The Anaheim Ducks may boast the most consistent elite goalie play in NHL history. With the trade deadline past, multiple contending teams have a clear hole in net, and almost none of them filled it. Whether you want to look at how Carolina is an extremely well rounded team except goaltending, how the LA Kings haven’t won a playoff series since prime Johnathan Quick graced them, or how the Devils quite literally took themselves out of playoff contention by not addressing goaltending.
Goalies matter.
Playoffs are won by the netminders.
So how the hell have the Anaheim Ducks produced so many elite goalies and how have they been able to build that capital?
Welcome to the Nest
Branches flowing everywhere, intertwining, overlapping and producing this perfect home for someone to sit in and defend. This is how the nest was built, and how it developed a golden standard for the Anaheim Ducks.
Some ground rules: I will be peeling the onion of how the Anaheim Ducks acquired each of their standout goaltenders and how that laid out the groundwork for future success via trades. This will cover the marquee names and interesting middle tier goalies that created webs of trades. Not every goaltender drafted by the team will be discussed, as that would make this piece roughly 50 pages long.
Mighty Ducks Goalie Guy Hebert. Mandatory Credit Mike Coppinger
Now Here’s A Guy
The first “great” Anaheim Ducks goalie was Guy Hebert. Selected in the 1993 Expansion Draft, Hebert was the first Anaheim goalie to make an all star game appearance, and the last player from the expansion draft to remain on the team. Hebert was not protected by the St. Louis Blues at the time, who elected to protect a top 3 Vezina finalist, that of Curtis “CuJo” Joseph. CuJo, for his efforts in St. Louis, was a three time all star, and played a total of 6 seasons with the Blues, compared to that of the Guy’s 8 with Anaheim. The Ducks also came out of the expansion draft with Glenn Healy, who was subsequently stolen by the Lightning in the 2nd phase of the expansion draft (it was a weird system) and Ron Tugnutt from the Oilers. After being the backup for one year and playing 28 games in ‘93 – ‘94 to Hebert’s 52, Tugnutt was traded to Montreal for Stephan Lebeau, who played 60 games with 34 points for the Ducks across 2 years.
Hebert was the Ducks first real consistent goalie. While never recording the accolades and acclaim his fellow goaltenders received, he recorded 441 games for the Ducks, with a .911 save percentage. Adding to that, half of his years in Anaheim came with a Goals Saved Above Average higher than 17, and three of those years hitting above 27 GSAA. A remarkable goaltender for a team just beginning to find its footing. Consistent in net, and giving the Ducks a fighting chance in every game he took the ice. Just what an expansion team needed.
Guy Hebert was placed on waivers in 2001, was claimed by the Rangers, and subsequently retired the following season. While he was never traded out for picks, there was a large, French-Canadian reason the team was confident to let him go.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch- USA Today Sports
Pat Verbeek’s First Ducks Acquisition was Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Yes, I know what the title reads, just go with it for a bit. Jean-Sebastien Giguere, or “Jiggy” made two pit stops before coming to the Mighty Ducks, and both are heavily relevant to how the Ducks became the team they were in the early 2000s. Jiggy was drafted 13th overall in 1995 by the Hartford Whalers. This was not originally their pick as they traded their 9th overall pick to Boston for Glen Wesley. Hartford acquired this pick and Glen Featherstone, Michael Stewart, and a 4th round pick from the New York Rangers for the services of one Pat Verbeek.
Yes, that Pat Verbeek. Jiggy was drafted by Hartford with a pick that was traded for Pat Verbeek, connecting those two for the rest of their careers.
Jiggy played 8 games for the Whalers in his age 19 season, who packaged him and Andrew Cassels for Gary Roberts and Trevor Kidd from the Calgary Flames. To Hartford, Giguere was not the future of the position, seeing they had Sean Burke putting up some of the best numbers across his 18 year career (even though he was soon to be traded off as well).
