Ducks Recall Laurent Brossoit

This afternoon the Anaheim Ducks announced that goaltender Laurent Brossoit has been recalled from AHL San Diego. No directly corresponding transaction was needed as earlier today they waived veteran defender Nick Jensen amidst his rough start in Orange County.

Although such a decision suggests that an injury occurred to either Lukáš Dostál or Ville Husso, that’s not the case, as Brossoit will get a spot start tomorrow against Ottawa. Head coach Joel Quenneville explained to reporters, including Zach Cavanaugh of The Sporting Tribune, that it is “an opportunity” for the 33-year-old who signed a one-year deal in July as their #3.

Losers of six out of their last ten, the Ducks have surrendered 50 goals across their first 13 games, sixth worst in the NHL. Dostál and Husso each have save percentages well below the .900 mark. It’s not very realistic to expect much more out of Husso, at this point a fringe backup at age 31. Also, it seems that the instability on the back end has done the promising 26-year-old Dostál no favors, whose goals saved above expected marks suggest he’s holding his own with a 0.2, per Moneypuck statistics. The Ducks didn’t make much of an effort to replace names on defense like Jacob Trouba, John Carlson, and Radko Gudas who all walked away over the summer. Jensen’s signing clearly hasn’t gone to plan, and the injuries of Pavel Mintyukov and Ian Moore have only worsened the issue.

One of the league’s highest quality backups from his time in Winnipeg and Vegas, Brossoit cashed in as a free agent with a two-year deal worth $3.3MM annually in Chicago. Dealing with meniscus and hip surgeries, unfortunately all he had to offer the Blackhawks organization was six games with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs before a January trade with San Jose where salary was the clear motive. Offering six games for San Jose’s AHL club and faring decently well with a .910 SV%, Brossoit earned his way back to the NHL for the first time in nearly two full years, taking a loss in a March contest.

Anaheim was willing to bring him in to push Husso, and here in late October he’ll have that chance with another crack at the Senators, the same opponent he faced in his one and only game as a Shark last spring. They have an intriguing 21-year-old prospect and Italian Olympic standout Damian Clara perfectly capable of holding down the crease in San Diego. Hoping to have Mintyukov and Moore back into the fold soon, carrying three goaltenders for any extended period seems entirely out of the cards, so it’s Husso who has the most to lose. Depending on how things go for Brossoit tomorrow on home ice, Husso could be on the outside looking in by their Western Canada road trip which starts next Tuesday in Vancouver.