All 32 NHL clubs’ season-opening rosters were required to comply with the salary cap by Monday, October 7 at 2:00 p.m. (PST).

“Ducks claim James Reimer off waivers.”

In anticipation, teams with non-waiver players placed the pieces they wanted to assign to the AHL on Sunday. Several players were claimed off waivers Monday and roster lists for a maximum of 23 players were submitted to league offices.

The Anaheim Ducks will enter the 2024-25 season with a 23-player roster, consisting of 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders (one injured).

Now that the opening roster has been determined, the Ducks’ front office, coaching staff and players have important questions regarding the roster for the season opener. Perhaps the biggest question concerns the blueline and how the coaching staff plans to rotate its D-corps.

The Ducks’ season-opening roster will feature eight NHL defensemen: Radko Gudas, Brian Dumoulin, Cam Fowler, Urho Vaakanainen, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov and Tristan Luneau.

Only five to seven of these eight players will appear for the Ducks on a nightly basis. The Ducks’ coaching staff has not experimented with more or fewer than six defensemen in the six preseason games, so that trend will likely continue with two of the eight defensemen out to start the season.

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Tristan Luneau (20) is likely to be the biggest surprise in Anaheim’s opening squad. He last played a regular-season ice hockey game at any level on December 7, having since endured a lengthy recovery from a knee infection en route to the 2024 World Junior Championships in Sweden.

“Tristan is in the process of (re)integrating timing, game speed and decision-making into his DNA,” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said. “A child who has been on the road most of the year just needs experience.”

Luneau led the team in four preseason games, excelling on the power play, scoring two assists and showing explosiveness, offensive determination and enough solid defensive principles to impress management and earn a starting roster spot and likely a spot in the opening lineup if the end of pre-season preparation and the training sessions since then are signs of this.

From a bird’s eye view, the only nightly lineups on the blueline will most likely be Gudas, Fowler, Dumoulin and LaCombe.

Mintyukov, 20, played two preseason games after spending most of training camp in a red non-contact jersey with a lower-body injury and missing the team’s final eight games of the 2023-24 season because of a bone bruise. The coaching staff may feel it’s necessary for the second-year defenseman to get an occasional night off early in the season.

Zellweger, 21, played two preseason games this exhibition season and played 26 games for the Ducks in 2023-24. Although he finished the season as an integral part of the Ducks’ nightly lineup, it seems clear that he did not show enough throughout training camp to take control of that role heading into the 2024-25 season.

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For the first time in his NHL career, Urho Vaakanainen remained healthy for an entire season, playing in 68 games in the 2023-24 season. Unfortunately, the Ducks employ a number of talented, young and hungry defensemen that likely pushed him downfield.

Since the four defensemen mentioned above are quite uncertain, a rotation between them based on performance and health is a logical solution at the start of the 2024-25 season.

Cam Fowler, 32, and the Ducks have reportedly had discussions about “what his future might look like” and that he would be willing to expand his trade list with four teams to influence a potential trade. If all of the young defensemen perform well in front of the net this season, a Fowler trade could solve a logjam on the team’s blueline.

“Fowler has a lot of respect around the league,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported. “There will be interest. I don’t think anyone will be surprised if Cam Fowler is somewhere else at some point this season.”

With Zellweger (WHL), Mintyukov (OHL) and Luneau (QMJHL) all on the Ducks’ roster at the same time, the Ducks will now use all three CHL League Defensemen of the Year from the 2022-23 season. The bright future of the Ducks’ blueline could soon become a bright present if everyone takes advantage of their opportunities next season.

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