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The 2024-25 regular season hasn’t started, yet the Anaheim Ducks are already succumbing to the injury bug. Goaltender John Gibson underwent emergency appendectomy surgery on Oct. 25. Derek Lee of The Hockey News reported Gibson’s absence from practice on Thursday after an awkward save and leaving Wednesday’s practice early.
Behind Gibson and Lukas Dostal, the Ducks’ goaltending is paper-thin. While Anaheim has a few exciting goaltending prospects in the system, they’re far too early in their development to be on an NHL roster. However, someone needs to back up Dostal to start the season, and whoever that is may have to be in that role for the entirety of October depending on Gibson’s recovery. While Dostal will likely play every game, whoever is thrust into the backup role will only be one injury away from NHL ice.
Lukas Dostal Becomes Temporary Workhorse
Gibson’s injury timetable of 3-6 weeks has a wide range of outcomes. If he returns in the early window he’ll only miss the first few games of the season, with Anaheim’s home game against Utah on Oct. 16 marking three weeks since the injury. The Ducks end October with a four-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents, so the six-week window likely pushes his debut to November. Regardless of how many games Gibson misses, expect Dostal to play every game in the interim.
While not a name big markets may be familiar with, Dostal has long been considered the heir apparent to Gibson in Anaheim. As a rookie last season, the Czech netminder started 38 games, the biggest bite out of Gibson’s workload since he became the Ducks’ workhorse in 2016-17. Even without the injury, Dostal has a good chance to outstart Gibson as the franchise continues to lean into the youth movement. However, Anaheim would much rather have a fully functioning tandem to face a brutal opening schedule, as the regular season kicks off with a pair of road back-to-backs in the first three weeks. The first back-to-back will be their first two games of the season, all but assuring Gibson’s unavailability for those contests. Dostal has only ever started both legs of a back-to-back once in his career.
Dansk’s Minimal Experience More Than Anyone Else
Anaheim’s goaltending depth beyond Dostal is remarkably inexperienced. The training camp roster includes six goaltenders: Gibson, Dostal, Oscar Dansk, Calle Clang, and Vyacheslav Buteyets (Tomas Suchanek is listed on the roster but is recovering from offseason ACL surgery). Of the four netminders behind Dostal, the only one with any NHL experience is Dansk, a career minor leaguer who played six games for the Vegas Golden Knights between 2017 and 2021 before a one-year stop in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He’s since returned to North America and played the last two seasons with the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL). He’s appeared in 171 regular season and 22 postseason contests in the AHL since 2014.
Dansk signed a one-year, two-way deal with Anaheim in the offseason as a veteran option among a sea of inexperience. Clang is an exciting prospect and has the most tenure behind Dansk. However, that experience is less than 40 games in North America and a sub-.900 save percentage last season in the AHL suggests the 22-year-old needs more time to develop. He’s appeared in both of Anaheim’s preseason games for a total of 62 minutes, allowing four goals on 27 shots. Buteyets is even more green, with a 25-minute appearance in one KHL game as his only experience at the professional level.
When commenting about Gibson’s injury, head coach Greg Cronin acknowledged that the biggest impact will be on Dostal’s workload, as well as who his backup will be. While it may still be up in the air, Dansk’s experience will likely earn him the backup job. He may not be a part of Anaheim’s future, but his signing was out of necessity for an experienced backup in an emergency.
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Boston Floated as Landing Spot for Struggling $84M Forward
It’s trade pitch time again, with a whopper of a swap. This time, the proposed blockbuster links the Boston Bruins in a 1-for-1 trade with the Calgary Flames. The pitch comes from Heavy.com and teases a deal where Boston lands Jonathan Huberdeau while Calgary takes back Casey Mittelstadt. On paper, it’s the kind of deal that raises eyebrows. For many, it would revolve around why anyone would want to take on Huberdeau’s contract. Then again, this is the Bruins we’re talking about, and they march to the beat of their own drum. Huberdeau, 32, is entering Year 3 of an eight-year, $84 million contract—one the Flames already appear to regret. He was a key piece coming back in the massive blockbuster that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, but since arriving in Calgary, he hasn’t come close to the 115-point form he showed in Florida. Still, at 50% salary retention, — which is what the pitch suggests — Huberdeau’s cap hit would drop to around $5.25 million, suddenly making him a much more intriguing fit for Boston. Of course, sending Mittelstadt back in the deal also clears another $5.75 million off the books for Boston. They would actually come out ahead as it pertains to their salary cap. Could Huberdeau Find His Game in Boston? The Bruins, still searching for an offensive spark after missing out on top free agents, might be tempted by the idea of a buy-low swing on a once-proven top-six winger. Huberdeau had 62 points last season, and is three seasons removed from his breakout campaign. A new environment could help Huberdeau rediscover his game, and at half price, the risk becomes a little easier to stomach. But there’s no ignoring the gamble. Huberdeau is on the wrong side of 30, and if his decline accelerates, Boston could be saddled with another aging contract. Still, if he bounces back, this could be the type of high-risk, high-reward trade that reshapes the Eastern Conference race.
Shaquille O'Neal makes peace with longtime enemy — mostly
Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard patched things up Sunday after years of feuding. But even while describing their rapprochement, O'Neal couldn't keep from teasing his longtime nemesis. The "Big Aristotle" was at the BIG3 playoffs Sunday to watch Howard's L.A. Riot play the Chicago Triplets. In the middle of describing to Rachel Nichols how he and Howard had made peace, O'Neal broke off his explanation to make fun of Howard for missing a dunk. The two Hall of Fame centers had sparred for years, despite their common ground as former members of the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. Some of the tension seemed to be due to Howard adopting O'Neal's "Superman" nickname, though O'Neal claimed to Nichols that he was simply being tough on Howard to motivate him. That explanation doesn't account for the time O'Neal mocked Howard for playing basketball in the Taiwanese league or the decade-plus he's spent roasting Howard on his podcast, in public appearances and on "Inside the NBA." Still, it appears that the two have made peace. Despite O'Neal being left off the original list of presenters, he insisted that he'll be among a group of Hall of Famers inducting Howard Sept. 6, including Dominique Wilkins, Robert Parish, Dennis Rodman and Patrick Ewing. It means that two of the most dominant big men of their eras have finally buried the hatchet. It's added a new level of interest to the Hall of Fame ceremonies, and it should be a sweet moment between O'Neal and Howard. As long as Howard doesn't mention Superman.
Destiny 2 Announces Upcoming Ability Updates
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Three-time NASCAR champion to retire after 2025 season
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