The Anaheim Ducks are now a week into their 2025-26 training camp and are still reportedly far apart in negotiations with projected second-line center Mason McTavish on a contract extension.
The Ducks don’t have many position battles to speak of heading into the season, at least not in terms of impact roles.
With McTavish in the lineup, the Ducks’ top nine forward group is relatively set, consisting of himself, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Troy Terry, Alex Killorn, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Chris Kreider, and Mikael Granlund.
Preseason: Takeaways from the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 Loss to the Los Angeles Kings
Preseason: Takeaways from the Ducks 6-1 Win over the Mammoth
Preseason: Takeaways from the Ducks 3-0 Loss to the Kings
Through the unknown duration of McTavish’s absence, however disappointing on a macro level, it allows an opportunity for a hungry forward to earn a look in the top nine.
The most substantial benefactor could come in the form of 2024 third-overall draft pick Beckett Sennecke, who played back-to-back games to open the exhibition season, including in Monday’s 6-1 win over the Utah Mammoth, when he scored tenaciously off the rush. He was slotted on a potent line centered by Leo Carlsson and opposite Chris Kreider.
“He’s got some skill. He’s got a lot of nice things to his game,” Ducks new head coach Joel Quenneville said of Sennecke after Monday’s win. “The growth in a young player taking that next big step is their consistency. Learn how to be a good pro.
“The tendencies from junior, you gotta make sure you take the right habits with you. But, he showed some really good flashes and we like the way he’s progressing in camp.”
After signing his ELC in the summer of 2024, Sennecke’s only options for the 2025-26 season are to either play in the NHL or head back to the CHL to play for the Oshawa Generals.
To make the team out of camp, Sennecke needs to prove, beyond any doubt, that he’s not only NHL-ready but can have a positive nightly impact. Especially because the stated mandate from the team is to make the playoffs this season.
To this point, he’s left something to be desired. He’s flashed his trademark skill, has had some extended puck touches, and appeared dangerous multiple times, but his puck management and fundamental defensive tendencies have proved costly at both the “Golden State Rookie Faceoff” and in his two preseason games.
As with anything, these are only exhibition games and not many overarching conclusions should be reached, but these are the opportunities for young players like Sennecke to earn spots on NHL rosters.
Though spending the majority of the 2024-25 season in the AHL with the San Diego Gulls, both Nikita Nesterenko and Sam Colangelo were given extended looks with with Ducks last season.
Nesterenko tallied six points (4-2=6) in 20 games over two separate NHL stints, while Colangelo notched 12 points (10-2=12) in 32 games over three stints.
Neither player has a prototypical fourth-line skill set, though they’ve both worked tirelessly to improve those aspects of their games; they are perhaps more suited for traditional top-nine roles.
Colangelo has added levels of battle and puck possession prowess while showing a scoring touch at every level he’s played.
“I think I proved last year I could play in the top nine, but that doesn’t really mean anything now,” Colangelo said at training camp. “It’s a fresh slate, a new coaching staff, so I’m just trying to bring it every day and take that spot.
“Obviously, it sucks with Mac not being here as one of my best friends, but like everyone said, it’s kind of part of the business, and I know when he shows up, he’ll be ready to go.”
Nesterenko uses his feet to create plays and provides more of a transition element with layers of playmaking and creativity.
The Ducks brought in Ryan Poehling as the NHL piece of the trade that sent Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The anticipation was (and remains) that Poehling would slot into the fourth-line center spot. However, he, like Nesterenko and Colangelo, has shown more offensive upside to his game than that of a typical fourth-liner, as he’s coming off of his most productive season a year ago, when he scored 31 points (12-19=31) in 68 games.
“I pride myself on a 200-foot game, and defense is something that’s very important to me and something that can help this team win. We’ve got a lot of skill guys on this team, a lot of guys that can put pucks in the back of the net.
“For myself, I think it’s just playing a 200-foot game and helping out offensively when I can, but more importantly, just shutting down the other team defensively.”
He’s a detailed fleet-of-foot center who can have an impact in every zone as well as in transition. If the Ducks decide to load up a top six with the majority of their firepower, he could, in theory, contribute to a more defensive-oriented third line with some scoring upside, a la Yanni Gourde during the Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup years.
The hope is that McTavish’s contract dispute is settled as soon as possible, but this window could be seen as an audition of sorts for those third/fourth line bubble players should injury occur at some point in the season.
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