The NHL Draft Combine is now in the books, as it stretched from June 2 through June 7, during which teams conducted interviews with upcoming draft-eligible prospects and saw them go through various exercises and measurements.
The 2025 combine may have carried slightly more weight than in years past, as it is the last league event before the draft, where scouts and front offices from every team would be together, in the same vicinity. The 2025 NHL Entry Draft will be the first decentralized draft, so typical face-to-face dealings won’t be as present this year.
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The draft is scheduled for June 27 and 28, with free agency starting on July 1. Rumors and speculation drive conversation at this time of year and take on new life.
The Anaheim Ducks have a projected $38.69 million in cap space for the 2025-26 season and plan to be aggressive in pursuit of their first playoff appearance since 2017-18.
Four players have made their way into speculative conversation and rumors this offseason and could be intriguing additions for the Ducks, who are looking to take significant steps toward sustained contention: Jason Robertson, Martin Necas, Marco Rossi, and K’Andre Miller.
Jason Robertson
Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek speculated on the availability of the Dallas Stars forward in his “The Sheet Blog” on June 2. Dallas has just under $5 million in cap space ($4.96 million) heading into the summer with only 16 players under contract for 2025-26.
Robertson (25) has one year remaining on his contract, which carries an AAV of $7.75 million, and will become an RFA upon expiry, with his UFA years commencing in 2027. If they don’t think he’s interested in remaining with the club on a long-term basis and feel they can disperse his cap hit more economically throughout their lineup, they could theoretically command a tremendous haul for the 25-year-old winger, as his value will likely never be higher.
Robertson is a native of Arcadia, CA, roughly 35 miles from Honda Center, and is one of the more consistent star players in the NHL. He’s only missed 12 regular season games in his five-year NHL career and is a lock for at least 80 points year in and year out, and he eclipsed the 100-point mark in 2022-23.
The only aspect of Robertson’s game that could be considered a flaw is his skating, but he does incredibly well to mitigate that with some of the highest hockey IQ and skill in the NHL. If the Ducks have interest, he would raise the tide of one of the youngest and most talented forward groups in the league and could fit seamlessly next to a center like Leo Carlsson or Mason McTavish.
Martin Necas
SportsNet’s Nick Kypreos added the Colorado Avalanche forward to his first offseason trade board on June 2, stating there “was a sense Necas wasn’t overly thrilled with his experience in Colorado and that he wants to explore other options.”
Necas (26) was traded from the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24 in a deal that sent superstar forward Mikko Rantanen to the Canes. Necas has one year remaining on his current contract, which carries an AAV of $6.5 million and will make him a UFA upon its expiry. Colorado has a projected $1.2 million in cap space heading into next season, with 19 players under contract. The Avs recently signed center Brock Nelson to a three-year contract extension with an AAV of $7.5 million.
Necas finished the 2024-25 season with a career high 83 points (27-56=83) in 70 games, including 28 points (11-17=28) in 30 with Colorado after he was traded. He added five points (1-4=5) in seven playoff games. It’s been speculated that Necas may want to become a full-time center despite playing on the wing for the majority of his career.
Carolina doesn’t play a system that lends itself to gaudy individual point totals, like some other teams around the league, but Necas had been able to eclipse the 70-point mark once in his career and was well on his way again in 2024-25 before his trade.
He’s a rare combination of speed and skill who had to round out his 200-foot game in Carolina. He’s as tenacious as he is creative and works to manufacture his own looks and gets pucks to dangerous ice at will.
If he’s dead set on becoming a long-term center, his addition would be a somewhat awkward fit in Anaheim, as they would be adding another top-nine center who likely doesn’t have the defensive capability to take on shutdown responsibilities, a significant need on the Ducks roster.
However awkward the fit, an exception can and should likely be made for a talent like Necas, a 2024 World Championship gold medal-winning teammate of current Ducks Lukas Dostal and Radko Gudas. He was also Dostal’s teammate at the 2019 World Junior Championship.
Marco Rossi
It’s been long-reported that the Minnesota Wild and Rossi (23) don’t see eye-to-eye in terms of his role on the team and his deserved contract. He was demoted to a fourth-line role in the 2025 playoffs, where he still managed to score three points (1-2=3) in six games while averaging 11:08 TOI, after a sophomore season that saw him tally 60 points (24-36=60) in 82 games.
Rossi heads into the 2025 offseason in need of a new contract, as his ELC has now expired. He’s an RFA under team control until his UFA years start in 2029.
He possesses every tool a successful NHL team needs down the middle: speed, skill, tenacity, and defensive fundamentals. His only perceived drawback is his height, as he’s plenty solid at 193 pounds, but only stands 5-foot-9.
Like if Necas were to switch to center, Rossi’s potential fit on the Ducks roster could be awkward, but it never hurts to add such a talent. Another potential drawback could be that Rossi’s agent reiterated on June 3 that a bridge deal “no longer makes sense” for the young Austrian center. Verbeek has stated his penchant for bridge deals when it comes to players coming off their ELCs.
K’Andre Miller
Cam Robinson from Elite Prospects reported that the New York Rangers “have let teams know he’s available,” and there “appears to be significant interest” in the 25-year-old defenseman. Robinson also reported that Miller’s name “keeps popping up” at the Draft Combine, and teams are weighing whether they want to pursue a trade or go the offer sheet route.
Miller is an RFA with arbitration rights and is two years from UFA status in the summer of 2027. He just wrapped up his fifth season in the NHL for the Rangers, who have $8.42 million in cap space with 19 players under contract, but they feel the need for significant changes to their roster before next season.
Stylistically, Miller could fill a specific need and round out the Ducks’ blueline perfectly. He’s a big-bodied (6-foot-5, 210 pounds) defensive-oriented defenseman who has exceptional four-way mobility and is a capable puck-mover. He set a career high for points in 2022-23 with 43 (9-34=43) in 79 games and has only missed 14 games in his five-year NHL career. He led the Rangers in TOI on the penalty kill in 2024-25, who ranked 11th in the NHL by killing at an 80.3% clip.
The 2024-25 Ducks were inconsistent with their desire to ice a nightly lineup with three right and three left-shot defensemen on their blueline. If handedness is less of an issue under newly-hired head coach Quenneville, Miller’s fit is undeniable. The two participating teams in the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, are each deploying bluelines with four left-shot and two right-shot defensemen.
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Photo Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
