Ducks Recall Benoit, McTavish

The Ducks have recalled defenseman Simon Benoit and center Mason McTavish (conditioning loan) from the San Diego Gulls, Anaheim's primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Anaheim also reassigned goaltender Lukas Dostal to the Gulls.

Benoit, 23 (9/19/98), has scored one goal with a +3 rating in four games with the Ducks in 2021-22, including his first career NHL goal Oct. 28 vs. Buffalo. Benoit has one goal in 10 career NHL games with Anaheim after making his NHL debut Apr. 28, 2021 at Los Angeles. The 6-3, 203-pound defenseman began 2021-22 with San Diego, appearing in one contest.

Signed as a free agent, Mar. 7, 2019, , the Laval, Quebec native earned 7-36=43 points with a +35 rating and 104 penalty minutes (PIM) in 160 career AHL games with San Diego, leading the Gulls in games played and pacing club blueliners in plus/minus since his AHL debut in 2018-19.
McTavish, 18 (1/30/03), has scored 1-1=2 points with a +1 rating in three games with the Ducks this season. In his NHL debut Oct. 13 vs. Winnipeg, he became the youngest Duck to score a goal at 18 years, 256 days, surpassing the previous mark set by Oleg Tverdovsky on Feb. 1, 1995 at Dallas (18 years, 259 days), and the second youngest player to score within 15 minutes of his NHL debut (scored at 13:20 of the first period) in over 25 years (Nikita Filatov, Oct. 17, 2008 with Columbus vs. Nashville). He also added an assist, becoming the sixth player in Ducks history to record multiple points in his NHL debut.

The 6-0, 213-pound forward recorded 1-1=2 points in three games with San Diego, becoming the youngest player in Gulls history to score a goal at 18 years, 273 days on Oct. 30 at Tucson. A Canadian national born in Zurich, Switzerland, McTavish helped Canada to a gold medal at the 2021 U-18 World Championship, scoring 5-6=11 points in seven tournament games.
Dostal, 21 (6/22/00), is 1-1-0 in two contests with San Diego in 2021-22. He has posted a 16-10-0 record with a 2.92 goals-against average (GAA) and .914 save percentage (SV%) in 26 career AHL games with the Gulls. The 6-1, 192-pound goaltender split the 2020-21 season with Ilves (Finland) and San Diego, combining for a 25-9-1 record with a 2.48 GAA and .923 SV% in 35 contests.
Selected by Anaheim in the third round (85th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft, the Brno, Czech Republic native began 2020-21 with Ilves, posting a 10-0-1 record with one shutout, a 1.64 GAA and .941 SV% in 11 Finnish Liiga games, leading the league in wins (10), GAA (1.64) and SV% (.947) prior to joining San Diego. Dostal went 15-9-0 with a 2.87 GAA and .916 SV% in 24 AHL games with San Diego, ranking second among AHL goaltenders in saves (745) and third in wins (15), while leading all rookie goaltenders in minutes (1,424).