In Calgary, Giguere was still not given a fair shake at becoming the starter, getting a total of 15 games in ‘98 and being demoted to the 3rd goalie in ‘99 with their acquisition of Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr. Giguere was traded to the Mighty Ducks for a 2nd Round Pick in the 2000 NHL draft.
In pure “head for head” trades in Ducks history, this may be the best. Jiggy’s resume with the Ducks is riddled with accolades. A 3 time all star, 4 time top 10 Vezina finish, a Conn Smythe trophy despite being on the losing team, and most importantly, a Stanley Cup, Giguere deserves all the praise he gets, and more so deserves his number in the rafters of the Pond. There’s a reason you won’t see anyone on this team wear 35.
Now, back to that 2nd round pick Calgary received for Jiggy. This is where the Ducks truly started “building their nest”. Calgary flipped that pick to Washington for Miika Elomo and a 4th round pick that became Levente Szuper. Calgary, in this return, saw 0 NHL games between either player, effectively trading out Giguere for nothing. Fleeced (to say the least).
Washington used that 2nd round pick, the 43rd overall selection to take Matt Pettinger, a left winger who reached 99 points in his 334 NHL games with the Caps. The interesting wrinkle with this pick, is that Washington did not need a goalie with their pick, as they held the defending Vezina winner of Olaf Kolzig. So, they took Pettinger and left a goalie on the board for the very next pick.
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who held the 44th overall selection in the 2000 NHL Draft, selected Ilya Bryzgalov.
Yes. In getting Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Ducks ended up with a red carpet paved for them to select their future backup goalie and fan favorite, Ilya Bryzgalov. One draft, one trade, set up the Ducks goalie duo for their Stanley Cup run in 2007.
From a simple push that started with Pat Verbeek, Jean Sebastien Giguere was thrown around the league and landed in Anaheim, in doing so landing at the same time his backup in Orange County.
That is how you build a nest of goalies.
Jan 25, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller (1) watches play against Los Angeles Kings during the Stadium Series hockey game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
How Come No One Wanted This Guy?
For reasons I still don’t understand, Jonas Hiller was undrafted. In May 2007, Hiller was signed as a free agent to Anaheim and served as the backup goaltender to Jiggy. This effectively put Ilya out of a job, and was later claimed off of waivers by the Coyotes. Hiller, in his first NHL season at age 24 had a .927 save percentage, and over a 10 GSAA. He was scary-good and young. The Ducks found another multi-year goalie, seemingly from nowhere. The Giguere-Hiller tandem ran for two more years, before Jiggy was traded to Toronto in 2010 (this will be a trend).
Giguere was traded for Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake.
Blake is the easy branch here, playing 147 games for the Ducks, putting up 59 points, across 2 years before retiring at the end of 2011. Vesa Toskala played no games for the Ducks and was traded to Calgary for Curtis McElhinney. Interesting fact about that trade, Jonas Hiller played every game between the acquisition of Toskala on January 31st to March 26th, where McElhinney made his debut, making 18 consecutive starts. Curtis played 31 games for the Ducks and was traded for Dan Ellis of the Lightning. Ellis played in a serviceable 23 games for Anaheim backing up Hiller in his prime. He was later replaced by Viktor Fasth, who has quite the branch to this goalie history in Anaheim.
Viktor Fasth in net for the Anaheim Ducks Mandatory Credit:(Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Fasth and the Furious
The primary backup goalie in the lockout shortened ‘12 – ‘13 season, you’d be pretty hard-pressed to remember much about Fasth. In 2013, seeing the emergence of two new faces in net for the Ducks, Fasth was traded out of Anaheim to Edmonton. In return, the Ducks received a 2014 5th round pick, and a 2015 3rd round pick.
The 2014 5th round pick is pretty easy, as the Ducks selected 123rd overall Matthew Berkowitz, who never played a game in the NHL. A dud to say the least.
