NHL free agency opened days ago, on July 1, and the landscape for the 2025-26 season is starting to take shape. Barring a handful of sizable trades between now and when the puck drops on the season, teams are more or less what they will be in October.

The Anaheim Ducks overhauled their coaching staff, parted with a pair of their longest-tenured roster players (Trevor Zegras and John Gibson), and added a trio of veterans to their forward core (Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund, and Ryan Poehling).

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The area of their roster that, to date, remains untouched is their blueline. They ended the 2024-25 season with a d-corps consisting of Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas, and Drew Helleson on the right side of Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov, and that’s how the depth chart is currently projected.

The Ducks notably had a logjam last season on the left side of their blueline and were hesitant (to say the least) to play any of their left-shots on their offside. With LaCombe seizing his opportunity and truly breaking out, this left Zellweger and Mintyukov alternating time served as healthy scratches for the majority of the season.

It wasn’t until Brian Dumoulin was traded to the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline that the logjam was alleviated.

The brand of hockey deployed by then-head coach Greg Cronin inherently limited the offensive upside of Mintyukov and Zellweger, two premier young, offensively talented and inclined defensemen. Compounding their already dulled offensive impacts with a hesitance to take chances, involve themselves to a greater degree offensively, and a fear of making critical mistakes that would lead them back to the pressbox, their upside was drastically limited.

On the latest “32 Thoughts” podcast, premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Mintyukov and Zellweger pleaded for more consistent ice time last season.

“I heard at different times last year, both of those players were kind of like, ‘I want to play more, I don’t want to be in and out, I’m sitting out too much,’” Friedman said. “And I think Pat Verbeek kind of said, ‘Both of you guys are gonna have to be patient. I’m not trading you, and I’m not promising you anything I don’t think you have to earn.’”

Apparently, the handling of the talented duo drew the attention of opposing clubs looking to inquire about their potential availability.

“I think at different times in the offseason, other teams called about Zellweger and Mintyukov,” Friedman said. “Obviously, nothing’s happened, and Verbeek said, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’”

Author’s Note

With the amount of turnover to the roster and the shifting of core pieces with the departures of Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras in the last 18 months, it’s encouraging to see any level of commitment from Verbeek toward players like Zellweger and Mintyukov.

Mintyukov was Verbeek’s first-ever draft pick (10th overall in 2022) after taking the role as Ducks GM, but Zellweger was selected under a different regime and doesn’t possess all the characteristics Verbeek has shown to value when building his hockey team.

Over two months remain until training camp, there’s still the potential for trades, and one move could change the complexion of the Ducks' depth chart. However and for how notoriously tough Verbeek is on his young players, it’s refreshing to see him unwilling to part with one or both of Zellweger and Mintyukov at this time.

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 Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images