Overseas Update: Lukas Dostal to join Ducks

With just over a month before the NHL is hoping to return to play for the 2020-21 season, Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal is on his way to the Anaheim Ducks organization. The 20-year-old was loaned to Ilves in the Finnish Liiga while the NHL was in their off-season, with the agreement that he would be able to return to the United States for the Ducks’ camp.

Dostal previously played the end of the 2018-19 season and the entirety of the 2019-20 with the Finnish club, whose name means “Lynx.” During the 2020 season, he topped the league with 27 wins and the title of Best Goaltender. Of his total 64 regular season games with the club, he boasted 41 wins and a .929 save percentage.

“We would like to thank Lukas Dostal for all the work done in front of Ilves. He has left an indelible impression on the entire Ilves family with his personality, professionalism and game performance. This has been an absolutely great victory for the cooperation as a whole, where both parties have gained a lot from each other,” said Ilves Sports Director Timo Koskela in a release (translated via Google Translate).

He continued, “If Lukas still needs Ilves’ help on his way to the NHL games, we will continue to give it to him, but at this point we want to wish him luck in the next challenges in North America.”

The Ducks’ goaltending pipeline currently includes Anthony Stolarz, Olle Eriksson Ek and Roman Durny, as well as NCAA prospect Garrett Metcalf.

Though camp dates are still to be determined, they’re expected to start sometime next month, with an extended camp for teams who did not participate in the 2019-20 postseason.

Here’s a quick glance at how the rest of the Ducks are doing abroad (Note: I broke it down by league, to give an easy comparison of how players in the same league are performing. This means that players might have multiple entries, if they are shifted up and down between leagues):

-J20 Nationell-

Thimo Nickl, D

Team: Rögle BK J20 | 2020-21 Stats: 9 GP, 1 G, 4 A | Nationality: AUT | Age: 18 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 176 | Shoots: R

-HockeyAllsvenskan-

Isac Lundeström, C

Team: Timrå IK | 2020-21 Stats: 12 GP, 5 G, 6 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 185 | Shoots: L

Axel Andersson, D

Team: Södertälje SK | 2020-21 Stats: 18 GP, 0 G, 2 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 179 | Shoots: R

Jacob Larsson, D

Team: Kristianstads IK | 2020-21 Stats: 5 GP, 0 G, 2 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 23 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 194 | Shoots: L

-SHL-

Albin Sundsvik, C

Team: Skellefteå AIK | 2020-21 Stats: 19 GP, 1 G, 1 A | Nationality: SWE | Age: 19 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 187 | Shoots: L

-Liiga-

Lukas Dostal, G

Team: Ilves | 2020-21 Stats: 11 GP, 1.64 GAA, .941 SV% | Nationality: CZE | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 168 | Catches: L

-KHL-

Artyom Galimov, C

Team: Ak Bars Kazan | 2020-21 Stats: 20 GP, 3 G, 6 A | Nationality: RUS | Age: 21 | Ht: 5-11 | Wt: 176 | Shoots: L

-Slovakia-

Hunter Drew, D

Team: HC Banska Bystrica | 2020-21 Stats: 11 GP, 6 G, 6 A | Nationality: CAN | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 192 | Shoots: R

Roman Durný, G

Team: HC Slovan Bratislava | 2020-21 Stats: 9 GP, 3.16 GAA, .890 SV% | Nationality: SVK | Age: 22 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 201 | Catches: R