The Anaheim Ducks have missed the playoffs every year since 2017-18 and in doing so, have drafted in the top ten for seven consecutive seasons and procured one of the NHL’s deepest and most potent prospect pools.

Despite several young players having graduated and become full-time NHLers, such as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger, the Ducks still have an impressive pipeline of potential impact and depth prospects yet to make the jump.

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For this exercise, only players who haven’t lost rookie status are eligible for a ranking, and to be clear, these are my (Patrick Present) subjective rankings.

Honorable Mentions: Yegor Sidorov, Herman Traff, Tarin Smith, Lasse Boelius, Calle Clang

Top Ten:

10. Nathan Gaucher, 21, C, San Diego Gulls (AHL)

9. Ian Moore, 23, RHD, San Diego Gulls (AHL)

8. Sasha Pastujov, 22, W, San Diego Gulls (AHL)

7. Tomas Suchanek, 22, G, San Diego Gulls (AHL)

6. Eric Nilson, 18, C, Michigan State University (NCAA)

5. Lucas Pettersson, 19, C, Brynas IF (SHL)

Kicking off the top five is another Swedish center who, on paper, is a very similar player to Eric Nilson, but who might have the slight edge on the offensive side of the puck: Lucas Petterssson.

Pettersson does all the little things that coaches love in their centers: he stays above pucks in offensive-zone forecheck scenarios, angles well on the backcheck, and he doesn’t lose assignments in d-zone coverage. As a prospect, those aspects will set his floor relatively high and practically guarantee him a career in the NHL.

“I think he's really smart both ways. He's got enough skill and speed to think that he will produce offensively at the pro level, in the NHL level,” Ducks assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Martin Madden told The Hockey News: Anaheim Ducks. “His two-way (play) is really, really, smart. Now, when you play that way, you need to be strong enough to play that way against men, right? So he just wasn't there yet last year.”

The aspects that will separate and elevate him, potentially to a top-six role in the NHL, will be the details of his offensive game. He’s an outstanding skater, both explosive and shifty with impressive four-way mobility.

He scans the ice well before pucks arrive and connects with his wingers when building attacks up ice. He has the hands to simultaneously invite attention and avoid defending sticks in transition to gain entry, along with the vision to make plays on the cycle.

The Ducks selected Pettersson in last year’s draft (35th overall in 2024) as the first Swedish player taken in what was considered one of Sweden’s weaker classes.

He bounced around Swedish hockey divisions in 2024-25, seemingly unable to find a fit until he was loaned to Ostersunds IK of HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second professional tier, where he scored 19 points (9-10=19) in 26 games while playing middle-six minutes.

He had a difficult time securing minutes on a nightly basis in the SHL while playing for MoDo Hockey last season, but he’ll head back to the SHL on loan in 2025-26 to play for Brynas IF alongside longtime Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg.

“I think he found a good fit for him. I think he's going to be really well surrounded in Brynäs,” Madden said. “Yes, it's going to be in the SHL again, so he will need to earn his ice time, but I think he's better prepared for it now. He's had to deal with that tough first year.”

Like most prospects his age, his focus will be on getting bigger, stronger, and harder to play against. He’s now in the midst of an offseason without the distractions that come with the NHL combine and draft process, so those goals should be easier to attain.

Though Madden compared Pettersson to William Karlsson when the Ducks drafted him, to me, the duo of Pettersson and Nilson is reminiscent of a time when the Ducks had Karlsson and Rickard Rakell in their pipeline. Both are 200-foot players who can kill penalties and contribute offensively, but Nilson projects to have the edge on the defensive end like Karlsson, while Pettersson has more offensive skill and instinct, like Rakell.

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Photo Credit: Derek Lee-The Hockey News

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