The five best Anaheim Ducks moments from the 2025-26 season

Rewind a year ago to last summer, when Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek's expectation and mandate was for the team to make the playoffs. Even to the most diehard of Ducks fans, the notion seemed ludicrous at best, despite the makings of solid young core that had yet to realize their full potential. Playoffs seemed like the best-case scenario and with a new head coach in tow, even just a step toward progress would be considered a win. The Ducks knocked those expectations out of the park in the 2025-26 season, which were highlighted by some strong individual performances and setting marks that the franchise had not seen in years.

Rookie shined from start to finish

With hindsight being what it is, the notion of Beckett Sennecke not being a permanent fixture on the Ducks roster, seems preposterous today. However, there was much consternation about Sennecke's ability to play a complete game. He had the skill and the offensive touch, but his decision making and play away from the puck gave some pause for concern. Even though the Ducks may have lost their season opener to the Seattle Kraken, Sennecke made a definite first impression.

Despite his early season warts, Sennecke never left the lineup and finished the season with 60 points (23 goals, 37 assists), good enough for third in Calder Trophy voting.

Pugilist was the champ for a day

Ross Johnston had drawn the ire of Ducks fans for a few seasons, not thrilled with his lack of production and propensity to drop the gloves at the most inopportune times or knack for taking a bad penalty. But for one game, Johnston proved the naysayers wrong.

Three points, a Gordie Howe hat trick, and a cool Bombay jacket to boot. Those three points from Johnston were not only a season high but were almost a quarter of his season total of 14. That performance, undoubtedly, ingratiated Johnston with the coaching staff, but also played a factor in his role during the postseason as well.

Beat LA

Nothing is sweeter to Ducks fans, than the tears of Kings fans, and in their annual Freeway Faceoff on Black Friday, the Ducks dethroned their rivals.

In the moment, the Ducks had built themselves a temporary lead on their bitter division rivals. When the season wound down though, that win could have been the difference between a first round matchup against the Colorado Avalanche (which the Kings loss) or the Edmonton Oilers.

41

Cutter Gauthier was supposed to provide an extra boost to a Ducks offense that was in dire need of a true sniper. While his previous season in Anaheim was fine, 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games, Gauthier needed to hit another level in his development, if the Ducks wanted to take that next step. And Gauthier delivered in spades.

By exceeding the 40-goal plateau, Gauthier had accomplished a feat no other Ducks skater had, since prime age Corey Perry in 2013-14. With his final goal of the 2025-26 regular season, not only did Gauthier cement his place in Ducks franchise history but he helped catapult the team to its first playoff berth in years. Speaking of which...

A crude sendoff

Eight years in the making. Eight arduous years of a rebuild that took too long to get started and horrible coaching decisions that only exacerbated the problem. But when the Ducks finally took that first step into their new playoff window, they not only had to face off against the aforementioned Oilers but arguably, the best player in the world, Connor McDavid. The Ducks may have been talented, but were underdogs heading into their first-round series against the Oilers. Led by Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Gauthier, and Sennecke, the new core of the Ducks not only downed the Oilers in six games but sent out a message to the rest of the NHL, that the Ducks have arrived.

Only three Ducks skaters did not register a point in the series against the Oilers. And while the Ducks ultimately lost in the second round to eventual Stanley Cup runner ups in the Vegas Golden Knights, the Ducks set the bar for what kind of team they can be going forward.

And yes, that was a goal.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow