Ducks 2021 NHL Draft Review

By Thomas Harrington

With five years passed, it’s time to look back at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and how the Ducks did. I believe that five years is enough time to evaluate a draft class. While sometimes it will take longer than this to properly determine if a player will someday make it to the NHL or become an impact NHL player, overall, most will clearly be NHL players or not within 5 years of a draft. That being said, Anaheim’s 2019 draft is a great example of five years not being long enough. Two years ago, I gave the Ducks a B, primarily on how Trevor Zegras was looking; however, I thought the grade could rise if Jackson LaCombe stepped forward in the future. Well, LaCombe really stepped forward and has arguably been Anaheim’s top defenseman for the past two seasons. If I reviewed that draft today, I’d raise the grade because of that.

For the second year in a row, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the NHL Draft. I’d argue that the 2021 draft was impacted even more than the 2020 draft. There were some prospects, including Anaheim’s first pick, who barely played the season before the draft. This made scouting for this draft incredibly difficult, while also impacting player development after they were drafted. As a result, I’ll grade this draft a little easier than other drafts given how little data teams had on these prospects.

I’ll first go over the players who Anaheim selected and take a look at what they’ve done in the past five years, regardless of whether they stayed with the Ducks or not. I’ll then take a look at the rest of the players taken in the same round after Anaheim’s selection to see if the Ducks should have made a different choice. If a player is taken towards the end of a round, then I’ll go 10 picks into the next round as well.

Just because a team found a gem in the sixth round of the draft doesn’t mean Anaheim chose the wrong player a hundred picks earlier; it means that the entire league, including the team who eventually picked that player, missed on that player in the first five rounds of the draft. I’ll also be more critical of players chosen in the first three rounds of a draft than players chosen towards the end of a draft. If Anaheim finds an NHL player in the later rounds, that will also have a bigger impact than not finding an NHL player. If the Ducks find players for San Diego in later rounds, that will have a positive impact on the overall grade.

The Buffalo Sabres held the first overall pick in the draft and they selected defenseman Owen Power. The Seattle Kraken, participating in their first ever entry draft, chose Matty Beniers second overall. The Anaheim Ducks held the third overall pick, the highest selection they’d had in the draft since they chose Bobby Ryan second overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. With the pick, the Ducks selected Mason McTavish. Rounding out the top five, New Jersey chose Luke Hughes fourth overall, and Columbus chose Kent Johnson fifth overall. These first five picks are definitely more of a mixed bag than most top five picks in the draft.

Five years later and this draft is looking good for the Ducks, especially in the context of the pandemic. The Ducks did really well with their first four picks but completely missed on their latter four picks. However, one of those later picks did play for San Diego for three seasons. After McTavish, the Ducks then chose defenseman Olen Zellweger 34th overall, forward Sasha Pastujov 66th overall, defenseman Tyson Hinds 76th overall, forward Josh Lopina 98th overall, forward Sean Tschigerl 130th overall, goaltender Gage Alexander 148th overall, and forward Kyle Kukkonen 162nd overall.

Mason McTavish, Round 1, 3rd Overall

Coming into the draft, McTavish had only played in 13 games in the SL and seven games for Canada’s under-18 team. Despite so few games played in his draft year, the Ducks felt comfortable taking him third overall. The year after being drafted, McTavish played in the NHL, the AHL, the OHL, the World Juniors, and the Olympics. The most games he played in any of those leagues was 29 in the OHL, where he played for both the Peterborough Petes and Hamilton Bulldogs. He suited up for Hamilton in the playoffs, where he scored 16 goals and 29 points in 19 games. McTavish also played at the Memorial Cup, where he scored three goals and five points in two games.

Starting in the 2022-2023 season, McTavish became a fulltime NHL player, and has been a member of the Ducks ever since. His best year came in the 2024-2025 season, when he scored 22 goals and 52 points in 76 games. He took a step back this season, when he scored 17 goals and 41 points in 75 games and was a healthy scratch a couple of times. In his first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, McTavish scored a goal and six points in 10 games and was a healthy scratch a couple of times.

There’s no question, the best forward taken in the first round of this draft was Wyatt Johnston, taken 23rd overall by Dallas. He’s the only player with over 100 career goals and 200 career points. He also has 38 points in 62 playoff games. Beniers is second with 196 points, and Dylan Guenther, taken ninth overall by Arizona, is third with 183 points. McTavish is right behind him with 181 points. Unsurprisingly, Power leads all defensemen in scoring with 140 points.

Despite his dip in play this past season, I’m fine with the Ducks choosing McTavish third overall given how little was known about most of this draft class. Johnston obviously would have been a better pick, but he also played almost no games the year before he was drafted. Guenther would have also been a great pick, but he only played only a dozen games in the WHL before he was drafted. With so few games to view between Johnston, Guenther, and McTavish, I can’t fault the Ducks for going with McTavish. Choosing the fourth highest scorer with the third overall pick is still solid work by Anaheim, especially in light of the pandemic.

