It takes two to tango. Would the Ducks be able to find a trade partner?

After Macklin Celebrini is selected first overall in the 2024 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks, it’s anyone’s guess how the rest of the draft order will shake out.

What is known is that the Chicago Blackhawks have the second overall pick and the Anaheim Ducks have the third overall pick. What is unknown is who both the Blackhawks and Ducks will select with their respective picks.

There’s been a lot of noise about the Blackhawks going with Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov from Michigan State. A right-handed shot, Levshunov would give the Blackhawks their potential future solution on the top pair alongside the left-handed Kevin Korchinski.

With Celebrini and Levshunov off the board, the Ducks still have plenty of options. There’s been a lot of talk about them potentially targeting Russian defenseman Anton Silayev, who has been described as a “unicorn” because of his unique combination of size and speed.

Silayev’s toolset has been touted by many scouts as giving him one of the highest floors in this draft class. The main drawback for some of those same scouts is how high Silayev’s offensive ceiling is. While he does have the attributes to become a shutdown defenseman in the league, the big question mark is how much of an offensive threat he can become.

Beckett Sennecke is also a name who has supposedly risen up the Ducks’ list. Sennecke had a massive growth spurt, going from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-2 over the course of the last two seasons.

As he continued to grow comfortable (no pun intended) in his new frame, his play also grew. 22 points through 28 games this season turned into 43 points in the next 35 games. He followed that up with 22 points in 16 playoff games.

It’s easy to see why Sennecke’s game garners so much intrigue. The way he handles the puck in slippery fashion almost reminds you of Gumby on ice. His length also allows him to be a strong forechecker, helping turn his defense into quick offense.

The general perception from the public is that the Ducks could trade down two or three spots and still get their guy, whether it’s Silayev, Sennecke or a different prospect. While that’s easy to believe in theory, execution is much more difficult.

Very rarely do teams selecting in the top-3 trade down. In fact, it’s only happened twice since 2000, with both times being the Florida Panthers trading down from the first overall pick.

With such a volatile group of prospects in the 2-10 range this year, teams’ lists can look very different from one another. Sure, you might have this guy pegged at No. 7, but what if another team has him pegged at No. 5? There’s no guarantee that the player you want will still be on the board two picks or even one pick later.

While the era of social media has made it easier for reporters to sniff out which way teams are leaning, there are still some teams—like the Ducks—that have been able to keep their cards close to their chest.

Would the Montréal Canadiens, who have had their scouts meet with Ivan Demidov all season long, consider trading up to No. 3 to ensure that nobody snatches him out from under them?

Or perhaps the Utah Hockey Club is looking to make a big splash and wants to move up a couple of spots to ensure they add a high-caliber prospect to one day play alongside Logan Cooley.

There are plenty of obstacles and work-throughs that it would take to get a deal involving a top-3 draft selection done. If the Ducks really want to ensure they get their guy, they would best be suited standing pat.