Ranking Anaheim’s Prospect Positions

By Thomas Harrington

Now that the individual graduated prospects and prospect updates and profiles are complete, it’s time to rank the positional strength of Anaheim’s prospect system.

For more information on every individual player listed below, feel free to look back at the prospect profiles, updates, and draft reviews that have been published throughout the summer and fall. Note: for players that can play multiple positions, they’ll be listed under the position that Anaheim lists them on the training camp roster. Even if I think they’re better in a different position, I’ll still go with what Anaheim lists them as in order to be consistent. Also, I’ll be listing players with the leagues and teams that they are expected to be with this coming season, not with who they played for last year.

The Anaheim Ducks graduated six prospects this past season: Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Lukas Dostal, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Leo Carlsson, and Olen Zellweger. With so many players leaving the prospect ranks, it has created some significant upheaval in Anaheim’s prospect pool. This has led to every position shifting from where it was a year ago. Anaheim’s top two prospects are now wingers Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke. This has changed the complexion of Anaheim’s farm system. Last year, I had Anaheim’s right wingers as the fourth best prospect position for the Ducks; this year I have them as the top position. Left wingers have jumped up from fifth place to second, defense falls from the top spot to third, centers fall from second to fourth, and goaltending goes from third to fifth.

Looking Forward

The only notable right wing prospect the Ducks lost from last summer was Jacob Perreault, who was traded during the season. While there’s a chance Sennecke may get a nine-game tryout with the Ducks, there’s little question that he’ll spend most of the upcoming season playing in the OHL. He is recovering from a foot injury he sustained at the Canada-USA World Junior exhibition game during summer. He has been skating and should be good to go by October. Coulson Pitre and Yegor Sidorov will be turning pro and joining the San Diego Gulls. They’ll be joined there by Sasha Pastujov, Judd Caulfield, and Jaxsen Wiebe. Sam Colangelo made his NHL debut at the end of last season, and figures to split time between the Ducks and Gulls this year. Maxim Masse will be in the QMJHL, while both Michael Callow and Austin Burnevik will be playing college hockey in the NCAA.

Sennecke is Anaheim’s top right wing prospect and one of the top prospects in the system. He has the potential to be a top line winger in the future. Colangelo is obviously the most NHL ready, and I have him as the second best player of this group, but he doesn’t have the ceiling that Sennecke has. Sidorov and Pastujov have top six potential, but have a lot of work ahead of them to get there, while Pitre and Masse are more well-rounded players and may have a better shot at the NHL as a result. Caulfield was one of the few players who impressed me in San Diego last year. He doesn’t have a high ceiling, but with his size I could see him playing in the NHL on a team’s fourth line someday. Callow, Burnevik, and Wiebe are three other players who may end up on the fourth line too, but I think they have much further to go than Caulfield does.

The Ducks lost three left wing prospects over the course of the past year: Brayden Tracey, Blake McLaughlin, and Connor Hvidston. Gauthier will likely spend most, if not all, of the season in the NHL, while Pavol Regenda should once again play for both the Ducks and Gulls. Last year, Nikita Nesterenko was listed as a center, but this year’s training camp roster lists him at left wing, so he joins this group. Similar to Regenda, expect to see him suit up for both the Ducks and Gulls this year. Nico Myatovic is making the jump to professional hockey this year and will also be with the Gulls. Anaheim’s final left wing prospect is Artyom Galimov, and he’ll be playing in the KHL again this season.

Gauthier is not only Anaheim’s top left wing prospect, I have him as the team’s top prospect. He has the potential to be a top line forward and one who can really drive the play. Having seen sporadic time with the Ducks over the past two years, Regenda and Nesterenko are the most NHL-ready prospects after Gauthier. Myatovic has the potential to be Anaheim’s second best left wing prospect, but missing so much time last year with injury really hurt him. If he can have a bounce back season with the Gulls, he could be viewed as one of Anaheim’s better prospects a year from now. Galimov is one of the Ducks’ oldest prospects; he’ll be 25 before the season begins. Right now, it seems like he’ll probably play in Russia for the foreseeable future, but if he ever comes to North America he’ll be an interesting player to watch.

Blueline Outlook

The Ducks had three defensemen graduate from the prospect ranks last year: Mintyukov, Zellweger, and LaCombe. The Ducks still have great depth among their defensive prospects, but no one quite like these three and most are not close to the NHL, leading to this ranking. Tristan Luneau is the most NHL ready, having made his Anaheim debut last season, but it remains to be seen how much he’s impacted by missing so much time with a knee infection. It wouldn’t surprise me if he plays for both the Ducks and Gulls this season.

Tyson Hinds, Noah Warren, Rodwin Dionicio, and Drew Helleson will all be in the AHL, with Helleson fighting to get back to the NHL. This will be the first professional season for both Warren and Dionicio. William Francis and Ian Moore will be in the NCAA, while Stian Solberg and Darels Uljanskis will be playing overseas: Solberg in the SHL and Uljanskis in the J20 Nationell. Vojtech Port will be playing in the WHL. The only real question mark is Konnor Smith. He’s eligible for both the AHL and OHL this season. How he does in training camp and the preseason could determine which league he plays in next year.

