Anaheim Ducks suffer early setback with injuries to B Sennecke & T Suchanek / Picture credit: IMAGN
The Anaheim Ducks received terrible injury news this week. The club confirmed via social media that one of their 2024 first-round draft picks, Beckett Sennecke, will be out for nearly six to eight weeks with a foot fracture.
According to the team, Sennecke suffered the injury during an offseason workout. The injury setback is a devastating blow to the Ducks who were hoping to get a look at Sennecke in training camp this fall.
With Sennecke missing this year’s training camp with the Anaheim Ducks, the third overall pick will likely head to the juniors for rehab before his final season with the Oshawa Generals. If and when Sennecke debuts with the Ducks remains to be seen.
The Ducks surprised the hockey world by picking up Sennecke with the third selection. While he was projected as a first-round pick, most mock drafts placed him well past the first 10 selections.
Sennecke’s performance with the Generals seemed to impress the Ducks enough, as they scooped him up early in the first round. In the 2023-24 OHL season, he played 63 games, registering 27 goals and 68 points.
The unfortunate injury setback will cost Sennecke playing time. However, the 18-year-old has plenty of hockey ahead of him, so there doesn’t appear to be any hurry to get him back on the ice.
Anaheim Ducks will miss goaltending prospect for the season
The Ducks also got bad news regarding goaltending prospect Tomas Suchanek. The club announced that Suchanek will be out for six to eight months following surgery to repair a torn ACL.
The 21-year-old Czechia native played last season in the minors, appearing in 29 games with the AHL San Diego Gulls and eight for the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers.
Suchanek had a solid season last year, posting a 2.92 GAA and a .910 SV% with the Gulls, posting a 2.77 GAA and a .906 SV% with Tulsa. These promising numbers have pushed Suchanek to the top of the Ducks’ prospect pipeline.
While Suchanek wasn’t expected to play a major role with the Anaheim Ducks in the upcoming season, he’s, nonetheless, an important player in the team’s prospect pipeline. With him out for the season, the Ducks could be in the market for goaltending depth at the AHL level.
Suchanek was projected to get a long look at training camp this fall. However, he will most likely be headed for another season with the Gulls, where he has an opportunity to be the starter.
For now, it seems that Suchanek will need to work hard to get back on the ice. But like Sennecke, Suchanek has plenty of hockey ahead of him — which means the Anaheim Ducks won’t be rushing him back to the ice any time soon.
