The San Diego Gulls, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, are off to a 1-1 start to their 2022-23 campaign, after splitting a two-game set with the Grand Rapids Griffins this past weekend (Oct. 14 &15). Now that the Gulls are set to host the Ontario Reign in their home opener on Friday, Oct. 21, anticipation is building.
As the Ducks continue their road trip through the east coast, we peek in on the farm team in this edition of ‘AHL Recap’ with three main takeaways from the Gulls’ regular-season debut.
De Leo Captaincy Highlights Personnel Changes
Perhaps the biggest change to the Gulls’ lineup this year starts with their new captain, Chase De Leo, who is taking his second turn through the Ducks’ organization after being signed away by the New Jersey Devils last season.
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A California native, De Leo returns to San Diego on a one-year, two-way deal with Anaheim. He was one of the players who were on the bubble to make the Ducks’ roster coming out of training camp, along with fellow Californian, Rocco Grimaldi.
“Words can’t describe my hunger to make this team,” De Leo said in an interview during the preseason. “I’m willing to run through a freaking wall to make this team and, if I don’t make it, I’m going to do whatever I can to get back.”
Other notable newcomers for the Gulls include Glenn Gawdin, Olli Juolevi and Justin Kirkland, who have all already scored their first goals in a Gulls uniform. As well as Josh Healey, Dmitry Osipov and Luka Profaca, who all signed as free agents in the days leading up to the start of the regular season.
Recapping An Offensive Outburst in Grand Rapids
Making changes was vital, as the Gulls came into this season looking to improve their goal-scoring touch. They were ranked 29th (third last) in goals for last season at 197, beating out only the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (195) and the Tuscon Roadrunners (182).
San Diego came out firing in game one against the Griffins and made out with a 6-2 win. The Ducks’ 2018 third-round selection, Lukas Dostal, stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced and was the game’s first star, while De Leo scored a pair to lead the offense.
Game two was an all-out goal-scoring clinic with the Griffins coming out on top of an 8-5 decision. Dostal did not fare quite as well and was pulled after allowing four goals on just five shots. Austin Czarnik scored a hat trick for Grand Rapids in the win. It was all for naught, but the Gulls did begin to mount a comeback in the third period, highlighted by a beautiful individual effort from Gawdin on the powerplay.
In all, the Gulls managed to score 11 goals combined in their first two games, which accounts for a little over five percent of last year’s output. Seven of those goals came at even strength – a good starting point for a team who struggled to produce in any capacity just six months ago.
Defensive Struggles Run Through the Ducks’ System
It’s clear to see where the issues lie from watching this organization play at both the AHL and NHL levels in the early going of the regular season.
The Ducks have many internal candidates ready for promotion at forward. De Leo, Gawdin, Grimaldi and Brayden Tracey have all had exceptional starts to the year and are ripe for an NHL promotion should the starting lineup run into any more injury problems. But who is next up on defense?
In a small sample size (just five games played at the time of writing) the Ducks are allowing 4.40 goals against per game, which is the fourth-highest mark in the NHL. Similarly, the Gulls averaged five goals against per game over the course of their first two games. It’s not time to sound the alarm, but it is an indication that help may not be on the way in Anaheim in terms of addressing any needs on the back end.
Meanwhile, Nikolas Brouillard was the standout blueliner for the Gulls in the season opener and earned himself five points (2G, 3A) over the first two games of the season. He plays top-two minutes, quarterbacks the powerplay and generally plays all the tough minutes under head coach, Roy Sommer. The hitch is the 27-year-old, Quebec native, who is now in his third full season as a pro, has never played an NHL game before.
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The ‘next man up’ mentality can only take an organization so far. What’s apparent is the need for experienced or up-and-coming options behind the nine skaters who make up the Ducks’ blue line at the moment. If nothing else arises, it is likely Anaheim will be selecting another defenseman at the 2023 Draft in June.
