The Ducks were one of the NHL’s top stories early this season. At 16-9-1 going into Wednesday’s home game against the Utah Mammoth, the Ducks have been able to find that success despite mounting injuries in net.
But Anaheim’s injury picture also meant changes for their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
Let’s recap the last two weeks for Anaheim and San Diego’s goaltending depth chart.
Anaheim had spent the first six weeks of the NHL season with a Lukas Dostal-Petr Mrazek tandem in net. But Dostal, who last played on Nov. 22, is out due to an upper-body injury, according to Anaheim’s website.
That Dostal injury prompted Anaheim to recall Ville Husso from the Gulls on November 26. Anaheim acquired Husso from the Detroit Red Wings on February 24 for future consideration. The new relationship quickly became meaningful for both goaltender and team. Husso is now 30, but he finished last season splitting time between Anaheim and San Diego. By bringing in Husso, who had played 56 games for Detroit in the 2022/2023 season, Anaheim had found solid insurance in net. But Husso’s play had dipped significantly in Detroit, and he had had to fight for playing time with the Grand Rapids Griffins last season. Anaheim gave Husso a two-year contract extension two days ago last June.
So it became a Mrazek-Husso duo in Anaheim during Dostal’s absence. At least until last Sunday night in Chicago. At that point, Mrazek left the game in the third period. Husso finished on the heels of an eventual 5-3 defeat. With Mrazek’s lower-body injury sidelining him and a game the next night in St. Louis, the Ducks had to look for goaltending reinforcements.
Next came Vyacheslav Buteyets, who played all three games at the AHL level this season and seven more with the Anaheim organization’s ECHL affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers. Buteyets came up, Dostal went on injured reserve and it became a Husso-Buteyets tandem for Anaheim. Husso came through in St. Louis, making 21 stops in a 4-1 win.
Buteyets, 23, came to the Ducks as a 2022 sixth-round pick. With one game of experience in the KHL in 2023-24, he made the move to North America and played 36 games for Tulsa last season, while also making two appearances for San Diego. He finished with 19-13-3 | 2.82 | .905 with Tulsa and also played five games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
But Buteyets was barely used to San Diego this season before Anaheim came calling. He recorded his first career AHL win with 39 saves last Wednesday in Tucson, but took a 5-0 loss at home to the Coachella Valley Firebirds two nights later. Husso surrendered four goals to Utah in the first 40 minutes on Wednesday night before Buteyets made his NHL debut in relief. He allowed three goals on 13 shots in a 7-0 loss.
Now in the mix for San Diego is Tomas Suchanek, who had a strong debut season with the Gulls in 2023-24. But a torn ACL, suffered during offseason workouts in the summer of 2024, cost him the entire 2024-2025 season. Anaheim’s management chose to give 22-year-old Suchanek playing time at Tulsa. Suchanek hit 3-2-0 | 3.44 | .909 in six games with Tulsa. Husso’s recall last week prompted San Diego to move Suchanek to the AHL level.
Calle Clang, a 2020 third-round selection, has played a total of 63 games for San Diego over the past two seasons. But he has been limited to three AHL appearances this season, the last of which came on November 8. The Gulls announced on November 11 that Clang was taking a leave of absence.
It is unknown when Clang could return, and the Gulls have made no moves to add a goaltender so far this week. San Diego is eighth in the Pacific Division and is 7-6-5-0 after 18 games. The second quarter of the team’s season begins Friday evening with the visit of the Texas Stars.
2025 Texas Stars vs. San Diego Gulls
That match starts a hectic December period in which the team plays 11 matches in 27 evenings. Suchanek’s last AHL game took place on April 21, 2024, but he could now be in for an exceptionally busy month.
The Ducks must survive until their two regular goalies return. The seagulls do that too.
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