Young Ducks prospects try to impress

Jones and Steel, each 19, get playing time and experience in exhibition.

ARIZONA 5 DUCKS 1

When you’re a Stanley Cup contender, roster spots are hard to come by for young players, even when they are first-round draft picks.

That’s the reality facing 2016 selections Max Jones and Sam Steel, forwards at a second consecutive Ducks training camp who, barring an upset, are probably headed back to their respective junior league squads.

Still, they were battling to stave off a departure from Southern California back to Canada. For Jones, to London of the Ontario Hockey League. For Steel, to Regina of the Western Hockey League.

They made their 2017 preseason debut Wednesday and it was Jones who stood out at Honda Center.

The 19-year-old gave fans a glimpse of his talent early in the Ducks’ 5-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes with a backhanded power-play goal on a rebound off goalie Louis Domingue. He flashed on defense, too, with an advanced 200-foot game for a player who has yet to taste professional regular-season ice time.

But the 6-foot-3 power forward had two stick infractions, one for slashing and one for hooking.

The Coyotes found the back of the net on the second such one-man advantage.

“I just have to stay humble, and obviously there’s always room for improvement,” said Jones, who was voted the No. 3 star of the game, but acknowledged he’s still learning to play within coach Randy Carlyle’s system.

“There’s a million mistakes I made, tiny mistakes, that I need to be better at and fix.”

Steel, born only 14 days before Jones, didn’t jump off the stat sheet, but he was strong in the circle with a 71% success rate on seven faceoffs.

“You have to just play the best that you can, play your game and try to find my next level because obviously it’s a good team and it’s not easy to make,” said Steel, who was picked 30th overall, six spots after Jones, and led all Canadian Hockey League players in scoring last season with 131 points.

“Obviously, I want to make the team, but I think either situation I end up in is a good situation. But I obviously want to be here so I have to do whatever I can to stay.”

To make the squad, the teenagers must sweat the details and do the dirty work. Carlyle, in particular, was impressed with the execution on the power-play breakout that led to Jones’ goal.

“He directed the puck towards the net and earned the goal because he was in a critical area,” Carlyle said.

But, of course, it wasn’t all good. After all, they’re still learning the pro game.

“They’re young kids getting their feet wet,” Carlyle said. “There’s lots of areas in which we think that they can take some steps forward. But they’re young players who are on a learning curve right now.”

That curve will likely lead back to the juniors up north, but they’ll likely play for the Ducks at some point.

It just probably won’t be this season.