Ducks take teammates Warren, Luneau
In the end, the Ducks made their selections in the NHL entry draft at Montreal’s Bell Centre, adding to their already deep prospect pool, and then packed their bags and headed for home. They didn’t swing a trade, but simply took their eight picks over an eventful two days Thursday and Friday.
Pat Verbeek, in his first draft as the Ducks’ general manager since taking over for Bob Murray on Feb. 3, strengthened the organization’s depth on defense and bolstered its overall size and skill. Three of the Ducks’ top four picks were defensemen. Two were from the same junior team.
On Day 2, they picked defensemen Noah Warren and Tristan Luneau, teammates with Gatineau of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, in the second round. Like their first-round picks, defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and center Nathan Gaucher, they’re expected to play juniors next season.
“The fact they were teammates had nothing to do with it,” Ducks assistant general manager and draft czar Martin Madden
DUCKS’ SECOND-DAY SELECTIONS
Pick 42: Noah Warren, D, Gatineau (QMJHL)
Pick 53: Tristan Luneau, D, Gatineau (QMJHL)
Pick 107: Ben King, C, Red Deer (WHL)
Pick 139: Connor Hvidston, LW, Swift Current (WHL)
Pick 154: Michael Callow, RW, St. Sebastians High School (Mass.)
Pick 178: Vyacheslav Buteyets, G, Chelmet (Russia)
told reporters in Montreal of selecting Warren and Luneau with the 42nd and 53rd overall picks.
It simply worked out that way.
“Two completely different players,” Madden said. “Noah is a prototypical defenseman. Huge frame. Greatly mobile. Physical . ... We don’t have anyone like that in our system . ... (Luneau) is a really smart defenseman. He can really move the puck. We’re really happy to select him.”
Warren’s mother, Magalie, was once a nationally ranked swimmer in Canada and his grandfather, Raynald Boutin, was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the ninth round in 1972. Boutin, a goaltender, played for three seasons in the minor leagues but never appeared in an NHL game.
No question, the Ducks coveted skilled players, but size mattered, too.
Warren, listed by the NHL at 6-foot-5 and 224 pounds, had five goals and 19 assists in 62 games in 2021-22. Luneau, 6-2, 189, had 12 goals and 31 assists in 63 games. The Ducks’ first-round picks certainly aren’t small in stature, either. Mintyukov is 6-1, 197 and Gaucher is 6-3, 207.
Mintyukov is the shortest of the Ducks’ eight picks.
“I think Pat’s been pretty clear about that from the time he took the job,” Madden said of seeking size in the draft. “We saw the reasons why in the playoffs. You look at those two teams in the Final (Colorado and Tampa Bay). You need competitive people, you need smart people and you need size. It was part of the strategy.”
The Ducks didn’t have a third-round pick, but selected Ben King, a highscoring center from Red Deer (Alberta) of the Western Hockey League, in the fourth round (107th). King, 6-2, 205, scored a leagueleading 52 goals this past season and was second with 105 points.
In the fifth round, the Ducks drafted Connor Hvidston, a left wing from Swift Current (Saskatchewan) of the WHL (139th), and Michael Callow, a right wing who has committed to play at Harvard next fall (154th). They also selected Russian goalie Vyacheslav Buteyets in the sixth round (178th).
The Ducks didn’t have a seventh-round pick.
“We’re really happy with the way it unfolded from start to finish,” Madden said of the draft. “Sometimes you plan a draft and we go through our different wishes and desires and it doesn’t work out. The list hands you a few players you didn’t think you were going to get. Your list gets hammered and you’re disappointed. This week was really kind to us, I think. We’re really pleased with the outcome.”
The next order of business for the Ducks is the opening of their developmental camp Monday at Great Park Ice in Irvine, where they will begin to see their draft picks in an up-close setting. Free agency begins Wednesday, another chance to continue their rebuilding project.