Prospect Update: Chase De Leo

Photo: San Diego Gulls

By Thomas Harrington

Chase De Leo just completed his second season as a member of the Anaheim Ducks organization. He spent most of the year in San Diego but did get a game in the NHL as well.

De Leo’s second season in San Diego didn’t go as well as his first. After scoring 20 goals and 55 points in 66 games in the 2018-2019 season, his totals fell to 10 goals and 25 points in 51 games. He still ranked sixth on the team in points and was tied for eighth on the team in assists, which shows that the entire team struggled to score goals for much of last season. Like the rest of the Gulls, De Leo had a very slow start to the season, recording only one assist in October, and only had a goal and two points through his first 10 games of the season.

Offensively, things just never really clicked for him on a consistent basis. Twice during the season, he had stretches of four points in three games, but these were both followed by several games where he went pointless. He was called up to Anaheim in mid-January and played in one game against Nashville. He was held off the scoresheet and received just under 15 minutes of ice time. He did score a goal in San Diego’s final game of the season before the season was put on pause and then canceled.

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Unfortunately, De Leo fell below the expectations that I had set for him a year ago. While I didn’t expect him to get to the same numbers as he did in his first season in San Diego, I was hoping for at least 15 goals and 45 points. Unless he went on an incredible hot streak, he wasn’t going to come anywhere close to those numbers, especially the 45 points. I was also hoping for more time in the NHL for him. I thought he played fine in his one NHL game this season, but I wanted him to see more NHL action than that.

This coming season, I expect De Leo to spend most of the season in San Diego again. At this point, he’s looking more like an AHL guy who will get an NHL game or two a season. I’d like to see him play a decent number of games in Anaheim, but I think he’ll be one of San Diego’s veteran players, similar to what he was this past season.

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My expectations for De Leo this year are simple: have a much better season than the previous one. If De Leo can have a much better start to the season, there’s a very good chance that the Gulls won’t start the year 0-6. He’s not San Diego’s most important forward, but he’s one of them, and I’m hoping his offensive numbers can reflect that next season.

De Leo is currently a restricted free agent, and I expect him to get an extension, likely a one-year, two-way deal. Unless he can really stand out this coming season, those are probably the kinds of deals he can expect to receive going forward.

The next prospect update will be on Deven Sideroff.

Related Articles:

Prospect Update: Hunter Drew

Prospect Update: Olle Eriksson Ek

Prospect Update: Jack Badini

Prospect Update: Josh Mahura

Prospect Profile: Axel Andersson

Prospect Profile: Bryce Kindopp

Look Back At Last Summer’s Graduated Prospects

Graduated Prospect: Sam Steel

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August 9th, 2020