Injuries Have Redefined Ducks Goalie Situation

It's been a difficult few years for John Gibson and the Anaheim Ducks. Once considered one of the NHL's top goaltenders on a Stanley Cup contender, Gibson and the Ducks have both struggled to fight their own declines. Gibson's battled injuries and playing behind one of the worst performing teams in the league, and he enters the 2024-2025 season dealing with injuries again.

The Ducks announced that Gibson will miss roughly a month to six weeks after having an appendectomy. The surgery will keep the veteran net minder out through the start of the regular season. Despite appearing in at least 50 games in five of the last six seasons, Gibson's been repeatedly hampered by various ailments the last few years.

Without their most tenured player, the Ducks will turn to 24-year-old goalie Lukas Dostal to play most, if not all, of the team's first 14 games. Dostal enters his fourth professional season and third full-time with the team. Last year he played in 44 games, starting 38 and posting a respectable save percentage of .902%. Behind him are very limited options, with only one other goalie in the entire organization with any NHL experience.

The good thing for the Ducks is that Dostal is coming off the best six month stretch of his professional career. After shouldering the loads down the stretch for the Ducks last season, he backstopped his native Czechia to a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Championships. He went 6-2 over the tournament with a save percentage .939% and named a finalist for the tournament MVP. If he can continue it into the start of the season it might mean the end of Gibson as the Ducks' starting net minder.

Now at 24, he's a few years older than Gibson was when he was given the keys to the Ducks' net during the 2015-2016 campaign. While Dostal isn't the same blue-chip young player his goaltending partner was at 22, he's made considerable strides over the last three years. Going from 19 starts his first full season with the Ducks to 38 starts last season, his game has steadied despite a mediocre team in front. He's ready for 50 starts or more, and with Gibson out, Dostal might have the perfect opportunity to firmly take hold of the starting job in Anaheim.