Comtois isn't sweating Monday's trade deadline

What, Max Comtois worry?

“I just think it's kind of funny,” Comtois said Thursday.

The NHL's trade deadline is Monday, and there has been plenty of speculation he could be on the move as Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek gets his first chance to remake the roster. It's been suggested that Comtois could use a change of scenery during a rocky 2021-22 season.

“If it happens, it happens,” Comtois said. “It's part of the business.”

Verbeek made his first move this past Monday by trading potential unrestricted free agent defenseman Josh Manson to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Drew Helleson and a second-round draft pick in 2023. Verbeek couldn't (or wouldn't) sign Manson to a contract extension.

So he traded him.

Defenseman Hampus Lindholm and right wing Rickard Rakell, two other pending unrestricted free agents, also could be traded if extensions cannot be hammered out before Monday.

Comtois, a 23-year-old left wing, is signed through next season at a relatively modest $2 million per year.

“I just think it's the fun part of the year, honestly,” Comtois said of the days leading up to the trade deadline. “Ever since I grew up, it was the one part of the year that I would just watch on TV. I'd look at all the names that were going around and there's always a lot of rumors.

“I think it's pretty funny. I have no control. I'm just trying to play my game. I've

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had a pretty hard season. I'm trying to turn things around and that's just the main focus right now . ... I don't know why that `change of scenery' would be good for me. I'm in a good space here.”

In 2020-21, Comtois led the Ducks with 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games during the pandemic-shortened, 56-game season. In 2021-22, he has only three goals and 10 points in 37 games, sidelined by hand surgery and by COVID-19 for extended periods, and also by Ducks coach Dallas Eakins.

However, after he was held out of several games for performance-related reasons, Comtois has taken advantage of a chance to play on the Ducks' top line, joining center Adam Henrique and right wing Troy Terry. Henrique has shifted into a spot vacated by an injured Ryan Getzlaf.

Comtois has moved into Henrique's position and has one goal and three assists in his past six games.

“I think he's getting better every night,” Eakins said of Comtois. “It's been a tough year for that young man. With that comes a lot of different emotions, a lot of swings in confidence and, I think, a lot of secondguessing. … I think it's really helped him to play with Adam Henrique.”

Jones skates, not close to return

Left wing Max Jones skated before his teammates began their practice at Great Park Ice, the first time he's been on the ice since suffering a torn chest muscle in an Oct. 18 game against the Calgary Flames. He isn't expected to play until “late next month,” according to Eakins.