Montreal, Quebec. The 2022 NHL entry draft has completed and the Ducks have selected a Russian born defender and a power forward two-way center from Quebec with their two first round selections then followed that with a focus on size in both defense and up front.
The First Round
With the heavily predicted eventual Duck selection of Kevin Korchinski being snuffed out by the Chicago Blackhawks trading into the top ten and selecting him with the seventh overall pick acquired from Ottawa things got immediately interesting with three picks to go and a large selection of talented forwards still available.
As the Detroit Red Wings continued their Austro-German obsession with the selection of Austrian Marco Kasper, followed by the Buffalo Sabres smartly selecting Winnipeg Ice Center Matt Savoie, the Ducks made their selection at tenth overall by calling the name of Pavel Mintyukov.
Mintyukov was born in Moscow and played in the Dynamo Moscow system before being drafted by Saginaw 52nd overall in the 2020 CHL import draft. He came over and stayed in North America during the 2020-2021 pandemic affected season even though the OHL did not play. Last year in his first year in Saginaw he lead the team in scoring with 62 points in 67 games and finished third among scoring by defenders for the league. Any concerns regarding Russian players being able to come across and play in North America are hopefully not applicable to Mintyukov given he is already here and multiple reports have sited he would prefer to stay.
Weighing in at 194lbs and standing at 6’2″ he already has good height and length which complements his smooth skating and allows him to evade pressure easily and rush pucks up ice in transition. The best part of his game however is his IQ and creativity. His confidence and willingness to puck handle in traffic reminds me of one Trevor Zegras and based on this article it is clear that he thinks the game five steps ahead. With the right shooting Drew Helleson already developing with the Gulls – the lefty Mintyukov would be a good complement to his strong defensive style.
Because he was drafted from the OHL-CHL, he will not be eligible to play for the Gulls until 2024.
With their second selection in the first round – acquired from Boston in the Hampus Lindholm trade – they had their choice of another Russian in Danila Yurov or Finnish scoring winger Brad Lambert but instead went with two-way play-making power forward Nathan Gaucher of the Quebec Ramparts in the QMJHL.
Gaucher predicts as a second or third line two-way center with size and is regarded as a tough competitor who plays an important role in winning puck battles and creating offense around the net using his physical tools. He had 31 points in 30 games in his rookie season for the Remparts last year and 57 points in 66 games this season; a drop off in numbers but he also played behind a deep roster meaning his ice time was reduced from the previous season.
I initially was not overly excited about this pick given he reads to me like another BO Groulx while also indicating that either one of Groulx, Lundestrom and Gaucher has to switch to wing or one of the former two will likely be moved eventually.
But I have also softened on the choice and upon reflection – can see how it reflects and embodies Pat Verbeek as well as the direction he wants to take the Ducks, echoing somewhat the recent Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Championship win. The Avalanche had a good mix of skill and brawn on their roster and particularly in the playoffs you need those brawn types to take you all the way – I am thinking the Nazem Kadri types and if Gaucher can become that kind of player to the Ducks – then this is absolutely a great selection. Time will tell.
The Second Round
With two selections (the Ducks own pick and the Penguins from the Rakell deal) in the second round – Anaheim first used the 42nd selection to draft the 6’5″ and 225lb right shooting defender Noah Warren from the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL. William Douglas covered him at the top of his Colour Of Hockey pre-draft preview which featured quotes from his coach – comparing him to K’Andre Miller.
Billed as top defensive defensemen he steadily progressed and rose up the draft rankings as this past season progressed. Using his size and reach to his advantage, Warren is an imposing force on the blue line and would perfectly complement one of the smaller more offensively minded defenders the Ducks have in either Pavel Minyukov or Olen Zellweger. I tweeted yesterday after the Mintyukov selection that the Ducks top four could look like Minyukov – Drysdale and Zellweger – Helleson but didn’t feel Dysdale really fit that but mean shutdown complement. I wondered if the Ducks would go after a right shooting defensive defender to complement Mintyukov and they did that with the very first pick on day two.
Madden had this to say of the selection.
“Noah is a prototypical defensive defenseman,” Madden said. “Huge frame. Greatly mobile. Physical. You can see him in a partnership role with a really strong offensive defenseman. Over the years, historically, you can’t wait for them. You need to step up. There are only so many guys who are 6-5 to 6-7 that are that athletic and can play the game at a high level. That was attractive. We don’t have anybody like that in our system.”
Personally I love this selection, the Ducks are after-all in full rebuild now and you cannot make a championship team with just skill guys, defense is just as important. Warren turns 18 this month so we will not see him until 2024 – at the same time as most of the other players taken from this draft.
With their second selection in the second round the Ducks used one of the picks acquired in the Rickard Rakell deal to select Warren’s team-mate at the Olympiques – Tristan Luneau with the 53rd selection.
Luneau seems to fulfill the Martin Madden formula of selecting a player whose stock may have fallen due to injury. Luneau was selected first overall in the 2020 QMJHL entry draft and had a great rookie year in the pandemic shortened season – compiling 18 points in 31 games earning him the QMJHL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a spot on the QMJHL All-Rookie Team. He would have likely continued to progress and build off that season but had to fight through and recover from off-season knee surgery this past year to finish with 43 points in 63 games. Potential knocks on his game stem from his skating, which could do with some work – particularly around edges and explosiveness on then third or fourth stride but that can be corrected through coaching. He was projected to be a first rounder so the fact that the Ducks picked him at 53rd overall with their fourth selection is potentially up there with steals comparable to that of Sasha Pastujov and much like Pastujov – Luneau also has circus ties. He reads as a very focused and hard-working kid – who doesn’t particularly excel at any one thing but does all things well. His potential as a top two way defender is something the Ducks will need to replace Hampus Lindholm long term and a critical part of any Stanley Cup contending team. Again – like Warren – we won’t be seeing Luneau until 2024.