The Ducks have a ton of depth at defense but lack a true star. Soldberg is their top defensive prospect. He doesn’t have the offensive upside of many of Anaheim’s young defenders, but he’s one of the more physical players they have on the blueline. He and Luneau both look like top four defensemen and could even play together in Anaheim someday. Hinds, Warren, Helleson, and Moore all have bottom pairing potential. None of them have a high offensive upside, but make up for that in other ways.

Dionicio is another player with bottom pair potential. The difference between him and the other four is he’s one of the more offensively gifted defensemen the Ducks have. He could see time on the powerplay as well. Smith and Port both feel like they could become sixth or seventh defensemen. Smith is more known for his physical play, while Port has some offensive upside. Uljanskis is a player who doesn’t excel at any one thing but has a well rounded game that may get him to the NHL. Given what he’s been through, if Francis just makes it to the AHL it will be a great story. If he ever sets foot on NHL ice, it will be an incredible accomplishment.

Center Of Attention

Anaheim had two centers graduate from their prospect ranks this season: Groulx and Carlsson. Carlsson especially is a big loss to the center group, and the biggest reason why I’ve ranked it so low this summer. The Ducks also didn’t retain Ben King and Albin Sundsvik, though neither one of them made a huge impact on this ranking. Josh Lopina, Nathan Gaucher, and Jan Mysak will all play in San Diego, though it wouldn’t surprise me to see Gaucher make his NHL debut this season. Kyle Kukkonen will be in the NCAA. Carey Terrance and Ethan Procyszyn will be in the OHL, while Alexandre Blais will be in the QMJHL. Lucas Pettersson will be playing overseas, in both the SHL and J20 Nationell.

Gaucher is Anaheim’s top center prospect, followed by Pettersson. Both could become solid NHL players, but their upside feels more like good second line centers to great third line centers. Terrance is a well-rounded player who could also become a second or third line center someday. Procyszyn is a physical player, the kind that fits the Pat Verbeek mold. If he can develop properly, we could see him on a third or fourth line someday. Lopina and Mysak look more like AHL regulars who will get the occasional NHL callup. Blais is an excellent passer and is another player who could get playing time in both the NHL and AHL in the future. Kukkonen is the hardest of this group to figure out. After a great freshman year, he really struggled as a sophomore. If he can have a bounce back junior year, he could be a player who looks to crack an NHL lineup someday. But if he struggles, then he’s probably destined for the AHL.

Between The Pipes

Dostal has been Anaheim’s top goaltending prospect for a couple of years now, and him graduating is the reason for this group to fall to last. However, that’s less about the Ducks not having a good group of goaltending prospects, and more that there needs to be a group in last. None of these players are as NHL ready as some of Anaheim’s skater prospects. The Ducks traded prospect Gage Alexander over the summer, but that didn’t really impact this ranking.

The Ducks will have three goaltenders playing in the minor leagues this year: Calle Clang, Tomas Suchanek, and Vyacheslav Buteyets. Clang and Suchanek were likely going to split time in San Diego again, but Suchanek will miss most of this season with an injury. This will be Buteyets’ first season in North America, and I think he’ll probably split time between the AHL and ECHL, though Suchanek’s injury may give him more of a chance with San Diego. Damian Clara will be playing in the SHL.

After Clara’s stellar season last year, he’s become the Ducks’ top goaltending prospect. I’m not convinced he’ll be a starter someday, but I think he’ll at least become a backup in the NHL if not excel in a tandem situation. Suchanek came out of nowhere last year and was San Diego’s best player. He has the potential to be an NHL backup someday, and maybe more. Hopefully the injury he has doesn’t have an impact on his career going forward. Clang struggled at the start of last year, but hopefully he can have a bounce back year and show that he could still make it to the NHL someday. Buteyets is the real wildcard of this group. If he can get used to playing in North America, he could become a starter in the AHL in the very near future, and then possibly make his way to the NHL soon after that. But if he struggles with the different style of game and ice surface, he may end up staying in the minors for the foreseeable future.

Final Thoughts

In recent years, Anaheim prospects like Carlsson, Dostal, Mintyukov, Mason McTavish, and Jamie Drysdale have all left the prospect ranks behind and become full time NHL players. Despite that, between high draft picks, trades, and signings, Anaheim still has one of the better prospect groups in the league. I don’t anticipate as many prospects graduating this coming season as last year, but there are a number of players in San Diego who could make their way to the NHL and prove me wrong. Regardless, the Ducks have a number of up-and-coming prospects to keep an eye on this year and in the years to come. While not every highly rated prospect will work out, there could also be late-round surprises that do. The hope is that some of these young prospects won’t just become NHL players, but be able to help the Ducks get back to the playoffs and become a contender again.

Next up will be Anaheim’s top 10 rookies.

Related Articles:

2024-25: Anaheim’s Top 10 Rookies

Anaheim Prospects We Could See In NHL

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September 25th, 2024