The 2015 3rd round pick has a bit more to it however. The Ducks traded the pick (which became Dennis Yan, who never played an NHL game) to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Eric Brewer. Brewer played a total of 9 games for Anaheim before being sent off to Toronto with a 2016 5th round pick for Korbinian Holzer, a defenseman who played 145 games for the Ducks. Though only putting up 18 points for a resounding 0.12 PPG, he did block 203 shots and lay down 301 hits, a pretty good asset for a rather pedestrian trade. However, it does not end there, as Holzer was traded to Nashville for Matt Irwin and a 2020 6th round pick. Irwin played a total of 9 games for Anaheim, putting up one point before leaving in the offseason. That 2020 6th round pick however is now Vyacheslav Buteyets, a goalie currently in the Ducks farm system. While he hasn’t been stellar in the VHL, Buteyets is only 21, with a .913 save percentage in 35 games.
The point of all this however is to show the connectedness between all these players. Specifically the snowballing effect the Ducks have with goalies. There has yet to be a great goalie for the Anaheim Ducks to play their entire career with the team. Almost all of them get traded in anticipation of the next elite goaltender. Hebert saw that with Jiggy, Jiggy saw it with Hiller. The nest is built upon branches overlapping one another, interweaving creating this padded safe place to rest and stay on top. These branches are how you keep building the nest. And this very branch, unassuming as it may be, could very well lead to the next goalie in the Anaheim Ducks system.
Building the Gibson vs Andersen Fight
The most recent goalie “battle” in Anaheim came between John Gibson vs Frederik Andersen from 2013 to 2016. Both men had interesting paths to this team that deserve their own deep dives.
Frederik Andersen in net for the Anaheim Ducks. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel
Frederik Andersen was drafted, twice. Let me explain. Eligible for the 2010 NHL entry draft, Freddy was selected 187th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. Both sides had met and couldn’t reach an agreed upon deal, and Andersen returned to Denmark’s hockey league. Being a 7th round selection, Carolina didn’t sweat losing him too much, especially having a young Cam Ward backing them up in net. Freddy returned to the NHL draft in 2012, with a much improved stock, and was selected by Anaheim 87th overall. Being a 24 year old rookie, Andersen quickly made his way up to the big club, earning his position as the predominant backup to Jonas Hiller in 2013 – ‘14.
But what happened in that draft between 2010 and 2012?
The Anaheim Ducks, specifically Martin Madden, loves coming out of the draft with at least one goaltender. 5 of the last 7 drafts, the Ducks have come out with a goalie. 2011 was no exception. That draft the Anaheim Ducks held the 22nd overall pick, and they did not use said pick. Instead they traded that pick to Toronto (them again) for the 30th overall pick from Boston, and Toronto’s 2nd round pick, 39th overall.
I now present to you, maybe one of the most one lopsided trades in Anaheim Ducks history.
With the 22nd overall selection, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Tyler Biggs, a RW from the US National Team Development Program. Tyler Biggs played a total of 0 games in the NHL. Who did the Ducks receive in this trade?
At 30th overall, the Anaheim Ducks selected Rickard Rakell from Sweden. And that 39th overall pick? John Gibson. The Toronto Maple Leafs traded two all star talents for 0 total NHL games in what can be seen as one of the savviest trades in Ducks history.
