Anaheim willing to do something unprecedented to get Gibson deal done

The Anaheim Ducks are a promising young team that struggled for much of the 2021-22 National Hockey League regular season. It appears that from that they're willing to part with a one time franchise cornerstone in goaltender John Gibson.

According to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, the Ducks are willing to do something unprecedented in order to get a deal for Gibson done. Retain part of his salary, if it means getting a bigger return in a trade for the star goaltender. Salary retention isn't unprecedented, but being willing to retain salary for 5 years is something that just doesn't happen in the NHL.


Gibson has fallen off a little during the last 3 seasons, but that's mostly because he's playing on a Ducks team that doesn't have much to show in the way of defence. Last season he had a record of 18-26-11 with 1 shutout, a 3.19 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. A far cry from 2017-18 version of John Gibson.


However at 28, he's seemingly still going into the prime years of his career as a goaltender, if Anaheim can get a deal done with a decent return and some salary retention, I see no reason on the right team why Gibson can't return to form. Perhaps now that the Ducks are willing to eat a portion of his salary, teams should be lining up to take the once star goaltender off their hands.

One thing is for certain, John Gibson's days in Anaheim are likely numbered.