and points. The two rookie defensemen who finished ahead of him in both categories, Brock Faber and Luke Hughes, both played in all 82 games.

I had two expectations for Mintyukov last summer, but both assumed that he’d spend a majority of the season in San Diego. By not playing a single game with the Gulls, he more than passed both of these. Even more impressive was how ready he looked for the NHL in game one of his professional career. He played 17:58 that night, and averaged 18:51 per game throughout the season.

Similar to LaCombe and Olen Zellweger, a spot on Anaheim’s blueline next season is not a guarantee for Mintyukov. However, if he can have a similar training camp and preseason to last year and pick up where he left off before his injury, he’ll be playing for the Ducks pretty much every night, and probably as one of the team’s top four defensemen.

Mintyukov has two years left on his entry-level contract and it would be shocking if the Ducks don’t extend him at that point. He’s got two more years of development before that happens. If he can truly become one of the team’s top defenders in that time, the Ducks could extend him on a long term contract. However, if he stays at the level he was at in his rookie season, which is to say very good but with some flaws, then he’ll probably get a bridge deal.

The next graduated prospect will be forward Leo Carlsson.

Recent Articles:

Graduated Prospect: Benoit-Olivier Groulx

Graduated Prospect: Olen Zellweger

Graduated Prospect: Lukas Dostal

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July 11th, 2024