The Anaheim Ducks began their exhibition season on Sunday with a matinee matchup against the visiting San Jose Sharks. The Ducks had one of the more eventful offseasons in the NHL this year and in franchise history.
Their preseason opening lineup was more NHL-heavy than expected, but understandable given the compressed training camp schedule.
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The Sharks, however, traveled with a mostly AHL squad, featuring just three NHL regulars from a year ago.
Here’s how the Ducks lined up to start this game:
Klepov-Carlsson-Gauthier
Myatovic-Granlund-Sennecke
Killorn-McQueen-Colangelo
Farrell-Wahlberg-Nesterenko
LaCombe-Helleson
Mitchell-Luneau
Solberg-Warren
Laurent Brossoit got the nod for the Ducks’ first preseason game against the club he finished his 2025-26 campaign with. He was opposed by Eric Comrie, who backed up Connor Hellebuyck for the past two seasons for the Winnipeg Jets. Brossoit stopped 18 of the 20 shots he faced, and Comrie, playing just half the game (scheduled), stopped 14 of 16. Matt Davis was inserted into the Sharks crease and saved 12 of 16 shots.
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One would be cautioned against making sweeping judgments of experienced players in a contest such as this, but there were takeaways to be had from other young players and prospects.
Based on the rosters each team deployed in this game, it went roughly as expected. Anaheim’s star players dictated play and were a threat to score every time they touched the puck.
Defensively, a couple of miscommunications and misreads led to odd-man breaks for San Jose, where their depth players were able to beat Brossoit.
Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson’s ice time was limited after sustaining an undisclosed injury, and he was shut down toward the end of the second period.
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Nikita Klepov: Klepov was given the greatest opportunity a team can afford a young player, deploying him with the Ducks’ two cornerstone forwards: Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier. Carlsson and Gauthier expectedly dazzled, and Klepov was able to match their processing pace and make meaningful contributions.
Playing alongside the team’s stars, Klepov was generously afforded the time and space necessary for him to operate and begin to translate his game to the highest level of the sport. His IQ and quick processing speed were on display on multiple occasions, as was his ability to spin off checks and create space of his own. Conclusions shouldn’t be jumped to, but this was as positive a first preseason outing as one could have hoped for.
Nico Myatovic: Much has been made of potential roster players like Klepov and Roger McQueen, as well as bubble players like Anton Wahlberg, but Myatovic has flown under the radar to this point in evaluations of the Ducks organizational pipeline.
His production from 2024-26, his first two full seasons in the AHL, has been nothing to write home about, but he was given a similar opportunity as Klepov and McQueen in this game to make an impact, and he didn’t disappoint, playing alongside Beckett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund.
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Tallying two assists, Myatovic was a presence on the forecheck, jumping to loose pucks, and winning board battles in all three zones. Sennecke’s second and third goals of this game were direct causes of small area plays he made. The first was a tenacious forecheck that led to a long cycle sequence, of which he was an integral factor, and the second was a breakout sequence where he kept a broken outlet moving up ice.
Tristan Luneau: With Helleson missing as much time as he did in this game, Luneau stepped up and played a total of 25:31 TOI. He’s not only an NHL-ready prospect, but he’s primed to make tangible contributions at the NHL level, and he did just that in this game.
He made a poor read on a loose puck in neutral ice that led to the Sharks’ second goal, but was otherwise a meaningful puck-mover, igniting the Ducks’ first goal, setting up their fourth, and potting their sixth. He’s shown to be knowledgeable of angles, capable of evading forechecks, and is creative and powerful on the offensive side of the puck. Further reps will lead to better decision-making and will likely increase his overall impact by the end of the season.
The Ducks will continue training camp on Tuesday before playing back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday at Honda Center and against the San Jose Sharks in San Jose on Thursday.
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