Ducks 2024 Rookie Tournament Preview

 

By Thomas Harrington

This weekend, the Anaheim Ducks’ prospects will participate in the 2024 Rookie Faceoff, where they will be joined by prospects from the Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vegas Golden Knights, and Utah Hockey Club. The Ducks will play in three games: game one on Friday against Colorado, game two on Sunday against San Jose, and game three on Monday against Los Angeles. The Ducks will not play against Vegas, Utah, or Seattle.

The Ducks will have a total of 29 players at the tournament: 17 forwards, eight defensemen, and four goaltenders. Anaheim will have one player selected from the 2020 draft in attendance, two players from the 2021 draft, four players from the 2022 draft, seven players from the 2023 draft, five players from the 2024 draft, two free agents, two players acquired via trade, and six invitees making up the roster.

Sam Colangelo will be the lone representative from Anaheim’s 2020 draft class. This will be his first rookie tournament, as NCAA players are not able to participate because of when school starts. This will be his first full professional season, and he’ll be looking to make a strong impression at this tournament. Last year, Jackson LaCombe attended his first rookie tournament after making his pro debut at the end of the previous season. That was the start of a solid rookie season from him; hopefully Colangelo can have a similar trajectory. He’s one of the three Anaheim prospects with NHL experience in this tournament. I think he’ll probably play in two or three games, but if he absolutely dominates in game one, the Ducks could decide to hold him out so there’s less of an injury risk for him.

Forward Sasha Pastujov and defenseman Tyson Hinds will represent Anaheim’s 2021 draft class. Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger, Josh Lopina, Sean Tschigerl, Gage Alexander, and Kyle Kukkonen are the picks from 2021 who will not be present. McTavish and Zellweger have both graduated, Lopina has a couple of years of professional hockey at the AHL level already, Tschigerl and Alexander are no longer with the team, and Kukkonen is still in college. Pastujov and Hinds have both participated in previous tournaments, and I expect each of them to play in at least two games.

Forward Nathan Gaucher, defensemen Tristan Luneau and Noah Warren, and goaltender Vyacheslav Buteyets will represent Anaheim’s 2022 draft class. Pavel Mintyukov, Ben King, Connor Hvidston, and Michael Callow are the picks from 2022 who will not be present. Mintyukov has graduated, King and Hvdiston are no longer with the team, and Callow is still in college. Luneau is another of the three players on Anaheim’s roster with NHL experience. Similar to Colangelo, if he’s dominant in his first game, that could be it for him, but given how much time Luneau missed last year, it wouldn’t surprise me if he played in all three games. I think Warren and Gaucher will each play in two games, while Buteyets will likely start a game. With three healthy goaltenders, the Ducks may decide to just give each one start.

Forwards Nico Myatovic, Coulson Pitre, Yegor Sidorov, and Carey Terrance and defensemen Rodwin Dionicio, Vojtech Port, and Konnor Smith will represent Anaheim’s 2023 draft class. Leo Carlsson and Damian Clara will be the only two players selected that year not in attendance. Carlsson has graduated while Clara is playing overseas. Given how young this group of players is, I think the Ducks will likely want them to play in two or three games each. I think this is especially true for Myatovic given how much time he missed to injury last season.

Forwards Alexandre Blais, Maxim Masse, Ethan Procyszyn, and Beckett Sennecke and defenseman Tarin Smith will represent Anaheim’s most recent draft class. Stian Solberg, Lucas Pettersson, Austin Burnevik, and Darels Uljanskis will not be attending. Solberg, Pettersson, and Uljanskis will be playing overseas, and Burnevik will be attending college. Sennecke is unfortunately injured and will miss the entire tournament. Similar to the 2023 group, I think the rest of these players will play in two if not all three games of the tournament.

Forward Jaxsen Wiebe and goaltender Tomas Suchanek are the two free agents participating in the tournament. Suchanek is also injured and will miss the entire tournament as well. Wiebe will probably play in two games.

Forward Cutter Gauthier and goaltender Calle Clang are the two players who Anaheim acquired via trade who will be at the tournament. Gauthier is the third and final player with NHL experience, getting into the final game of the regular season. Similar to Colangelo and Luneau, if he dominates in game one, he may sit for the rest of the tournament, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he plays in all three games. I expect Clang to start at least one game.

The camp invites are forwards Thomas Desruisseaux, Ruslan Gazizov, Simon Lovsin, and Jaxsin Vaughan, defenseman Loic Usereau, and goaltender Michael McIvor. Desruisseaux and Usereau are teammates with Masse and Lovsin is teammates with Myatovic. These players will likely all play in a game or two, but will probably be primarily used if the Ducks are trying to shelter certain prospects. With only eight defensemen, if one gets injured, then we could see a lot of Usereau, but with 17 forwards, I don’t think we’ll see a ton of Desruisseaux, Gazizov, Lovsin, or Vaughan. If McIvor plays, it will probably be splitting a game with one of Anaheim’s other goaltender prospects, though Suchanek’s injury opens the door for him to play an entire game.

There have been a few players invited to the rookie tournament in recent years who went on to sign with the Ducks. Simon Benoit was a camp invite back in 2018 and played well enough to earn a spot with the Gulls and eventually an entry-level contract with the Ducks. Suchanek was a camp invite last year and also earned himself a spot in San Diego and eventually an entry-level contract with Anaheim.

The other teams will also be bringing a number of high profile prospects to the tournament. Against Colorado, the Ducks could face notable prospects like Calum Ritchie, Sean Behrens, and Oskar Olausson. The Sharks could use notable prospects like Will Smith, Shakir Mukhamadullin, and the first overall pick in 2024, Macklin Celebrini. Finally, Los Angeles could use prospects like Brandt Clarke, Liam Greentree, and Francesco Pinelli.

Rookie tournaments are generally a lot of fun. Hopefully Anaheim’s prospects play well, but more importantly, hopefully no one on any of these seven teams suffers any kind of injury. This tournament is designed to give each team a glimpse of their future, but it’s also to give these kids an idea of what it will take to make it in the NHL. 

Ducks Rookie Camp & Tournament Schedule

Thursday September 12th

Practice, 10:15 AM PT Great Park Ice

Friday September 13th

Anaheim vs Colorado, 3:30 PM PT

Toyota Sports Performance Center (NHL Rink 2)

Saturday September 14th

Practice, 10:30 AM PT, Greek Park Ice

Sunday September 15th

Anaheim vs San Jose, 4:30 PM PT

Toyota Sports Performance Center (NHL Rink 1)

Monday September 16th

Anaheim vs LA, 3:30 PM PT

Toyota Sports Performance Center (NHL Rink 1)

All the games will be streamed on AnaheimDucks.com

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September 11th, 2024