Olen Zellweger, Round 2, 34th Overall

Zellweger was another player who had only played in relatively few games in his season before being drafted, suiting up for 11 WHL games and seven for Canada’s under-18 team. After being drafted, he played in 55 WHL games, followed by six playoff games. He then joined the San Diego Gulls and played in one playoff game. Zellweger also played at the World Juniors. In the 2022-2023 season, he once again skated in the WHL and played at the World Juniors again. He twice won the WHL Top Defenseman award, and also won the CHL Defenseman of the Year in 2023. Zellweger split the 2023-2024 season between the NHL and AHL, playing in 26 games for the Ducks and 44 for the Gulls. He also played for Canada at the World Championships.

For the last two seasons, Zellweger has only played in the NHL, getting 62 games in the 2024-2025 season and 76 this past season. He scored seven goals in both seasons, and recorded 20 points and 22 points. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he was a healthy scratch through Anaheim’s first nine games, but suited up for their final three games against Vegas and scored a goal and two points.

Among all players taken in the second round, Matthew Knies, chosen 57th overall by Toronto, leads with 160 points. The only other player to crack 100 points is J.J. Moser who was taken 60th overall by Arizona. Logan Stankoven and Josh Doan are third and fourth in scoring, while Zellweger is tied for fifth with 51 points. Knies had actually played in 44 USHL games the year before he was drafted, so teams knew more about him. However, he was also chosen near the end of the second round, so a lot of teams had passed on him before the Leafs scooped him up. Moser is another who more was known about, as he played in 48 NL games. While Stankoven only played in six WHL games and 7 games for Canada’s under 18 team. Doan suited up for 53 games in the USHL. I believe that Knies, Moser, and Stankoven would have been better picks, and Doan arguably one as well, but Zellweger was still a solid choice by the Ducks. The biggest red flag was him being scratched in the playoffs, but he’s shown he can be a solid top four defenseman who gets time on the power play.

Sasha Pastujov, Round 3, 66th Overall

Unlike McTavish and Zellweger, Pastujov actually played a decent amount of hockey before the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He suited up for 18 games in the USHL and 41 games in the NTDP. So Anaheim and the rest of the NHL had seen significantly more of Pastujov than they had many other prospects. He was drafted to be a scorer, and in the two seasons in the OHL after he was drafted, that’s exactly what he did, scoring 76 points and then 98 points.

In his first professional season, he recorded 23 points in 46 AHL games. The 2024-2025 season didn’t start great for him. Pastujov had a poor training camp and started the season in the ECHL. But after recording 16 points in 12 games, he was back in San Diego, and finished the year with 45 points in 43 games. This past season, he led the Gulls in scoring with 57 points in 71 games, and scored San Diego’s lone goal in its two-game series loss to Colorado.

Tyson Hinds, Round 3, 76th Overall

Hinds was able to play in 33 QMJHL games before being drafted. Not as many as Pastujov, but still a decent amount. Hinds is a defensive defenseman and his offensive totals reflect that. After he was drafted, he recorded 35 points in 61 QMJHL games. In his final year of juniors, his offensive totals exploded to 54 points, whilte also scoring two goals in seven World Juniors games for Team Canada. That year, he won the QMJHL Best Defensive Defenseman award. Hinds turned pro and has spent most of the past three seasons in the AHL playing for San Diego. He’s become one of their more dependable and consistent defensemen, playing 71 games each of his first two seasons.

This past season, Hinds played in only 62 games but recorded a career high 19 points. He was called up to Anaheim and made his NHL debut at the end of the season, going scoreless in six games. When the Stanley Cup Playoffs started, because of his more physical play, Hinds played above Zellweger in the lineup, and recorded an assist in nine games. He was scratched in favor of Zellweger when the Ducks needed more offense from the blueline.

Given how closely Pastujov and Hinds were taken and how few NHL players have come out of the third round, I’m going to combine their comparisons into one paragraph. Ryan Winterton is the 3rd round leader with 89 games played, four goals, 15 assists, and 19 points. No other player from this round has a goal, and Hinds is actually third in games played with six. Unfortunately, Winterton was the player taken immediately after Pastujov. Two players taken shortly after him, Carter Mazur and Stanislav Svozil, have each played a handful of NHL games as well. Aleksei Kolosov leads all goaltenders from this round with five wins in 21 games and was taken shortly after Hinds.

Overall, I don’t think Pastujov was a huge miss; he’s become a very good minor league scorer and it wouldn’t shock me to see him make his NHL debut in the next year or two. However, Winterton probably would have been the better pick. I do think Hinds was the right pick. Kolosov is really the only other player picked after him in this round to have any kind of substantial NHL experience, and his numbers aren’t stellar.

Joshua Lopina, Round 4, 98th Overall

Lopina was another player who played in a decent amount of games before the 2021 NHL Draft, suiting up for UMass for 29 games. After he was drafted, Lopina played one more year of NCAA hockey before turning pro and joining the Gulls. He stayed in San Diego for the next three seasons, with his best year being his sophomore campaign where he recorded 23 points in 69 games. After the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season, Lopina was not issued a qualifying offer by the Ducks and became a free agent. He split time between the AHL and ECHL this past season, suiting up for 43 ECHL games and 16 AHL games. He played in four ECHL playoff games, recording one assist.

