The Anaheim Ducks have the best goaltending tandem in the NHL. They are .500 (24-24-6) for the first time since Dec. 1 despite all team statistics, both traditional and underlying, remaining toward the bottom of the league.
A year after their second consecutive season with under 60 points in 2023-24, the foremost reason for the team’s jump in the standings has been between the pipes.
The NHL league-average save percentage (.902) is the lowest it’s been since the NHL returned from lockout in 2005-06. Lukas Dostal (13th) and John Gibson (ninth) are each in the top-13 in terms of SV% among goaltenders with a minimum of 20 starts.
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Dostal (24) has started 30 games, holds a 15-13-4 record, a .911 SV%, and has saved .65 goals above expected per 60 minutes (20.2 total GSAx), good enough for fourth in the NHL.
Not to be outdone, Gibson (31) has started 22 games, holds a 9-9-2 record, a .915 SV%, and has saved .69 goals above expected per 60 minutes (14.6 total GSAx), slotting him just ahead of Dostal at third in the NHL.
On Monday’s edition of his “32 Thoughts” podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported he’d heard two of Gibson’s preferences as a trade destination were the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers.
“One of the things I’d heard during the season was that Gibson’s preferences were Edmonton and Carolina,” Friedman reported. “Carolina, that dance with Gibson has been on and off. I didn’t see it, but someone told me there was talk about the Oilers and Gibson.”
Gibson’s name has been a mainstay on “trade target” lists for as long as recent memory serves. More so this season due to Gibson’s eagerness to find a new home and the Ducks’ willingness to acquiesce to his request.
The Carolina Hurricanes have been a staple of trade discussions with Gibson, but the Oilers’ presence has been peripheral to this point.
Edmonton was one win from a Stanley Cup in 2023-24, with Stuart Skinner (26) as their starter for 57 games (36-16-5) with a SV% of .905 and saving 2.0 goals above expected. In the playoffs, he had a .901 SV% and saved 1.9 goals above expected.
To date in 2024-25, Skinner has started 37 of the Oilers’ 55 games (20-12-4), has a .901 SV%, and has saved -1.7 goals above expected.
“The one thing I kind of heard is that Gibson wants a situation where he’s going to be the number one, and it’s sort of going to be his job,” Friedman continued. “He wants to be the guy, and I don’t know if a Gibson/Skinner duo is going to work for him. I think Gibson wants the chance to go on a run and prove he can be the guy on a top team. So if it’s the Gibson/Skinner combo, I’m not sure that’s going to appeal to him.”
During the 2022-23 season, the Oilers inked Skinner to a three-year contract extension that carries an AAV of $2.6 million and will expire following the 2025-26 season, when he’ll hit UFA status.
The Oilers have deployed Skinner as their starter for six playoff series now and if they are unconvinced he can get them over the hump, Gibson is one of a limited selection of goaltenders potentially available through trade.
Gibson’s contract and underwhelming numbers have caused potential suitors to pause when discussing him as a potential upgrade in net. His numbers are the best they’ve been in a half-decade, but his contract still has two years left after 2024-25 and an AAV of $6.4 million. A significantly rising cap may alleviate some concern in that regard as well.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek has reportedly set the price of acquisition high for Gibson and isn’t interested in retaining salary for cheap.
Due to their current salary cap situation, market, and how he’s performed in tandem with Dostal, for as much as the Ducks would like to grant Gibson his wishes, there isn’t a reason for the team to accept a less-than-significant price for the talented netminder.
Gibson is fresh off his 500th career start and 202nd win (second on the Ducks’ all-time list) when he backstopped the Ducks to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Anaheim’s goaltending pipeline is thin behind Gibson and Dostal, so a Gibson trade would likely require a goaltender heading to the Ducks as part of a potential deal. Calvin Pickard’s contract is set to expire after the 2025-26 season and carries a modest $1 million cap hit.
Perhaps as the trade deadline nears, cup-contending teams like Edmonton, Carolina, or another emerging dark-horse win-now team could push their chips to the center of the table and meet Verbeek at his asking price.
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