The NHL trade deadline has now passed and for league general managers, it's time to put the pencils down and turn in your tests.
The Ducks were an active group before Friday's noon PT deadline, agreeing to deals with Toronto, Colorado, Edmonton and Montreal over the last two weeks.
In total, Anaheim acquired a 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 third-round pick, a conditional 2025 fifth-round selection, versatile forward Ben Meyers and prospect center Jan Mysak. The Ducks also claimed blueliner William Lagesson on waivers from Toronto on Friday.
With his deadline dealings now complete, Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek met with local media Friday night to recap the moves and look ahead to a busy summer in Anaheim.
On Ben Meyers
I had been watching him for the [University of Minnesota Golden] Gophers for a long time. Actually, when I was in Detroit, we tried to recruit him to come play with us there. So I've been watching him. He's got pretty good hockey sense. He's a competitor, he's a good skater and a guy that we valued after losing Adam Henrique, who is obviously really good in the faceoff circle. So we were looking for that and with Ben being in a really a tough lineup, he wasn't probably getting the quality ice time that could help him develop his game a little further. So we thought it was a good opportunity to improve our team.
On head coach Greg Cronin's past experience with Meyers in Colorado
When I talk to the coaches about all of that stuff, its the character. I want to know the character, the work ethic, the dedication and the competitive part of him. That's what I really dial in on. And so that's the information I want to find out from the coaching staff.
On acquiring a first-round pick for Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick
Well, you're always trying to get the best deal you can. I saw what Winnipeg gave to Montreal (for veteran center Sean Monahan) and I valued Adam and Sam in that same light, so I stuck to my guns.
On Jan Mysak
We watched him in junior as well, so we think we're getting a really high character kid, a hard worker, someone that you've got to kick him out of the rink. He's constantly looking to get better and those are the sorts of players that we want to get.
On William Lagesson
He's going to offer grit and competitiveness. He's a defensive defenseman, so you won't see [a lot of] offense, but he's going to be able to defendn well. It's something for the last 20 games, our minor league team is really depleted [defensively], so we looked at this as an insurance policy to make sure, if there are any injuries that we don't have to really tear down the minor league team as well.
On Ilya Lyubushkin
What surprised me a little bit was Mintyukov coming into training camp a lot better than we anticipated, which was a great surprise, but what was even better was how well him and Lyubushkin played together. Lyubushkin was a really good mentor to him. So unintended consequences, it turned out to be just a great fit and we actually looked at maybe keeping Lyubushkin, but we ended up moving him. He was a good player for us.
On Trevor Zegras
Zegras is hurt and it's a situation there that everybody's speculating on. We want Z to play with us. Hopefully he can get through this injury pretty quick and we can get him back on the ice.
On Frank Vatrano
I'm never shopping our players. Wayne Gretzky got traded, so I mean, obviously, there's a possibility that anybody can get traded, but it's my job to listen and that's what I'm doing.
Frankie's going to be a 35-goal scorer. They just don't drop off a tree, you know what I mean? So we like Frank, we like what he brings inside the locker room. We like his work ethic. We like how he shoots the puck in the net. We like his contract. There's just so much to like about him and so, unless you're going to blow my doors off, why would I do that?
