Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks locked up a key piece of their future on Wednesday.

Veteran forward Troy Terry and the Ducks agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract in free agency that ties him to the franchise through the 2029-30 season.

Terry and the Ducks were originally slated to go to arbitration on Wednesday. The two sides exchanged arbitration numbers on Monday with Terry filling at $8 million and the Ducks at $4.5 million, per NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.

The Ducks selected Terry in the fifth round of the 2015 draft and while he had a relatively slow start to his career—notching just 48 points (15 goals, 33 assists) in 129 games over his first four seasons—he has excelled in each of the last two years.

The 25-year-old put together a breakout 2021-22 season, tallying 37 goals and 30 assists for 67 points in 75 games en route to his first All-Star Game selection. He followed that in 2022-23 by notching 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points in 71 games, earning his second straight ASG nod.

Terry enters the 2023-24 campaign with high expectations as he aims to record the first 70-plus point season of his career. He'll be a leader on offense alongside Alex Killorn and Trevor Zegras.

The Ducks still have $20.2 million in projected cap space following the Terry signing, per CapFriendly. However, they'll likely have to use a good chunk of that money to extend the contract of Zegras, who is a restricted free agent.

Anaheim put together a disappointing 2022-23 campaign, finishing with a 23-47-12 record and the team is looking to bounce back in 2023-24.

However, the Ducks haven't made the postseason since the 2017-18 season and it's going to be difficult for the franchise to get back there in a difficult Pacific Division that is ruled by the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers.

After a rumor began floating around that veteran goalie John Gibson wanted to be traded away from the Anaheim Ducks, his agent released a statement on Monday to clarify the situation.

Gibson's agent Kurt Overhardt said it was "false, unjust, and inflammatory" of hockey insider Frank Seravalli to report during a podcast that Gibson said he's "not playing another game" for Anaheim.

Gibson is coming off another disappointing season for the Ducks, who finished last in the NHL with just 58 points and a 23-47-12 record. In 52 starts in the net, the 29-year-old recorded a 3.99 goals against average and a .899 save percentage, both of which were career lows. Anaheim led the league in shots against with 39.1 per game, setting a new record in the salary cap era.

A second-round pick by the Ducks in the 2011 draft, Gibson has a career record of 180-179-59 with a 2.83 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.

The Ducks have failed to make the playoffs since the 2017-18 season. Prior to that, the team had five straight first-place finishes in the Pacific Division from 2012 to 2017.

Seravalli said during his appearance on the Nasty Knuckles podcast that Anaheim's ongoing rebuild has factored into Gibson's desire to be with a different team next year.

"How do you think John Gibson felt the last three of four years in Anaheim, just getting absolutely pummelled with shots on a nightly basis?" Seravalli said. "Knowing when you walk into the rink every day, that you have next to no chance to win."

However, it now appears that Gibson has not given up on the franchise he's spent his entire career with, as Overhardt's statement said he "is honored to be a member of the Anaheim Ducks and is a committed supporter of its fanbase, as well as the Ducks' community."

BUFFALO -- History repeating itself is a fascinating occurrence, especially when it comes to generational talent in hockey.

In 2015, Connor McDavid was the heir apparent to Sidney Crosby as a franchise-changing superstar-to-be. That year, McDavid was followed closely behind by Jack Eichel and the lead-up to the draft saw teams tanking to have the chance to pick either of one of them. The Edmonton Oilers won the biggest prize in McDavid and the Buffalo Sabres, the league's worst team who had the best shot at the No. 1 pick, "settled" for No. 2 and Eichel.

Fast forward to the present day. Quite similarly to the 2014-15 season, teams decided to go all-in on being as bad as possible with the opportunity to draft Connor Bedard far too attractive. And just like McDavid had Eichel, Bedard has his own star-in-the-making behind him: University of Michigan star Adam Fantilli

While the Chicago Blackhawks are sitting in the same catbird seat as the Oilers were eight years ago, the Anaheim Ducks are poised to cash in with a superstar talent of their own at No. 2.

The parallels between Bedard and Fantilli haven't been as plainly stated as those between McDavid and Eichel, but the two young stars-to-be set to be picked at the end of June will forever be linked just the same. What's more, their talent backs it up.

"It's a season for the ages for both of them," NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr said. "It's very difficult for a 17, 18-year-old to excel at the World Junior level and the way Connor had at every level that he played at and what Adam did, he was one of the younger players in the league and as a freshman, there's a lot at the college level, with seniors and juniors, the freshmen are at the bottom of the heap."

When you look at what Bedard and Fantilli did with their respective teams this season (Bedard with the Regina Pats of the WHL and Fantilli with Michigan) and compare them to what McDavid did with the Erie Otters and Eichel at Boston University during their draft years, you can see why it's such an accurate throwback to 2015.

