Potential Trade Chips

San Diego, California. With the Ducks including 2023 59th overall pick Carery Terrance in a recent deal for Rangers veteran Chris Kreider made last week and with their name being seemingly included in every rumored big name potentially available either to sign or acquire I found it somewhat urgent to put together a quick piece to explore who on the San Diego Gulls could be included in any other possible deals this summer.

Note: This is in no way an exploration of negative intention, I have followed these kids for years and always hate to see them go, this is purely for the sake of preempting any pain before it occurs.

For the sake of clarity I am largely looking at prospects whose waiver exemption status is close to final as well as those close to NHL ready as it is a pretty safe assumption that teams offloading veterans with large contracts would more than likely want a roster player or close to roster player in return that is still on their first or second contract.

Hinds was the first player I thought of when the idea of this piece came to mind. As I mentioned in my post-season grades, he is close to NHL ready but as of right now has too many guys in front of him. My suggestion was to go the Hunter Drew route and switch him to forward – given he has been given free license to fore-check and lead the rush at will for much of the last season but if the Ducks elect instead to make a move to improve their roster, I can see him being included in a deal. That said – he also a player Martin Madden fought hard to select, having the Ducks deal an extra third round pick to the Canadiens so they could select him in 2021. He has one year left on his entry level deal and one year left of waiver exemption status so this year will be one to watch.

I feel he is NHL ready or very close to it – having been the Gulls most consistent and better defenders for most of the last two seasons.

I’m sorry! It is only fair I include Clang – he is entering his final year of waiver exemption status this season and with the Ducks signing Tomas Suchanek to an entry level deal after he stole the Gulls net last year as well as bringing over Vyacheslav Buteyets and then drafting the Italian born Damian Clara the clock is starting to tick faster on the former Penguins third round selection.

It all depends on what Anaheim decides to do with John Gibson; do they hold onto him and hope he stays dependable for a slowly opening contention window? Or do they put all their trust in Lukas Dostal and look to graduate one of the two more ready goal-tending prospects in Suchanek or Clang. If they hold onto the veteran, Clang’s dwindling waiver exemption status works against him as well as the Ducks suddenly crowded goal-tending prospect pool.

His numbers haven’t been stunning over the last two seasons but as I wrote in my post season grades, if he and Suchanek can stay healthy they could be one of the most formidable duos in the AHL this coming season.

Clang is currently an RFA having just completed the final year of his three year entry level deal.

This is one name I don’t really believe the Ducks will include in any deal. Gaucher was a late first round selection and although he has not quite lived up to expectations just yet – he epitomizes everything that Pat Verbeek loves in a player.

Billing him as a shutdown center isn’t all that encompassing – he can drive play as well, forcing turnovers in the offensive zone by making a nuisance of himself on the forecheck and setting up team-mates in the slot. He is the kind of high energy forward that excels in the post-season and one that opposing teams love to hate.

Gulls management are not concerned with any setbacks he suffered this season so again – I don’t see it being that likely that he gets included in any deal but given he has one year left of waiver exemption status and has been slow in development for a former first rounder, anything is possible.

This is another name that is an unlikely – unless the deal was for a major return such as a Jason Robertson. Pastujov is soon to graduate from the Ducks “desperate for goal scorers” draft project that was started five years too late but is slowly starting to show results.

Pastujov took time to adjust in his first professional season last year but was starting to click as it closed. He did not follow that through to a good camp and found himself in the ECHL to start this most recent season where he more than proved himself at a 1.33 point per game clip. After being recalled he didn’t look back, finishing the year with 45 points in 43 games and one of only two above point per game players on the squad.

As I mentioned in my player grades – he was so important to the Gulls and particularly their man-advantage – that opposing teams deliberately targeted and injured him.

He has one season left of Waiver exemption status and one year left on his entry level deal so if the Ducks are going to look to graduate him they will need to start getting his feet wet this season. If they do get offered a deal that is too good to pass up they could also decide that Yegor Sidorov made such a great impression in his rookie professional season that Pastujov is surplus to requirements but here is hoping that is not the case because I love this kid.

Again I don’t really expect Wiebe to get moved but the possibility that he does lies in the fact that he has one year left on his entry level deal, one year left of Waiver exemption status (although not as concerning as the other names here) and has been beset by injuries for his entire tenure with the Ducks.

The injuries aren’t his fault but the Ducks have shown before that they aren’t afraid to move on from similar players like Ben King and Logan Nijhoff in the past.

Honourable Mention

Judd Caulfield – Right Wing

Caulfield is also in his last year of waiver exemption status and is currently an RFA but I don’t see him being used in any deal, he has flown under the radar despite being one of the more consistent forwards on the Gulls.