Fourth Round
After skipping the third round due to swapping the pick with Montreal in 2021 in order to select Tyson Hinds the Ducks used their own pick in the fourth round (107th selection overall) to select overage center Ben King from the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. King had a mammoth year – scoring 105 points in 68 games in his final season in Junior, second only to his team-mate (Canucks prospect) Arshdeep Bains in WHL scoring. The 6’3″ 205lb right shooting center certainly has potential as a late bloomer. He was after-all, selected 13th overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam draft but for whatever reason did not produce while in Swift Current – the team that selected him. After an early season trade in 2019 he immediately showed signs of improvement and only got better from there. King follows the new Verbeek trend of size but also still follows the Madden formula of taking an overager – and this time in back to back fourth rounds with Josh Lopina taken last year with the 98th pick. I like this selection in that it means King can join the Gulls right away but the concerns about his game – his skating and his need for another player to help drive his offense are fairly large ones. Skating can be coached – which seems to be a trend now given the Ducks were not scared to take Sasha Pastujov last year but needing a play maker in order to succeed has me wary. As I recently wrote in my offseason wishlist – the Gulls could do with his fire power up front, but they also need play makers much more.
Fifth Round
With two selections in the fifth round the Ducks took Left Wing Connor Hvidston with their own selection at 139th overall. While also following a similar formula to last years draft – Hvidston was one of the youngest players in the draft – much like Olen Zellweger last year. He finished the year with 32 points (13 goals and 19 assists) in 58 games for the Swift Current Broncos. He reads as a defense-first work-horse who in his first year in the WHL – carried the load on a sub-par team and at times seemed the only one committed to the defensive side of the puck. I like that he already has the defensive side of his game down – and given his age; could surprise many by realising his offensive potential in future years to come. We saw Olen Zellweger make a lot of teams look stupid in his post draft season. Could Hvidston do the same?
With their second fifth round selection – acquired in the Ben Hutton deal in 2021 – the Ducks selected Right Wing Michael Callow from St Sebastiens School in the Massachusetts High School hockey league. Following in their recent tradition of selecting players from the US high school level with a later round pick the Ducks clearly hope the Harvard commit can build off the 41 points in 25 games and subsequent invite to the USA Under-18s team he received last season. One analyst for the Hockey News had him on his list of sleeper picks – touting his combination of size (6’4″ 194lbs) and soft hands. Given 26 of his 41 points were goals, I am excited by his potential as another goal scoring winger to add to the depth chart behind Sasha Pastujov and Jacob Perreault. Given his committment to Harvard – we likely won’t see him until 2024 the earliest more likely 2025.
Sixth Round
Finally in the sixth round using the pick acquired from Nashville in the Korbinian Holzer 2020 deadline trade the Ducks selected another Russian and much to my surprise – a goaltender.
Vyacheslav Buteyets was such an off the board pick that there is literally no information about him anywhere. All I can find is his stats on Elite Prospects – which showed that he bounced between the KHL equivalent of the AHL and ECHL last season – putting up a .918 SV% in the VHL and an .890 SV% in the MHL. He is a big goaltender – 6’4″ 185lbs – and catches left. Given how little information there is about him all I can say here is hoping that Pat Verbeek has learned from his time with Steve Yzerman with regards to Russian Goaltenders.
In Conclusion
The Ducks needed to add to the defensive pool in what (in comparison to the 2023 draft) was regarded as a defense heavy draft and they did that. They now have jam packed pipeline featuring Olen Zellweger, Jamie Drysdale, Drew Helleson, Henry Thrun, Jackson LaCombe, Axel Andersson, Ian Moore, Tyson Hinds and now Pavel Mintyukov, Noah Warren as well as Tristan Lumeau.
They also needed to add an extra winger to the pool for each side and grabbed that in Hvidston and Callow.
GM Pat Verbeek also announced his intentions for the franchise by drafting big. None of the Ducks 2022 selections were under 6’2″. Whether this is a personal preference of his or a reaction to the Stanley Cup Final teams makeup or potentially a combination of both – I for one hope it does not mean they set a height limit every year. After-all – Con Smythe Winner Cale Makar is 5’11”. It would be stupid to ignore obvious talent if it does not come with a 6’+ frame.
I would rate this draft highly purely given how much I like all of the defensive selections – but there were also a few things left to be desired. There was still some talent left at the sixth round selection – including 2021 Gulls training camp invite Miguel Tourigny; the smooth skating defender had a huge year – scoring 80 points in 65 games. He was eventually selected by Montreal in the seventh round. Jeremy Wilmer would have also been a good selection at this spot but ended up going undrafted. Taking an unheard of Russian goaltender is a pick that is likely going to be up there with the Romany Durny selection in terms of a “but why??” further down the line.
Overall I give this draft a grade of “B”.
You can see me talk about the second round with Jason Hernandez of Locked On Ducks here and below.
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