Goaltender Lukáš Dostál had quite the season. He set new career-highs in wins, games played and wins. He also had the Ducks’ only shutout for the second consecutive season.
Heading into the 2025 offseason, Dostál is a restricted free agent (RFA) and needs a new contract. There’s no doubt that he’s been pegged as the future No. 1 of the Ducks, it’s just a matter of how expensive and long his new deal will be.
“We’ve exchanged offers, so now, we’re just sitting there,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said on the 100% Hockey Podcast with Daren Millard and John Shannon. “(Dostál’s) agent has gone on vacation, so we’re going to kind of wait a little bit until he gets back and then we will pick up discussions and go from there.”
In his second full season as an NHLer, Dostál started almost double the amount of games as tandem partner John Gibson. He started 11 of the first 13 games of the season after Gibson underwent an appendectomy just before the start of the 2024-25 season and also started 12 of the last 14 games of the season after Gibson went down with a lower-body injury on Apr. 3.
“I think I adjusted (to the workload),” Dostál said. “Last two (seasons were) obviously the big step with all the traveling and everything, but this year plus the World Championship helped me a lot too. So, I think all that experience from the past, I could just take and soak (it) all in and just kind of know what to expect from this season.
“That’s why I adjusted my practice. I talked to my off-ice coach, I talked to my goalie coaches back in Czechia and Finland, we were targeting (weaknesses). I got some feedback and we were trying to target those things that would help me to be successful this year.”
After goaltending coach David Rook departed after just one season with the Ducks, former NHL goaltender Peter Budaj was added to Greg Cronin’s staff for 2024-25. Budaj served as goaltending coach under Cronin when they were with the Colorado Eagles prior to Cronin being hired by the Ducks in 2023. While Cronin and assistant coaches Brent Thompson and Rich Clune were relieved of their services after the end of the season, Budaj was retained for the 2025-26 season.
“He’s a great guy,” Dostál said. “I think all the guys, they love him. He’s a really nice guy, but as a goalie coach, he's great too. He's been helping me a lot. There’s some things he tweaked in my game, but in this level, it's all about the details. He’s been great for me and I can speak in my own language too, so that's beneficial as well.
I speak Czech, he speaks Slovak, but we are trying to always be respectful. (When) there’s other guys around (who) don't understand, we always speak English. Whenever we have a chance to have a conversation one-on-one, he tries to explain some stuff to me on the ice and we just talk to each other. Then, we just pick up our own language.”
Joel Quenneville will be the man behind the bench this upcoming season, hired by the Ducks after being out of the NHL for nearly four years. Quenneville resigned from his position as Florida Panthers head coach in 2021 after being named in an independent investigation of the Chicago Blackhawks for allegations by former player Kyle Beach of sexual assault by then-video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010. At his introductory press conference, Quenneville pledged to demonstrate through his actions that he is a man of character.
The Ducks had a 21-point increase this past season, though most of that can be attributed to the performances of both Dostál and Gibson. Strong second-half performances from Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier and a breakout season from defenseman Jackson LaCombe give reason to believe that the Ducks can continue their upward trajectory in 2025-26.
“I think the organization took a big step this year,” Dostál said. “We collected a lot of points, we were playing really, meaningful games against big teams. This locker room, this year, I felt like there was a belief that we could win any night we play. It’s kind of a nice feeling to go to the games and know that, ‘Hey, we can do this,’ you know? So, I think that's what changed. Or at least that's my personal feeling, that the culture is shifting. It’s changing towards being better and better. I think that's a great thing and I really believe the future is really bright here.”
Featured image caption: Apr 15, 2025; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; A shot by Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) goes over the shoulder of Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal (1) clinching a playoff birth for the Minnesota Wild in overtime at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
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