The Ducks have overcome every challenge this season, but now face a ‘subject to change’ landscape (2024)

Nothing has derailed the Ducks in their improbable run to their current standing, near first-place Vegas in the Pacific Division standings and in a position where the playoffs are not a far-fetched concept.

An early six-game losing streak didn’t do them in because they managed to scratch out some points and they learned they could play a more aggressive offense-friendly style and compete every night while they learned how to win. A spate of injuries didn’t do them in because they got contributions up and down their lineup, including from players who have logged a lot of time in the minor leagues. A five-game eastern road trip didn’t do them in because they tightened their game and got quality goaltending when the goals became harder to get.

Now they’re dealing with a new threat, not unfamiliar to the NHL much less the sports world, one that has now started to have an impact within the team’s corridors.

While many other teams have had multiple players test positive for COVID-19 or had full-on outbreaks that resulted in the postponement of games, the Ducks have largely able to keep the virus and its variants at bay ever since they resumed play last January for a truncated 2020-21 season. All along, however, coach Dallas Eakins has wondered if it was simply a matter of time before it arrived at their door.

Tuesday brought the news that Trevor Zegras, the Ducks’ splendid 20-year-old center and one of the league’s top rookies, had tested positive and was being placed in the protocol. Zegras joined Max Comtois, who entered Sunday and Sam Steel, who had a positive test before the break. Until then, the only Ducks player to experience COVID-19 symptoms was Jakob Silfverberg at the end of October. (Adam Henrique missed games last year due to being in close contact with a positive individual.)

If you count Henrique, who continues to be sidelined with a lower-body muscle issue, and Max Jones, who remains out until well into 2022 in his recovery from pectoral muscle surgery, that’s five usual forwards missing from the Ducks’ lineup. And given how the Omicron variant is wrecking the schedule, it is fair to wonder if their situation will change after they are tested again Wednesday morning, hours ahead of their game against Vancouver at Honda Center.

Of the 80 NHL games that have been postponed, Anaheim is involved in four of them. A three-game divisional road trip to western Canada just before the break was shelved. Monday’s scheduled home game against San Jose must also be made up, after the league agreed to put off a return to action for a day. Now the Ducks, who are eager to get going again after going 12 days without playing, welcome their old bench boss Bruce Boudreau, who is doing his usual turnaround magic with the Canucks.

That is, provided no more surprises pop up. The schedule is laid out as usual. Meetings are planned. But they’re also operating in a “subject to change” landscape.

“You sit and you wait for the tests of the other teams to come in,” Eakins said. “We’re getting our lessons here. It reminds me of coaching in San Diego a little bit. Come in the morning and you’ve got a plan, but you’ve got to be very quick on your feet to have a different plan. You’ve got a plan for what your lines are going to be, what your practice is going to look like, and then you just wait for all the tests to come in to make sure that you can execute it the way you thought it was going to be or is it going to change.”

Sometimes it feels as if this season is entering a phase in which things change hour by hour, if not minute by minute. Will games be played? Will they be postponed? Who will be available to play? More importantly, who won’t? It might be starting to feel that way for the Ducks, who’ve also have significant COVID-19 issues with their AHL team in San Diego. The Gulls have postponed games through Sunday.

Handling situations as they come has never been more meaningful. As Ducks goalie John Gibson noted Tuesday, all he and the other players can do is drive to the rink each morning and have the mindset of getting their work done that day. Wednesday is about focusing on the Canucks. No need to worry about Thursday or Friday, next week or next month.

And, as he added, “if something else happens, it happens.” Adjust if needed.

“You just kind of got to have the mindset of doing the best we can to prepare and be ready,” Gibson said. “The rest kind of takes care of itself. Obviously, we can’t control it. We just do the best we can to keep as many guys healthy as we can on our team and go from there.”

Without Zegras – whose 25 points rank second on the Ducks and second among NHL rookies to Detroit’s Lucas Raymond – Anaheim has taken a hit at center, previously a position of strength. It helps that Ryan Getzlaf has been back to work with leading scorer Troy Terry, but Isac Lundestrom, who has already established career-highs with seven goals and 16 points, will be moved up from his usual third-line spot to center Sonny Milano and Rickard Rakell.

