The Anaheim Ducks have missed the playoffs every year since 2017-18 and in doing so, have drafted in the top ten for seven consecutive seasons and procured one of the NHL’s deepest and most potent prospect pools.
Despite several young players having graduated and become full-time NHLers, such as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger, the Ducks still have an impressive pipeline of potential impact and depth prospects yet to make the jump.
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For this exercise, only players who haven’t lost rookie status are eligible for a ranking, and to be clear, these are my (Patrick Present) subjective rankings.
Honorable Mentions: Yegor Sidorov, Herman Traff, Tarin Smith, Lasse Boelius, Calle Clang
Top Ten:
10. Nathan Gaucher, 21, C, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
9. Ian Moore, 23, RHD, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
8. Sasha Pastujov, 22, W, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
7. Tomas Suchanek, 22, G, San Diego Gulls (AHL)
6. Eric Nilson, 18, C, Michigan State University (NCAA)
Just outside of top-five prospects in the Ducks organization, and coming at number six is a true two-way center selected in the most recent NHL Entry Draft (45th overall in 2025): Eric Nilson.
Nilson comes from an NHL family, as his father, Marcus, is a former first-round pick (20th in ’96) of the Florida Panthers who had a long professional career, playing nine years in the NHL, two in the AHL, ten in the SHL, and a year in the KHL.
“He reminds us a lot of William Karlsson at the same age,” Ducks assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Martin Madden said of Eric Nilson. “Really smart, really competitive, great skill, great edge work, he’s also 165 pounds. So he’s got some work to do in the gym, and he understands that, and that’s why he’s taking the path to go to Michigan State.
“He wanted to get the best program off the ice. That was his focus, and we kind of agree. He’s going to a great spot for him. He’s a good two-way player. He’s the first off the bench on the PK, he’s on the first power play unit for the national team. He’s a hockey player.”
Nilson is as detail-oriented and high-motor as an 18-year-old center gets, drawing comparisons to some of the NHL’s top 200-foot centers like the aforementioned Karlsson, Jake Evans, and Mikael Backlund.
With the puck on his stick, he displays plus-vision as well as an effortlessly quick release, and away from the puck, he’s always in a fundamentally sound defensive position to win a battle should an attack break down.
He stands at only 6-foot and 165 pounds, so to this point, his ability to win board battles has come purely from technique and proper engagement with an active stick, as well as the knowledge to engage through opponents’ hands.
Nilson is an effortlessly terrific skater in small areas, utilizing perfect edges to become as shifty as possible, but could afford to gain power in his straight-line stride.
He’d played the majority of the last two seasons in Sweden’s J20 Nationell division. Most recently, in 2024-25 with Djurgardens IF, where he scored 38 points (12-26=38) in 37 games and added 13 points (6-7=13) in nine playoff games.
His hockey IQ has far exceeded that of most in his age group, but his body will need to catch up desperately. He will make the jump to North America in 2025-26 to play for loaded and young Michigan State University team in the NCAA, where a college hockey schedule should allow him to be in the gym as much as possible, as teams typically only play games on weekends and will only play roughly 35-40 in total.
Nilson is likely several years from making any impact at the NHL level. Still, his defensive prowess, shift-by-shift habits, and work ethic alone will pencil him in for at least 100 NHL games in his career, and if he hits that number, the Ducks made a tremendous selection in the second round.
Anything and everything exceeding that 100-game mark would be icing on the cake, with the smart money being on him achieving that and becoming an effective two-way middle-six forward who can become a quality penalty killer.
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Photo Credit: Derek Lee-The Hockey News
