The Anaheim Ducks are all-in on Lukas Dostal, signing the RFA to a five-year contract on Thursday. Dostal, 25, officially takes over as the Ducks' No. 1 goaltender after the team traded John Gibson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/ducks-trade-john-gibson-to-the-red-wings-for-petr-mrazek-picks] to the Detroit Red Wings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings] in June. While the Ducks didn't announce the annual average value, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman [https://x.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1945914304454107600] reported it's $6.5 million. The deal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/ducks-sign-lukas-dostal-to-five-year-extension] means Dostal and the Ducks avoided arbitration in August. "Lukas has proven he is a No. 1 goaltender, and we are so pleased to get this deal done," Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said in a news release. In the last two seasons, Dostal earned an increasingly larger share of the starts. He even played in 54 games in 2024-25 while Gibson played 29. Gibson had an appendectomy that caused him to miss the first month of the season, and he was in and out of the lineup with injuries throughout the campaign. Dostal had a 23-23-7 record, with a .903 save percentage and a 3.10 goals-against average. Of goaltenders aged 24 or under, only he and the Calgary Flames [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/calgary-flames]' Dustin Wolf won 20 or more games. And in 2023-24, when he played 44 games, Dostal had a 14-23-3 record with a .902 SP and 3.33 GAA. What stands out is Dostal's 14.3 goals saved above expected, the 17th most among all NHL goalies this past season, according to moneypuck.com [https://moneypuck.com/goalies.htm]. That stat takes into account the quality of shots Dostal faced on a Ducks squad that conceded the most high-danger chances in the NHL this past season, according to naturalstattrick.com [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php?fromseason=20242025&thruseason=20242025&stype=2&sit=all&score=all&rate=n&team=all&loc=B&gpf=410&fd=&td=]. "He is just entering the prime of his career with his best hockey ahead of him," Verbeek said. Lukas Dostal (James Guillory-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/66cc8823-614b-424c-8bb5-2eed59f7d450.jpeg] Lukas Dostal (James Guillory-Imagn Images) The Ducks aim to have their best hockey since 2018 ahead of them as well. After a first-round exit in 2017-18, the Ducks missed the playoffs in the past seven years. They've been busy this off-season to take a step up. "We are the team on the rise, and can't wait to see you soon in the Honda Center," Dostal said in a video posted to social media. [https://x.com/AnaheimDucks/status/1945913978305351982] Anaheim replaced coach Greg Cronin with three-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/anaheim-ducks-explain-why-they-hired-joel-quenneville-as-their-next-coach]. This is his first NHL coaching job since resigning from the Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers] in 2021 in the wake of an investigation determining he and other members of the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks had an inadequate response to sexual assault allegations. The NHL cleared him to work again last summer, and Verbeek said they did a comprehensive review before hiring Quenneville. The Ducks also acquired Chris Kreider and signed Mikael Granlund while trading Gibson to the Red Wings and Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers]. After all that, Anaheim still has nearly $22.5 million in cap space [https://puckpedia.com/team/anaheim-ducks]. They still have three unsigned RFAs: Mason McTavish, Drew Helleson and Sam Colangelo. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
