Ducks Announce Season-Opening Roster

By Thomas Harrington

On Monday, the Anaheim Ducks announced their season-opening roster. To get to the final 23 players, the Ducks assigned forward Nico Myatovic and defensemen Noah Warren and Stian Solberg to San Diego on Sunday, as well as placing defenseman Travis Mitchell and goaltender Laurent Brossoit on waivers. Both of them cleared on Monday and were then assigned to the Gulls. Anaheim is currently carrying 25 players, but both Troy Terry and Ian Moore are injured. Terry will be out for a while, but Moore should be healthy and back in the lineup in the not-too-distant future.

Forwards

To begin the season, Anaheim will carry 15 healthy forwards: Leo Carlsson, Judd Caulfield, Sam Colangelo, Cutter Gauthier, Mikael Granlund, A.J. Greer, Alex Killorn, Nikita Klepov, Jeff Malott, Roger McQueen, Nikita Nesterenko, Ryan Poehling, Beckett Sennecke, Frank Vatrano, and Tim Washe. It’s great to see both McQueen and Klepov make Anaheim’s roster out of training camp, but I do think McQueen will be sent to San Diego at some point this season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Klepov is sent back to juniors after getting a nine-game tryout. Then again, I thought the same thing of Sennecke last year, and he ended up nominated for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. McQueen played in two preseason games and was scoreless while Klepov picked up an assist in three preseason games. Colangelo and Nesterenko were two other players fighting for a spot in Anaheim. Both have played in Anaheim and San Diego for the last couple of seasons; hopefully both can carve out a permanent spot with the Ducks.

McQueen and Klepov aren’t the only rookie forwards in the lineup, as Caulfield was also named to the roster. He’s been an invaluable member of the Gulls for the last couple of years, and if he had been signed to an NHL contract last season, I’m confident he would have made his NHL debut then. Instead, it will happen this year for him. He played in three preseason games and tied for the Anaheim rookie lead with two assists. Given how late they were cut in camp, Nathan Gaucher, Myatovic, and Sean Farrell are also likely to see time with the Ducks, and I think Anton Wahlberg could as well.

Defensemen

On defense, the Ducks will begin the season with six healthy defensemen: Drew Helleson, Tyson Hinds, Nick Jensen, Jackson LaCombe, Tristan Luneau, and Pavel Mintyukov. After how well he played down the stretch and into the playoffs last season, Hinds making the roster this year felt like a foregone conclusion. He played in two preseason games and was scoreless. For Luneau, this is far from the first time he’s made Anaheim’s roster out of training camp; now he needs to play well enough to stick around for the full season. Luneau played in three preseason games and scored a goal and three points. It’s an incredibly young group; Jensen is the only player over 25 years old.

After being among the team’s final cuts, I’d expect Solberg to get called up to Anaheim and make his NHL debut at some point this season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Warren did as well. Solberg was scoreless in three preseason games and Warren was scoreless in two. If any other defensemen get called up from San Diego, it will likely be a veteran like Mitchell or Corey Schueneman.

Goalies

In net, Lukas Dostal will once again be Anaheim’s starter, and Ville Husso will be his backup. If Anaheim does run into any injury issues, Brossoit is the most likely goaltender to be recalled from San Diego. I don’t think Tomas Suchanek or Damian Clara will be quite ready for the NHL this year, though if one of them does get the call, I think Suchanek has a slightly higher chance.

Anaheim’s season begins Friday in Vegas, facing the team that knocked them out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year. The Ducks’ home opener will be a couple of days later, when they host the Florida Panthers on Sunday. It’s entirely possible that Anaheim’s lineup looks a little different by the time these two games roll around, but I’d expect most of these 23 players to be on the roster come opening night. After an offseason of more departures than arrivals, this is a very young Anaheim team, especially on defense. If they struggle, expect Pat Verbeek to make a move to bring in a vet or two as the season progresses.

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September 29th, 2026