Lopina was the second pick of the fourth round. Seven players picked after him have made it to the NHL, with Jackson Blake, selected 109th overall, easily being the best with 39 goals and 87 points in 162 games. Emil Lilleberg would have been another solid pick. He leads this round with 163 games. In an odd twist, the fourth round of this draft is better than the third round. While choosing Lopina over Blake is a clear miss five years later, Blake didn’t play much in his year before the draft, suiting up for 25 USHL games and 19 high school games. Lopina did at least give the Ducks a few AHL seasons.

Sean Tschigerl, Round 5, 130th Overall

Tschigerl played in 21 WHL games the year before he was drafted. After the Ducks drafted him, Tschigerl spent the next three years in the WHL, scoring 58 points, 57 points, and 62 points. After his WHL career ended, Tschigerl moved on to play a season in the USports league, and played for the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the NCAA this past season. Anaheim never signed him to an entry-level contract and let his rights expire, making him a free agent.

Gage Alexander, Round 5, 148th Overall

Alexander played in nine WHL games the year before he was drafted. Alexander had a bit of a whirlwind career after Anaheim selected him. The year after he was drafted was spent in Winnipeg in the WHL. That summer, he was traded to the Swift Current Broncos. Things weren’t working out for him with his new team, so the Ducks had him turn pro and he played in 16 AHL games and six ECHL games to end the season. The following year, he spent entirely in the ECHL, playing 19 games for the Tulsa Oilers. The 2024-2025 season saw him play in only six ECHL games, five for the Reading Royals and one for the Toledo Walleye. This past season he played for Saint Mary’s University in the USports league.

The fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft hasn’t produced a ton of NHL talent, but six of the seven players from this round who did make it to the NHL were all chosen after Tshigrel. However, only two were taken after Alexander. Joshua Roy, taken after both Tschigerl and Alexander, leads the round with six goals and 11 points in 38 games. Not exactly star numbers.

Finding NHL talent in the fifth round is quite difficult and frankly, quite lucky, which was even more true in 2021. That being said, teams are really hoping to find players to give them organizational depth, and really are targeting players to play in the AHL. Tschigerl was never able to do that, making this pick a miss. Alexander was at least able to play in some AHL games, but spent most of his time in the ECHL or on the bench. He’s a miss as well, but I don’t think as big of one as Tschigerl.

Kyle Kukkonen, Round 6, 162nd Overall

The year before he was drafted, Kukkonen played in 61 games across three leagues: 23 in the USHS-MN, 19 in the UMHSEHL, and 19 in the NAHL. After being drafted, Kukkonen spent a year in the USHL playing for the Madison Capitals. He’s spent the last four years playing NCAA hockey. Kukkonen played at Michigan Tech for two seasons, but after a rough sophomore season that saw his point total drop from 27 to 12, he switched to the University of Wisconsin. His junior year saw his numbers recover somewhat as he recorded 19 points, but he fell to six points in his senior year of hockey. Anaheim controls his rights until later this summer, and it remains to be seen if the Ducks sign him or let him leave as a free agent.

The sixth round of this draft has produced only one NHL player, and Shane Lachance only has one NHL game to his credit. The sixth round was definitely a dud, but the seventh round has produced four NHL skaters and two NHL goaltenders. None of these six players have done a ton, and Tyson Kozak leads the way with 67 games played. If the Ducks sign Kukkonen this summer and he joins the Gulls and becomes a solid contributor for them, then this pick will be just fine. If he walks this summer and never becomes an AHL player, then this pick will be another miss. However, given how late in the draft he was taken, and combined with the pandemic, means this wasn’t a terrible pick.

The 2021 NHL Draft isn’t going to go down as an incredibly deep draft. To date, only 71 players from this draft have made it to the NHL. There aren’t any real late round gems to come out of this draft, with most of the leading scorers coming from the first round. Knies is the only player from the second round to crack the top 10 in scoring from this draft.

Final Grade

Overall, I’d give the Ducks a B+ for this draft. If not for the pandemic, that grade would be lower, but given all the difficulties surrounding scouting for this draft, Anaheim did pretty well. They chose two clear NHL players in McTavish and Zellweger. Hinds is a player knocking on the door of the NHL and even played above Zellweger in some playoff games this year. Pastujov has become a very good minor league scorer and still could make his way to the NHL someday.

So the first four picks gave at least two, possibly three, NHL players, and a very good AHL player. Things fall apart after that. Lopina did give the Ducks three seasons of AHL action, which isn’t bad for a fourth round pick. But Tschigerl didn’t help, and Alexander didn’t do much either. It’s doubtful Kukkonen is signed, meaning two of the final three picks won’t have played any AHL games for the Gulls. In the years to come, if Hinds can ever become a top four defenseman and/or Pastujov makes his way to the NHL, then Anaheim’s grade could rise.

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June 21st, 2026