Ducks trade goalie John Gibson to Red Wings at the NHL draft

CBS News

13 hours ago

The Detroit Red Wings acquired John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, a trade of the veteran goaltender that could start the dominos falling around the NHL with several teams looking for help in net.
Detroit sent backup goalie Petr Mrazek, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-rounder to Anaheim for Gibson, whose name has been in trade rumors for several years. No salary was retained.
"John, throughout the course of his career, has been a proven starter and a good starter in the NHL," Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said on a video call with reporters.
"As Anaheim has gone through their rebuilding process, I think it probably affected his play a little bit, and as their team gets better and they have a good, young goaltender in (Lukas) Dostal. John (is) looking for more opportunity to play, and we're counting on him obviously to give us quality starts and upgrade our team in net."
Gibson, 31, has spent his first 12 years in the league with Anaheim. He started 28 games, compared to 49 for Dostal, last season, and he's signed for two more at a salary cap hit of $6.4 million.
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek worked under Yzerman for a decade, and the two began speaking about Gibson before the trade deadline in March. Injuries derailed a move then but set the table for the western Pennsylvania native to go to Hockeytown.
"We want to thank John for his time with our organization and being an integral part of the Ducks for more than a decade," Verbeek said. "It became clear John wanted a new opportunity, and after many discussions with him we felt now was the right time to make this move."
Back-to-back Western Conference champion Edmonton, rebuilding Philadelphia and others are expected to pursue a goaltender this offseason, and the list of unrestricted free agents with starting experience is not long. Jake Allen, Ilya Samsonov, Anton Forsberg and Ville Husso are among the top options available.
A restricted free agent is off the market after St. Louis re-signed goaltender Joel Hofer to a two-year deal worth $6.8 million. GM Doug Armstrong had warned colleagues not to think about tendering ad offer sheet for Hofer, saying earlier in the week, "You're not going to get him."
A few minor trades materialized on Day 2 of the draft. Los Angeles sent 24-year-old D-man Jordan Spence to Ottawa for the 67th pick and Colorado's sixth-rounder in 2026; Buffalo dealt Connor Clifton and a second-round pick to the Penguins for Conor Timmins and Isaac Beliveau and Washington acquired Declan Chisolm from Minnesota for a swap of picks and minor-leaguer Chase Priskie.
Spence scored 52 points in 150 games for Los Angeles over the past two seasons, but he was relegated to the Kings' third defensive pairing last year with the rapid growth of Brandt Clarke and the injury return of Drew Doughty — each a right-handed shooter like Spence. Kings GM Ken Holland said Spence's representatives told him Spence wanted to leave if he wouldn't have a bigger role next season.
The Capitals also signed 23-year-old forward Justin Sourdif for $1.65 million over two years after sending a second-round pick to two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida for the minor leaguer with four games of NHL experience. Sourdif scored a goal in his lone call-up this past season and had 10 points in 18 games on the Charlotte Checkers' run to the American Hockey League's Calder Cup Finals.
They are are hoping Sourdif, making just over the league minimum at $825,000 annually, fills a hole on their second or third line. There was no room for upward mobility for Sourdif, especially after the Panthers signed playoff MVP Sam Bennett to an eight-year, $64 million contract and could bring back winger Brad Marchand.
"We see a guy that's competitive, smart, can play wing and center," Capitals GM Chris Patrick said. "In Florida it was a situation where he was getting boxed out a little bit, and they had a bunch of people calling on him, so it got to be a competitive situation. ... He's going to have a good chance here to prove that he's a good NHL player."
North of the border, the Calgary Flames extended 6-foot-6 Kevin Bahl to a six-year deal worth just over $32 million, while the Winnipeg Jets shored up their blue line depth by giving Haydn Fleury $1.9 million over the next two seasons. Bahl will count $5.35 million against the salary cap through 2030-31.