Three Things in 2025 to Look Forward to for the Ducks

New years bring new possibilities, and optimism is often the foremost emotion felt this time of year.

Anaheim Ducks New Year's Resolutions

With the entirety of 2025 in front of them, the Anaheim Ducks are at a relatively critical point in their franchise's history.

They are currently seventh in the Pacific Division standings and 26th in the overall NHL standings with a 15-17-4 record.

Most of their projected future core is on the NHL roster, and they are 118 games into the tenure of head coach Greg Cronin. In theory, this should be the point in their rebuild where they take a significant step toward contending.

The 2024-25 season has been a bit of a roller coaster with some highs, some lows, the acquisition of a veteran blueliner (Jacob Trouba), and the departure of another (Cam Fowler).

Here are the three biggest things to look forward to in 2025 for the Anaheim Ducks:

Adding Another Top Draft Pick

If the 2024-25 season were to end today, the Ducks would have the eighth-best odds (6% chance) of winning the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery, and with 34 points, they are nine points behind the second wild card spot currently occupied by the Calgary Flames with 43 points.

There's likely too much ground to make up if their intention is to make a push for a playoff spot, and the season would have to take a tremendous nosedive to finish among the Nashville Predators (29 points), San Jose Sharks (28 points), or Chicago Blackhawks (26 points) for top lottery odds.

However, if their results continue to trend the way they have, this season would have been a significant step in the right direction, achieving the goal they set out to accomplish and adding another top-ten draft pick in the process.

If draft consensus among experts is an indication, the tier at the top of the 2025 draft is four players deep and consists of center James Hagens, defenseman Matthew Schaefer, winger Porter Martone, and forward Michael Misa.

Following the "Big Four" players at the top is a second tier that's much more grey but features names like Victor Eklund, Roger McQueen, Anton Frondell, and Jackson Smith, among others who all project to be top-of-the-lineup impact players and will be very much in play for the Ducks should they draft in the 8-10 range.

Adding a player of that caliber will only make one of the top U23 organizational player pools that much more deadly as they make further strides in their build.

2025 Free Agency

The 2024 free agency period was a swing and a miss for general manager Pat Verbeek and the Anaheim Ducks. He did, however, completely swing out of his shoes on July 1, 2024.

A Quiet Start to Free Agency in Anaheim

It has been reported Verbeek offered more term and AAV to Steven Stamkos (four years, $8 million AAV) and Jonathan Marchessault (five years, $5.5 million AAV) than they ultimately signed for with the Nashville Predators.

As of today, the Ducks are projected to enter this year's free agency period with roughly $40 million in cap space (based on a projection of a $92.5 million ceiling).

There are two megastar players without contracts for the 2025-26 season who are set to become UFAs on July 1: forwards Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen.

Below them are all-star quality players like Nikolaj Ehlers and Brock Boeser, who could help round out the Ducks' budding forward group should Verbeek take another big swing this offseason.

Signing a big-name free agent seems an uphill battle unless the Ducks prove they are closer to contending (which they very well may this season), but all it takes to shift the narrative is one of those potential franchise-altering players to put pen to paper.

The (Likely) NHL Debut of Beckett Sennecke

The Anaheim Ducks made a surprise selection with their third-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft when they selected forward Beckett Sennecke from the Oshawa Generals.

Following his selection, Sennecke has done nothing but reaffirm the Ducks' faith in him as a top-three pick.

He has 24 goals and 52 points in 31 games in the OHL in 2024-25, having added 22 points in his last nine games.

Upper Deck 2024 NHL Draft Spotlight: What Beckett Sennecke Brings to the Ducks Organization

Sennecke is a highly motivated and competitive individual who plays at his best when under the most pressure or when he has something to prove.

In his draft year of 2023-24, he started the year off with 24 points in 31 games but drastically improved as the year progressed, finishing with 42 points in his last 32 games and adding 22 in 16 playoff games.

He didn't make Team Canada's initial 2025 World Junior Championship selection camp roster and immediately scored 14 points in his next three games. Following Canada's decision to cut him from the final WJC roster, he answered with eight points in his next five games.

Sennecke is ineligible to play games in the AHL in 2025-26 (unless on a conditioning loan), so if Ducks management feels he's unready for full-time NHL status, he's destined for another year at the OHL level.

His ELC is eligible for the slide rule, which allows him to play nine NHL games before a year is burned. It can be anticipated that the Ducks will fully give him development camp, rookie camp, training camp, preseason, and nine games early in the season to prove he's far too good to be sent back to the OHL.

His dynamic offensive skill, creativity, and involvement would be a welcome addition to a Ducks forward group that has struggled to score goals in the last three seasons.

If the Oshawa Generals face an extremely improbable early exit from the playoffs, Sennecke could even see NHL action at the end of the 2024-25 season.

It's unlikely he'll play the entire 2025-26 season in the NHL, but given his competitive nature, the idea can't be dismissed. However, if his play and progression continue to trend positively, he will likely make his NHL debut at some point in the 2025 calendar year.

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