Ducks Select Seven Players on Day 2 of NHL Draft

The Ducks selected seven additional players through Rounds 2-7 of the 2021 NHL Draft today. In addition to last night's first-round pick of center Mason McTavish (third overall), the club selected defenseman Owen Zellweger (second round, 34th overall), right wing Sasha Pastujov (third round, 66th overall), defenseman Tyson Hinds (third round, 76th overall), center Josh Lopina (fourth round, 98th overall), left wing Sean Tschigerl (fifth round, 130th), goaltender Gage Alexander (fifth round, 148th) and center Kyle Kukkonen (sixth round, 162nd).

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"You always need a little luck, but I think the day went very well," said Ducks Assistant General Manager Martin Madden. "We wanted to come out of this draft with a balanced crop of prospects both in terms of styles and positions, and we reached those objectives."
Zellweger, 17 (10/10/03), ranked fourth among all Western Hockey League (WHL) defensemen in points per game (1.18) after scoring 2-11=13 points and a +5 rating in 11 games in the shortened 2020-21 campaign with the Everett Silvertips. In 70 career WHL games with Everett, he has earned 4-21=25 points with a +25 rating and 10 PIM.
The 5-9, 175-pound defenseman registered 2-10=12 points with a +20 rating and eight penalty minutes (PIM) in 58 games with the Silvertips in 2019-20 as a rookie, ranking 14th among WHL rookie defensemen in scoring. A native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Zellweger helped Canada to a gold medal at the 2021 U-18 World Championship, ranking tied for the tournament lead among defensemen with 1-7=8 points with a +8 rating in seven tournament games.
"He's probably closer to the way Jared Spurgeon [of Minnesota] plays, similar in how they help their teams play fast, get back for pucks quickly, move it up quickly, join the offense, dynamic overall," Madden said. "I think it's always good to move the puck to the forwards quickly and get that second layer of attack, and he fits that mold for sure."
Pastujov, 18 (7/15/03), led USA Hockey's National Team Development Program's (NTDP) U-18 team in scoring (30-35=65), goals and assists, and ranked third with a +20 rating in 41 games in 2020-21. The 6-0, 184-pound forward combined for 44-71=115 points with a +20 rating with the NTDP U-18 and U-17 teams the last two seasons.
The Bradenton, Fla. native led Team USA in scoring (5-3=8) at the 2021 U-18 World Championship and also won a silver medal at the 2019 U-17 World Hockey Challenge, tying for the tournament lead in assists (7). His brother, Nick, was selected by the New York Islanders in the seventh round (193rd overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft, and his other brother, Michael, completed his senior season at the University of Michigan in 2020-21.
Pastujov noted how he had fallen in the draft further than where many had thought he'd be picked and said, "I'm looking forewent to proving the Ducks right that they used this pick wisely, and we're looking forward to proving the rest of the league wrong on what they're missing out on."
Madden said the Ducks were pleasantly surprised to see Pastujov available when they picked 66th. "We had probably two guys of similar profile targeted in that spot. We tried to trade up and couldn't get it done," he said. "He's a sniper. He's got really good awareness of the ice in the offensive zone, and he's got a really good release, really accurate shot. We were looking for a player like him today for sure. He anticipates, reads the play very well. He's very aware of what the options are, very good at reading where rebounds are going to go. He gets to a lot of loose pucks, and that generates a lot of offensive zone time. All that leads to a lot of goal-scoring in his case.
"We were surprised, but there is always a group of players that drops. That's what we bank on, that we get the work done, the analysis correct and get surprised at the 1 or 2 players still available at our pick. We got lucky he was still available for us."
The Ducks made a last-minute trade to acquire Montreal's third round pick in exchange for Anaheim's third-round pick in 2022 with the intent to take Hinds. The 18-year-old split the 2020-21 season with Shawinigan and Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), recording 6-10=16 points with a +10 rating and 13 PIM in 33 games. He led Rimouski defensemen in scoring, goals and ranked second in assists. He also earned one assist in six QMJHL playoff games.
The 6-3, 178-pound defenseman has collected 8-19=27 points with a +15 rating and 33 PIM in 87 career QMJHL games with Shawinigan and Rimouski. A native of Gatineau, Quebec, Hinds earned one assist with Team Canada at the 2020 U-17 World Hockey Championship. Anaheim acquired the 76th overall selection from Montreal in exchange for a third-round selection in 2022.
"We waited until the pick before. Another team was talking to Montreal, and we got late enough that we decided to pull the trigger, because we wanted to take Tyson," Madden said. "We really like the upswing in his game the last half of the year. He's lanky, mobile, athletic, still lots of room to fill out and really smart."
Lopina, 20 (2/16/01), helped the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Hockey East) to a national championship in 2020-21, scoring 9-14=23 points with a +21 rating in 29 NCAA games. He was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team and became the first Minuteman player to earn Hockey East Co-Rookie of the Year recognition after ranking sixth among all NCAA freshmen in scoring and eighth in plus/minus, while leading all rookies in faceoff wins (312).
The 6-2, 195-pound forward recorded 2-4=6 points in the NCAA tournament, including two assists in the national semifinal game vs. Minnesota Duluth. A native of Minooka, Ill., Lopina scored 24-38=62 points in 106 career United States Hockey League (USHL) games from 2018-20.
"Josh was a good player in the USHL, but his skating has taken another step," Madden said. "He was outstanding for UMass in the NCAA playoffs, and he was a big part of their success this year down the stretch. He's a big body, competitive, strong on faceoffs and he's got some finish around the net. He likes to get his nose dirty. I think he fits well even though he's an older player with a 2001 birthday."
Tschigerl, 18 (4/11/03), led the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL in goals (13) and ranked second in scoring (21) in 21 games in 2020-21. He also ranked tied for seventh in points per game (1.0) among draft eligible WHL players.
The 6-0, 189-pound forward has scored 18-17=35 points with 22 PIM in 85 career WHL games with Calgary, and has also appeared in four WHL playoff contests.
"Talking about guys who dropped a little further than we thought, he's an energetic, skilled kid who came on really strong this year. He's another natural sniper. I think they think of him as a future captain as well. We got great references on him and we were really happy to get him where we got him."
Alexander, 19 (7/2/02), posted a 6-3-0 record with one shutout, a 2.23 goals against average (GAA) and .917 save percentage (SV%) in nine WHL games with the Winnipeg Ice in 2020-21. The 6-6, 205-pound goaltender ranked fifth in GAA and eighth in SV% among WHL leaders last season.
A native of Okotoks, Alberta, Alexander is 7-4-1 with one shutout and a 2.97 GAA in 16 career WHL games with Winnipeg.
"I can tell you that Sudsie (Ducks goalie coach Sudarshan Maharaj) loves him," Madden said. "He's huge, athletic, just on the upswing of his development. He's a year older than most of these guys and took the lead the last half of his team's schedule. He's just getting started."
Kukkonen, 18 (11/13/02), recorded 31-43=74 points with 16 PIM in 23 games with Maple Grove High School in Minnesota, leading all skaters in assists and ranking second in scoring among United States High School Minnesota League (USHS-MN) players.
The 5-10, 172-pound native of Maple Grove, Minn. Scored 55-84=139 points in 54 career USHS-MN games from 2018-21, ranking fifth in assists and sixth in points in his three seasons. He also scored two goals in three USHL contests with the Madison Capitals in 2018-19.
"I think our three American scouts are really excited about him," Madden said. "High character, high drive, really fast, really good skill, captain material. He's a dynamic player and he's got some upside."