Ducks RFAs: Who Did and Didn't Receive Qualifying Offers

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The list of restricted free agents (RFA) in the Anaheim Ducks organization in the offseason of 2024 was long. Seven NHL players and four AHL players needed to be extended or given qualifying offers before 2 pm PST on Sunday or their rights would be forgone, rendering them UFAs and eligible to sign with any team.

Heading into Sunday, Isac Lundestrom, Max Jones, Bo Groulx, Brett Leason, Urho Vaakanainen, Gustav Lindstrom, and Jackson LaCombe from the Ducks' NHL roster needed QOs, and from the Gulls' AHL roster, Brayden Tracey, Blake McLaughlin, Nikita Nesterenko, and Pavol Regenda.

Just before the 2 pm deadline, Lundestrom signed a one-year, $1.5 million extension with the Ducks.

How The Offseason Stacks Up for Ducks RFA Isac Lundestrom

Hours after the deadline to extend qualifying offers, Eric Stephens of The Athletic reported the players who received them from the Ducks organization.

Who Received a QO

Three of the remaining ten RFAs received qualifying offers from the Ducks.

Jackson LaCombe

LaCombe (23) received a qualifying offer worth $874,125 on Sunday. The left-shot defenseman was the only RFA from the NHL roster who didn't have arbitration rights.

How The Offseason Stacks Up for RFA Jackson LaCombe

After his senior season at the University of Minnesota, LaCombe signed his two-year ELC at the end of the 2022-23 season and played two games for the Anaheim Ducks.

2023-24 was the former second-round pick's (39th overall in 2019) rookie year. He played 71 games, scored two goals, and added 15 assists while averaging 19:22 TOI per game.

LaCombe played up and down the lineup and on both sides of the blueline. He has tremendous two-way instincts, an above-average first pass, and an active defensive stick.

He will likely remain a sixth or seventh defenseman on the Ducks roster in 2024-25.

Nikita Nesterenko

Nesterenko (22) received a $874,125 qualifying offer on Sunday following his first season in the AHL as a member of the San Diego Gulls.

Nesterenko was acquired at the 2023 trade deadline in a deal that sent defenseman John Klingberg to the Minnesota Wild.

The former sixth-round pick (172nd in '19) signed his ELC following his Junior season at Boston College, where he scored 34 points in 36 games alongside fellow Ducks young forward Cutter Gauthier.

Nesterenko played 70 games in the AHL for the Gulls in 2023-24, tallying 16 goals and 21 assists.

Improving as the year progressed, the young forward displayed his creativity, transition acumen, and quick release.

In 2024-25, he will likely see more than the three NHL games he saw last season and could provide the Ducks some of the depth-scoring general manager Pat Verbeek is in search of.

Pavol Regenda

Regenda (24) received a $813,750 qualifying offer on Sunday following his second full season in the AHL.

Regenda was signed to an ELC before the 2022-23 season out of the Slovakian professional league, where he had a successful two-year career.

The 6-foot-3 winger impressed at the 2022 Olympics and World Championships, where he represented Slovakia and scored four points in seven  Olympic games and six points in eight World Championship games.

In two seasons with the Gulls in the AHL, Regenda has tallied 59 points in 104 games. He's played a total of 19 NHL games, scoring three points.

Regenda has a nose for the net, works hard to get to dangerous areas of the offensive zone, and is a presence on the forecheck.

Verbeek has stated his desire for bottom-six scoring and Regenda could contribute in that aspect.

Who Didn't Receive a QO

Seven players were left without having been extended a qualifying offer by the Ducks on Sunday.

Max Jones

Jones (26) was one of the longer-tenured Duck on the 2023-24 roster. Not receiving a QO was the most likely outcome as it would have come in at $1.5 million.

How The Offseason Stacks Up for Ducks RFA Max Jones

The former first-round pick (24th in '16) could never seem to get his development off the ground as he was often bitten by the injury bug.

Jones has totaled 62 points in 258 career NHL games and will likely fill a high-pressure depth forechecking role for an opposing team in 2024-25.

Bo Groulx

Groulx (24) was unable to earn a consistent spot in the lineup for the Ducks in 2023-24, his rookie year.

How The Offseason Stacks Up for Bo Groulx

The former second-round pick (54th in '18) only managed two assists in 45 games for the Ducks last season but had been a productive member of the Gulls during the previous three. He has 90 points in 145 career AHL games.

Groulx's NHL future is uncertain, but he can play a top AHL role in his career if he doesn't forge a path forward as a depth center in the NHL.

Brayden Tracey

Tracey (23) never found a way to crack the Ducks roster since he was drafted (29th in'19) in the first round five years ago.

The forward had a tough time finding consistency with the San Diego Gulls in his four years there, playing for a different head coach in each season. He produced 84 points in 184 career games for the Gulls. He played a single game in the NHL at the end of the 2021-22 season but hadn't been called up since.

The six-foot winger flashes a good deal of small-area skill and tenacity. He could eventually earn a shot with another franchise and be given the opportunity to stick in the NHL in a depth role.

Blake McLaughlin

McLaughlin (24) has had a tough time transitioning to professional hockey since the conclusion of his NCAA career at the University of Minnesota.

The 5-foot-11 forward only managed to produce three points in 60 career AHL games. In 64 career ECHL games, he found a more consistent role and has tallied 59 points.

McLaughlin is shifty and skilled in transition but will need to learn to adapt to stronger, faster players in the AHL if he is to earn another shot at that level.

Brett Leason

Leason (25) seemed to have found his footing in the NHL with the Ducks in 2023-24. He was claimed before the 2022-23 season from the Washington Capitals who had drafted him in the second round (56th in '19) five years ago.

How The Offseason Stacks Up for Ducks RFA Brett Leason

The 6-foot-5 winger scored 11 goals and 11 assists in 68 games for the Ducks in 2023-24 and was featured on the penalty kill for most of the season.

He likely earned himself another shot with an NHL club with his performance last season. His transition and forechecking skills will help a team with their depth production in the right environment.

Urho Vaakanainen

Vaakanainen (25) finally was able to stay healthy for an entire season and was the Ducks nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.

How The Offseason Stacks Up for Ducks RFA Urho Vaakanainen

Vaakanainen (18th in '17) was acquired by the Ducks at the 2022 trade deadline as a piece of the return from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Hampus Lindholm.

The smooth-skating left-shot defenseman played 68 games for the Ducks in 2023-24, displaying quality defensive awareness and tallying a goal and 13 assists.

He could find a home with an NHL club as a sixth or seventh defenseman and eat depth minutes.

Gustav Lindstrom

Though he was one of only a few right-shot defensemen in the Ducks' organization, they decided not to offer Lindstrom (25) a QO on Sunday.

How the Offseason Stacks Up for Ducks RFA Gustav Lindstrom

Lindstrom (38th in '17) was claimed off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens on Jan 10 and played 32 games for the Ducks in 2023-24, where he produced six assists.

Lindstrom provides quality defensive fundamentals and won't negatively affect his team when on the ice.

He, like Vaakanainen, could provide a depth option for a team in need of a right-shot sixth or seventh defenseman.

NHL Free agency opens at 9 am PST on Monday, July 1, so it will be interesting to monitor how Pat Verbeek and the Ducks fill out their organization depth chart this offseason.

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