2014-2015

McDavid: 47 games, 44 goals, 76 assists, 120 points (2.55 points per game)

Eichel: 40 games, 26 goals, 45 assists, 71 points (1.78 points per game)

2022-2023

Bedard: 57 games, 71 goals, 72 assists, 143 points (2.5 points per game)

Fantilli: 36 games, 30 goals, 35 assists, 65 points (1.81 points per game)

One guy excelled in the Canadian Hockey League while the other was the best of the best in the NCAA as a freshman. It's kind of spooky.

There is one slight difference between the pairs. Instead of a Canada versus United States rivalry like McDavid and Eichel, Bedard and Fantilli were teammates for Canada during World Juniors. That know each other doesn't do much to make things spicy in the grand sense, but they're competitors and they'll more than likely be rivals in the Western Conference very soon. There's also the fact that they've been in the same draft conversations for years now with Bedard being the prime focus all along. That suits Fantilli just fine.

"He's a phenomenal hockey player and he deserves everything he's getting," Fantilli said. "There's a lot of eyes on him, in terms of everything that he's going to be expected to do with the amount of success he's had in juniors and at an international level...we've been in entirely different situations and we're going to be drafted in different spots so it's going to be a different experience for both of us."

Bedard has been in the spotlight since he was granted exceptional player status by the CHL when he was 14 years old in 2020. He's been the focus of the hockey media ever since and his childhood dream is nearly fulfilled. But his eyes are on what's happening right now and staying in the moment.

"I'm focused on what's important and what I can control with my own play and my own team, of course," Bedard said. "You don't really think about that stuff, just some extra interviews and attention and whatnot. I'm just staying focused on what I need to be focused on and try to become a better player and a better person so that's how I handle it."

Bedard's focus is steely and straight ahead in the most McDavid ways imaginable, even if his description of what he's doing doesn't excite you. The goal is to make the NHL and then to become the best player he can be. That puts him straight in line to compete with the likes of McDavid, Eichel, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the elite players in the world.

"There's a lot of words that start with 'C' that analytics can't judge for you like character, and one of them is consistency, and that he can consistently play that high character game, game in and game out, is truly impressive," Marr said.

Knowing what the first two picks of the draft are most likely going to be is not a new phenomenon in the NHL. Surprises like last year's draft where Juraj Slafkovský was the surprise No. 1 pick ahead of Shane Wright (who ultimately went fourth) are rare, so knowing the expected order of Bedard going No. 1 and Fantilli No. 2 makes this draft special and will forever link the two youngsters.

It circles back to the same dream the Oilers and Sabres had in 2015. Their example proves more has to go into making those picks to have success. That Eichel is front and center with the Vegas Golden Knights after things didn't work out with the Sabres shows the future isn't predetermined. But the greatness those players have will carry them forward The only questions left are how far they will go and how often they will have to go through each other to reach the top.

The Anaheim Ducks named longtime NHL assistant coach Greg Cronin as their next head coach Monday.

"While we did cast a wide net in searching for the next head coach, it became clear to me that Greg would be the ideal fit for the position," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek told reporters.

"Being a young team, I felt we needed a teacher of the finer points of the game, and someone who has worked extensively over time with talented young players, helping them develop into successful NHL players. Greg has done all that and more, and we are excited to name him head coach of the Anaheim Ducks."

Cronin, 60, had been serving as the head coach of the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League since 2018.

Before joining the Eagles, he was an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders for stints dating back to 1999. He also previously served as the head coach at Maine and Northeastern University, along with the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

"I'm excited and honored to be named head coach of the Anaheim Ducks," said Cronin. "This team has a fantastic future ahead, and I'm very grateful to the Samueli family and Pat Verbeek for entrusting me with this amazing opportunity."

The Ducks have failed to make the playoffs each of the last five seasons and fired Dallas Eakins in April. Eakins' tenure ended with a franchise-record 13 straight losses to close the 2022-23 season, and the Ducks finished last in the NHL standings.

Anaheim will have the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft after dropping below the Chicago Blackhawks in the lottery. University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli is widely projected to be the No. 2 pick and could serve as a franchise cornerstone for Cronin's first attempt at winning at the NHL level.

Not all great sport stories are made in Hollywood.

In fact, one of the most fascinating and intriguing epics of the last 30 years was born about an hour south of Tinseltown in Anaheim, California with the founding of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Founded by the Walt Disney Company in 1993 and based off the title of the popular Disney sports flick The Mighty Ducks, the early days of the franchise is set to be the subject of the next E60 documentary, 'Once Upon a Time in Anaheim.'

Set to premiere June 11 on ESPN and ESPN +, the documentary will follow how the organization, once seen as a Disney-run laughing stock, turned into one of the elite squads of the early 2000s.

The Mighty Ducks—who were changed to the Ducks ahead of the 2006-07 campaign—went on to win a Stanley Cup a little over a decade into their existence in 2007 after they had been sold by Disney in 2005.