(personally I believe a John Gibson fighting montage is what he would want)
Before we get back into the goalie talk, let’s see this branch of the Ducks play out. With the Ducks bottoming out in the ‘21 – ‘22 season, new manager Pat Verbeek shipped Rakell to Pittsburgh for a lofty trade package. In return the Ducks received Zach Aston-Reese, (17 total games, later waived), Dominik Simon, (17 games, later waived), Calle Clang and a 2nd round pick. Calle Clang is currently one of the goaltenders for the San Diego Gulls, and is slowly adjusting to the AHL. Though not putting up jaw-dropping numbers, he is still only 21 and has plenty of time to grow. That Pittsburgh 2nd round pick became the 53rd overall pick in 2022, who the Ducks used to take right-handed defenseman, and maybe Pat Verbeek’s favorite prospect in the system, Tristan Luneau. Luneau, who is slotted in to be the top RHD of the future for this team, and reigning QMJHL Defenseman of the Year, is by far the crown jewel in this trade. At 20 years old, seeing the NHL for 7 games and putting up 3 points and by no means looking out of place, this is the most promising branch from this specific trade, all of which can be traced back to the Leafs giving up two picks to select someone who never saw NHL ice.
Back to goaltending, Gibson after being drafted played in the OHL for a year, then the AHL, then came in to backup Jonas Hiller after an injury to Frederik Andersen as a 20 year old. Rapidly moving up the ranks would be an understatement. John Gibson excelled through every level of hockey he was put in and never looked back. A strong case for the goaltender of the future at such a young age.
With the departure of Jonas Hiller in 2014, the goalie duo was set as Frederik Andersen and John Gibson for the following year, with the 25 year old Freddy being the starter. Both men looked exceptional for the team, posting matching .914 save percentages that season, and it raised a question amongst Ducks fans. With two young and talented players, which one was truly the future of the team? 2015 – 2016 was the year to decide that, as a true tandem developed between the two netminders. Splitting games, both goalies put up great numbers, with Gibson edging out Freddy on the advanced stats. What I believe really made this choice apparent was the playoffs. Andersen was seen as the go to goalie for the Ducks in the postseason, but had a bad knack for disappointing at the worst possible times. After going up 3-2 vs the eventual champion Blackhawks, Freddy couldn’t close out the games, giving up 10 total goals in the two potential clinching games.
Frederik Andersen was traded in the 2016 offseason to Toronto, the same team that traded the Ducks the pick to select John Gibson, and the same team all former Ducks goalies end up on. In return the Ducks received the 30th overall pick in the 2016 draft, and the middle of Toronto’s 3 2nd round picks in 2017. Those players turned into the high promise prospects of Sam Steel and Maxime Comtois, respectively. Though being staples of the Ducks for the following years, neither contributed much nor reached their full potential with the team.
Lukas Dostal makes the game saving stop vs Jack Hughes. Mandatory Credit: SPORTSNET
Where Do We Go Now?
Lukas Dostal is the next branch of the Anaheim Ducks storied goalie history. However he did not come from a trade, he was just selected in the 3rd round in 2018 using one of the Ducks’ own picks. He looks poised to be the next franchise goalie, posting unreal save numbers in his rookie season, including two separate games with over 50 saves. The kid is for real, and it looks like the Anaheim Ducks are going to keep getting away with it.
What does that make for John Gibson?
Honestly? Who knows? We can look at history, the young kid coming in, posting great numbers as a rookie with an older player holding down the net well. We saw this with Guy Hebert and Jiggy. We saw this with Jiggy and Hiller. We saw this with Freddy and Gibby. This is not new to this franchise.
My best guess? The Ducks are going to hold both of them for the next season, get a true tandem split of games, and if all goes according to plan, ship out John Gibson the next offseason, most likely to Toronto for the 30th overall pick and a 2nd.
The branches in this nest are still growing. We can guess the ways they will build, we can guess the ways they’ll twist, but the nest is as strong as ever. Years of time, dedication and trust built this nest, and with each falling branch, a new one was collected. Bolstering and removing, tightening and dropping, ebbing and flowing into a home for any proud duck to be happy in. The history of the Anaheim Ducks is the history of its goalies, and a history of compounding them together. The nest will be strong through the toughest winds, and will be ever so valiant once it is time once more to stand tall upon it. Every branch has a name, every branch has a story to tell, and every branch was no more important than the one before it. These branches weave a complex history, and only once you peer into it can you see the true beauty for what it is.