Prospect Update: Maxim Golod

By Thomas Harrington

An undrafted junior player, the Ducks signed Maxim Golod last October and he spent the year playing in the ECHL and AHL.

In the ECHL, Golod played for the Tulsa Oilers and scored two goals and seven points in 10 games. With the Gulls, he played in 16 games and scored one goal and five points. His lone goal ended up being the gamewinner in a game against Ontario. Despite recording only five points, he had two multi-point games this past season. He played on all four forward lines but didn’t see much special teams play. He did not play in any of San Diego’s three playoff games.

Golod didn’t quite meet the expectations that I set for him from a year ago. That’s partially because of the pandemic impacting how many games he played, and partially because I set my expectations for an undrafted player coming out of juniors a little too high. He did play some in San Diego’s top two forward lines, but also saw plenty of action on their bottom two lines.

My lone expectation for Golod is very simple for this coming season: play the entire year in the AHL. He doesn’t have to be in the lineup every night, but I don’t want him being assigned to the ECHL. He’s got enough skill to put up some points in the AHL, but he’s going to need to show it this season.

Golod is still a number of years away from making it to the NHL. The Ducks are deep enough at left wing that he shouldn’t be needed this year. If Anaheim does need to take wingers from the Gulls, veterans like Vinni Lettieri, Sam Carrick, or Danny O’Regan or other prospects like Brayden Tracey or Bryce Kindopp would probably be called up first. However, if Golod can become an AHL regular and be one of the Gulls’ more dangerous forwards, he could have a shot at the NHL sometime in the next couple of years.

Golod has two years left on his entry-level contract, and he’ll be a restricted free agent when it’s over. If he progresses and becomes a dangerous player with the Gulls or makes his NHL debut with the Ducks, I expect him to be re-signed in two years time. However, if spends most of the next couple of seasons in the ECHL or on San Diego’s fourth line, Anaheim will probably not qualify him and let him become a free agent.

The next prospect update will be on Artyom Galimov.

Related Articles:

Prospect Update: Bryce Kindopp

Prospect Update: Ian Moore

Prospect Update: Olle Eriksson Ek

Prospect Update: Thimo Nickl

Prospect Update: Roman Durny

Prospect Update: Axel Andersson

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September 22nd, 2021