The other two center positions are more of a question mark. Given that Steel also is unavailable, Sam Carrick could be plugged into the No. 3 hole for now. Though he has played a lot on the wing this season, Derek Grant is a pivot by trade. Eakins indicated that the Ducks could go with seven defensem*n and 11 forwards on Wednesday. Josh Mahura remains injured, which could lead to either Jacob Larsson or Greg Pateryn suiting up if the coach goes that route.

Along with Larsson and Pateryn, goaltender Lukáš Dostál and forwards Vinni Lettieri, Buddy Robinson and Bryce Kindopp are on the Ducks’ taxi squad, which was reinstated by the NHL to assist teams when they must compensate for unavailable players who are in protocol. Lettieri will slide back in at left wing on the Getzlaf line, where he has played a handful of games after Henrique got hurt Dec. 3. Robinson figures to draw in on the fourth line and Kindopp could make his NHL debut if the Ducks use 12 forwards.

Changes weren’t only made on the ice. In the dressing room, the Ducks separated Gibson and fellow goalie Anthony Stolarz. The two usually have adjoining stalls but with the threat that COVID-19 poses, they thought it wise to not put all their goalies in close contact. “One’s on the North Pole and the other one’s on the South Pole,” Eakins said. “And then with the others, we’ve just kind of left it for now.”

This is what Eakins has to work with as he tries to regain the momentum created by points gained in nine of 10 games since a 5-1 home loss to Toronto on Nov. 28. Six of those games were wins that have propelled them to a 17-9-6 record, something virtually no one outside the organization – and probably a few within – thought would happen nearly halfway into the season.

Now it is about not losing ground until they get the missing players back, which could be sooner than first anticipated given that the NHL on Wednesday morning followed the NBA and NFL in adopting the newest CDC recommendations that shorten isolation guidelines from 10 days to five for individuals with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic. Steel could conceivably become available for Wednesday provided he tests negative, though the Ducks say that is “far too early to tell” if he will be. In a best-case scenario, Comtois and Zegras might miss only two or three games instead of four or five.

Eakins indicated that the players in the protocol are asymptomatic, saying about Zegras, Steel and Comtois: “They’re ready to play. I think that’s what’s much, much different this time around and we’re very thankful that we are all vaccinated. Our players aren’t suffering at home like the first round that we saw around the league when nobody was vaccinated or boosted.

“We’ll see what our leadership at the league level does but as of now, it’s still 10 days and two negative tests. The one thing that we are seeing and reading about in all this, it seems like this strain or the virus moves on much, much quicker. So, we’ll see where it goes. We’re just playing by the rules until they change.”

Three games were played Tuesday, as the NHL is determined to avoid another long-term pause. But the league has already pulled the plug on going to Beijing for the Olympics and now hopes to make up as many of the postponements during that three-week break built into this year’s schedule. The news about the Olympics was something Gibson expected, considering the surge in cases due to the Omicron variant.

It was still a disappointing feeling for Gibson, who figured to be in line for one of the three goalie spots for the United States. (And for Hampus Lindholm, who figured to be in the mix to play on Sweden’s blue line.) Gibson called it a “privilege” and “an honor every time” to wear the Team USA jersey in international tournaments. It would have been his first appearance in the Olympics after winning gold in the world juniors and bronze in the world championships, both in 2013.

“It is what it is,” he said. “Obviously, it would have been great to be a part of that and represent your country. It’s something that you dream about, and you hope to get the opportunity to do it. But at the same time, it’s the world we’re living in right now and obviously it’s been very unlucky over the last two weeks here with all the games being canceled and everything like that. I understand where they’re coming from.

“It doesn’t make it any easier. It’s tough. You just got to accept it and move on.”

That’s where he and the Ducks are now. There is no use worrying about what is out of their control. They must do their best with what is within their control and try to not let unexpected circ*mstances knock them off a path few expected them to be traveling on.

“I think everybody wants to stay healthy,” Gibson said. “Not only just for us but a lot of us have families and kids. Whether you got your parents or people in town, you want to keep everybody healthy. Obviously right now it seems like it’s getting bad everywhere so we want to take the extra precaution and make sure we’re all wearing masks and doing the best we can.”

(Top photo of Trevor Zegras: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Eric Stephens is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Southern California. Eric has been writing and talking about sports for newspapers and media outlets for more than 30 years. He has previously covered the NHL for The Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. He is also an occasional contributor on NHL Network. Follow Eric on Twitter @icemancometh