Ducks Announce Opening Night Roster 25-26

By Thomas Harrington

Earlier today, the Anaheim Ducks announced their opening night roster. The roster was already close to being set after the last round of cuts, and the Ducks sent Ian Moore and Tim Washe to San Diego to get to the 23 man roster limit. Jansen Harkins and Coulson Pitre will both start the season on injured reserve. Once healthy, Pitre will make his way down to San Diego while Harkins may stick around with the Ducks, depending on what the roster needs are.

To begin the season, the Ducks will carry 14 forwards: Leo Carlsson, Sam Colangelo, Cutter Gauthier, Mikael Granlund, Ross Johnston, Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, Mason McTavish, Nikita Nesterenko, Ryan Poehling, Beckett Sennecke, Ryan Strome, Troy Terry, and Frank Vatrano. It’s great to see Sennecke make Anaheim’s roster out of training camp, but I still think he’ll be sent to the OHL at some point during the season, possibly after the World Juniors tournament. He led all Anaheim rookies with six games played in the preseason, while also leading the Ducks rookies in goals with two. He tied for the lead in points with three. Colangelo and Nesterenko were two other forwards who also didn’t have a guaranteed roster spot. Both played well to end last season in Anaheim, and it’s great to see them rewarded to start the year.

Sennecke won’t be the only rookie forward in Anaheim this year, as I expect Washe to be the first forward called up from San Diego when one is needed. Based on both being recalled during the preseason, both Nathan Gaucher and Yegor Sidorov are probably next in line after him. Jan Mysak and Sasha Pastujov could also get called up too; both of them scored for San Diego in their preseason game.

On defense, the Ducks will start the season with only six players: Radko Gudas, Drew Helleson, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Jacob Trouba, and Olen Zellweger. This group was expected to be Anaheim’s top six before training camp began, but it is surprising to see only six players start on the backend for the Ducks. There’s no question, other players will be called up from San Diego, possibly very soon. I expect Moore and Tristan Luneau to be the first two players called up, while Tyson Hinds also has a chance.

In net, the Ducks made the interesting choice to start the year with three goaltenders: Lukas Dostal, Petr Mrazek, and Ville Husso. One of Mrazek or Husso will be sent down at some point, probably very soon. Given that Dostal had a minor injury during the preseason, I’m guessing both are being kept up in case anything happens to Dostal.

I think it unlikely a rookie goaltender plays for Anaheim this season, but if one does, it will probably be Calle Clang. He was recalled during the preseason and played well against San Jose in his lone start. If Thomas Suchanek is playing well and shows that he’s fully recovered from his injury, he could get called up, but I think that’s less likely this year.

Anaheim’s season begins Thursday in Seattle. Their home opener will be the following Tuesday against Pittsburgh. Going into the year, there’s a lot of optimism around the Ducks. While the playoffs are far from a sure thing, it feels like they should at least be involved in the wild card race, a place they haven’t been for the past several years.

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October 6th, 2025