Kreider returns from a bizarre illness. Ducks' practice lines and a spooky Halloween morning report.
In an M. Night Shyamalan-esque spooky twist for Halloween morning, I have commandeered my partner Derek Lee’s practice report column the day after the Anaheim Ducks resumed skating in Southern California, following a season-long, five-game, 12-day road trip.
Thursday’s Practice Lines
Chris Kreider-Leo Carlsson-Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier-Mason McTavish-Beckett Sennecke
Frank Vatrano-Ryan Poehling-Alex Killorn
Ross Johnston-Nikita Nesterenko-Sam Colangelo
Jansen Harkins
Jackson LaCombe-Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger-Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov-Ian Moore
Lukas Dostal | Petr Mrazek
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Ducks Buoyed by Bottom-6 Production During Road Trip
Leo Carlsson's Skating Transformed from Perceived Weakness to his Biggest Strength
The Ducks went 3-1-1 on the trip, piling up regulation wins against the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, a shootout win against the Florida Panthers, a regulation loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and an overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Ducks lost key offseason acquisition and, at the time, their leading goalscorer, Chris Kreider, to illness following their overtime defeat at the hands of the Blackhawks. He had missed the Ducks’ last four games, but returned to practice on Thursday to the line he opened the season on with Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson.
“I guess that’s the plan,” Kreider said when asked if he was going to play in the Ducks’ matchup against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
Krieder revealed he’d contracted Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) and remained locked away in his hotel room until he was well enough to return home to Southern California and resume on-ice sessions on his own to regain his legs and breath.
“It was weird being out that long and not being able to do anything,” Kreider said. “It’s just a lot of twiddling my thumbs. They sent me back a little early just so I could start getting my legs back. Last few days, more and more each day.”
Kreider is no stranger to injury, as he’d missed 14 games (he admittedly should have missed more) a season ago with the New York Rangers, as he suffered from a vertigo diagnosis, back spasms, and a broken hand.
“There’s some frustration with an injury, but also some semblance of ‘I can rehab this,’” Kreider added. “With this, it just had to run its course.”
To add to the injury list, the Ducks have been without captain Radko Gudas for nearly the last three games with a lower-body injury, since he crashed into the boards early in the first period of their 7-5 win over the Bruins. He’s listed as “day-to-day.”
Another prized offseason acquisition, forward Mikael Granlund, pulled up limp on a backcheck in the first period of the Ducks’ 4-3 loss to the Lightning. He was forced to miss the road trip finale against the Panthers, has been given a roughly three-week recovery timetable by head coach Joel Quenneville, and is designated as “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury.
Neither Granlund nor Gudas participated in practice on Thursday and are not expected to return on Friday against the Wings.
“I think when you look at our lineup, we’re missing Stromer (forward Ryan Strome) still, but you could see we have a very deep forward group,” Troy Terry said at practice. “Now, we’re missing (Gudas), which anytime you’re without your captain, that’s hard. I think we have plenty of players who are capable of stepping in, and that’s another thing.
“It’s just a testament to how the games have gone; whether we’re losing, we’re winning, who’s in the lineup. All around, we’ve just been competing for each other, and it’ll be nice to get some of these guys back, but I think it increased opportunity for a lot of guys. I think people really took advantage of it.”
Before the trip, the Ducks called up defenseman Ian Moore, who was projected to serve as a seventh defenseman. He had an unorthodox start to his campaign, with his season debut coming against the Hawks in a game where the Ducks lined up with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, but Moore played both positions. He’s averaged 12:07 of professional minutes in his three games thus far, and is slated to remain on a pair with Pavel Mintyukov in Friday’s game.
As Terry alluded to, the player who has most seized his opportunity given the injuries to the roster while on the road trip was sophomore forward Nikita Nesterenko. He saw his usage increase from serving as an occasional healthy scratch and averaging roughly ten minutes per game on the fourth line for his first three games of the season to filling in on the top nine and averaging between 15 and 16 minutes per game. During his time in the top nine, he notched four assists in four games (all against the Bruins on Oct. 23) and has been an impactful two-way forward, especially as an F1 on the forecheck.
At practice on Thursday, Nesterenko lined up at center, a position he hasn’t played with any consistency since his draft year (2018-19), in Prep school. He projects to center the Ducks' fourth line on Friday between Ross Johnston and Sam Colangelo.
Friday’s game will be rookie Beckett Sennecke’s tenth NHL game of the 2025-26 season, and it will effectively “burn” the first year of his three-year entry-level contract. In recent years, NHL teams haven’t concerned themselves with officially starting the clock on a young player’s career, especially players selected at the top of drafts. He’s delivered up-and-down results, and the team could still opt to send him back to the OHL at any time, but as of now, it seems the plan is for him to take his lumps, remain in the NHL for the entire season, and perhaps occasionally get a night or two off if the team regains full health at any point.
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 Loss to the Lightning