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner is set to be staple piece of the documentary along with players like Teemu Selänne and others.

The Anaheim Ducks finished out the 2022-23 regular season with a win, by losing.

By dropping their season finale 5-3 to the visiting Los Angeles Kings, the Ducks clinched a 1-in-4 chance of selecting Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick.

Visiting fans weren't the only ones chanting "Go, Kings, Go" in Honda Center on Thursday night. Ducks supporters want to see Bedard, billed as the first "generational" talent to hit the draft since Connor McDavid, in Anaheim next year.

In 57 games for the Regina Pats, Bedard racked up 71 goals and 143 points this WHL season. He turns 18 in July.

His ability to read plays, deadly release and deft hands made him nearly unbeatable in the WHL. By next fall, Regina head coach John Paddock thinks Bedard will be ready to bring that offensive firepower to the big league.

"The details to prepare for the game and get focused for, say, a road trip, he would have that," Paddock told NHL.com's Aaron Vickers in February. "That's not going to change. There's going to be an adaptation for him for bigger, faster, stronger, but clearly he's on top of the charts as a 17-year-old in our league. I think that's pretty hard to argue."

As the 32nd-ranked team, the Ducks will now have a 25.5 percent shot at getting to see Bedard adapt to the NHL in Anaheim.

The 2023 NHL Draft Lottery will take place May 8 at 7 p.m. ET. Separate lotteries will be held for each of the first two picks. Teams can move up a maximum of 10 spots.

Here are the final odds for each team to get the top two picks, according to Tankathon.

No. 1 pick lottery odds

1. Anaheim Ducks: 25.5%
2. Columbus Blue Jackets: 13.5%
3. Chicago Blackhawks: 11.5%
4. San Jose Sharks: 9.5%
5. Montréal Canadiens: 8.5%
6. Arizona Coyotes: 7.5%
7. Philadelphia Flyers: 6.5%
8. Washington Capitals: 6.0%
9. Detroit Red Wings: 5.0%
10. St. Louis Blues: 3.5%
11. Vancouver Canucks: 3.0%

No. 2 pick lottery odds

1. Anaheim Ducks: 18.8%
2. Columbus Blue Jackets: 14.4%
3. Chicago Blackhawks: 11.5%
4. San Jose Sharks: 9.8%
5. Montréal Canadiens: 8.8%
6. Arizona Coyotes: 7.9%
7. Philadelphia Flyers: 6.9%
8. Washington Capitals: 6.4%
9. Detroit Red Wings: 5.4%
10. St. Louis Blues: 3.8%
11. Vancouver Canucks: 3.3%
12. Ottawa Senators: 2.9%

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06 after losing their last two games of the season to the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets, derailed both teams' best shot at the top pick by granting them late-season wins.

Those two victories allowed the Ducks, which lost 13 games straight to end the 2022-23 campaign, to settle comfortably into last place and the best shot at Bedard.

The Blue Jackets then edged out Chicago for the second-best odds on the last day of the season by losing 5-2 in regulation to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.

This is the second year that the NHL has restricted how many spots a team can move up with a lottery win. Large jumps like in 2017, when the Philadelphia Flyers moved up from 13th to second to select Nolan Patrick, are no longer possible.

That's not to say the places are set in stone. Last year the New Jersey Devils, which entered the lottery ranked fifth, moved up to snag defenseman Simon Nemec with the second selection.

In a draft lottery as strong as this one, with both Bedard and Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli, the projected No. 2 pick, looking like immediate game-changers, a jump like that has the potential to shape a franchise's future.

The Anaheim Ducks have traded defenseman John Klingberg to the Minnesota Wild, per TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Joe Smith of The Athletic broke down the trade:

The 30-year-old Klingberg has eight goals and 16 assists this season. He has also blocked 65 shots and registered 49 hits in 50 games. He averages 20:52 of ice time per game.

Klingberg played the first eight years of his career with the Dallas Stars before signing a one-year contract with the Ducks for this season.

The Ducks and Wild executed this trade right before the NHL's trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. It was a no-brainer move for the Ducks, who are playing out the string of a lost season with just 48 points. With the team set to lose Klingberg to free agency, a trade made sense.

Meanwhile, the Wild are in the thick of a tight Western Conference playoff race in which the top eight teams have between 72 and 79 points. Minnesota has been busy at the deadline, adding forward Marcus Johansson (13 goals, 15 assists) from the Washington Capitals and center Oskar Sundqvist (seven goals, 14 assists) from the Detroit Red Wings.

Michael Russo of The Athletic explained what the Klingberg move means for Wild defensemen.

JFresh Hockey gave a breakdown of Klingberg, whose calling card is on the offensive end:

The Wild, who are 25th in goals scored out of 32 NHL teams, clearly focused on improving their offense. They appear to have done that and move forward with 20 regular-season games left, beginning Saturday on the road against the Calgary Flames.