The NHL off-season is in full swing, giving us the perfect opportunity to look at each team’s prospect pools. The Anaheim Ducks are up first.
In this prospect pool overview series, a player who no longer holds rookie eligibility in the NHL is considered graduated and no longer considered a prospect for these exercises. In this series, Tony Ferrari will dig into each team’s strengths and weaknesses, a quick overview of their latest draft class, where each team's positional depth chart stands and who could be next in line for an NHL chance.
Initial Thoughts
The Ducks are on the rise, building with an emphasis on skill and pugnacity over pure skill and finesse. That’s not to say that they don’t possess skilled players, because they certainly do.
Olen Zellweger is one of their most promising blueliners, and he stands just 5-foot-10. He is just one of two players who come in under six-feet that are projected to be on the roster come October. The trade of Trevor Zegras just further cemented the Ducks' philosophy of building with hard, heavy skill.
One player who brings the size that they love while bringing a level of finesse and pure skill is last year’s third overall pick, Beckett Sennecke. The 6-foot-4 right winger has the ability to absolutely dance defenders with the puck on his stick en route to the net. He draws pressure and makes plays out of it. He doesn’t have much to prove at the OHL level, even though he has one more year of eligibility, so there’s a possibility we see him in the NHL to start the season.
After starting this past season in the ECHL, Sasha Pastujov earned his way back onto the AHL roster, and he produced at over a point per game in 43 games with 17 goals and 28 assists. Pastujov is a tactician who slows the game down and tries to play within the pockets of space. He is going to have to find a way to increase his pace if he wants to play at the NHL level but his offensive tools are NHL caliber.
Roger McQueen, drafted 10th overall in the 2025 NHL draft, immediately becomes one of the Ducks’ top prospects. The shooting talent and puckhandling that comes in a 6-foot-6 frame is insane to think about. He isn’t the fleetest of foot, but with his length and reach, McQueen can weave his way through the neutral zone and find his spot in the offensive zone.
On the back end, the Ducks have some really nice prospects to go along with Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, who are already on the NHL roster.
Tristan Luneau has developed and…