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The Anaheim Ducks announced their opening night roster today, featuring 13 forwards, eight defensema and two defensemen. Sam Carrick and John Moore were also designated as Injured Non-Roster, while Urho Vaakanainen has been placed on injured reserve.
In waiver-related news today, defenseman Josh Mahura was claimed by the Florida Panthers, while the Ducks claimed forward Brett Leason from the Washington Capitals.
The full roster is below:
FORWARDS (13): Max Comtois, Derek Grant, Adam Henrique, Max Jones, Brett Leason, Isac Lundestrom, Mason McTavish, Pavol Regenda, Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Strome, Troy Terry, Frank Vatrano, Trevor Zegras
DEFENSE (8): Nathan Beaulieu, Simon Benoit, Jamie Drysdale, Cam Fowler, John Klingberg, Dmitry Kulikov, Kevin Shattenkirk, Colton White
GOALIES (2): John Gibson, Anthony Stolarz
INJURED (3): Sam Carrick, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen
Up front, 11 of the spots were essentially already locked in (with Sam Carrick injured as well). That said, the Ducks adding Brett Leason through waivers was an unexpected twist and he’ll take a spot as well.
Leason is 23 years old and split this past season between the NHL and AHL. In 36 games with the Washington Capitals, Leason managed three goals and six points, a pace of seven goals and 14 points per 82 games.
Also cracking the lineup was Pavol Regenda, who was signed by the Ducks in June. Regenda is 22 years old and had a great preseason, with three goals and seven points in six games, but he wasn’t someone necessarily expected to make the roster coming into training camp.
On the blue line, it was disappointing to see Mahura being cut, then claimed by the Panthers. While he may not have been an NHL regular yet, I think he still has a lot of upside and could end up making an impact at some point. Colton White wasn’t necessarily someone I expected to earn the spot instead and I’m not necessarily a fan of Beaulieu getting a roster spot over Mahura either. Given the Ducks are still building for the future, keeping Mahura to develop could have made more sense. It'll also still be interesting to see what happens once Vaakanainen is healthy.
Regardless, the Ducks are entering the season with a much stronger lineup than last year. While they could certainly still fall short of the playoffs, this roster has them looking much more competitive heading into the year.
The Ducks open their season on Wednesday against the Seattle Kraken.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Trevor Zegras listed as day-to-day, Ducks sign Nathan Beaulieu 
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