Ducks Top The Athletic's 2023 Pipeline Rankings

The Ducks own the top pipeline of 22-and-under players in the NHL, according to new rankings released today by The Athletic.

The publication's annual "pipeline" rankings, which analyzes each club's roster of players under the age of 23 regardless of NHL experience, slotted Anaheim's "young foundation that has the potential to be a Stanley Cup contender" atop the list.

The ranking features several of Anaheim's young players to already find NHL success, including Trevor Zegras (#1), Mason McTavish (#3) and Jamie Drysdale (#4) as well as several top prospects soon to join the professional ranks, most notably the second overall pick in this summer's NHL Draft - Leo Carlsson (#2).

"Anaheim has put together a young foundation that has the potential to be a Stanley Cup contender," wrote Corey Pronman, The Athletic's Senior Prospect Writer. "They have a plethora of high-end talent at center and defense, which is typically how you build winners. They have skill, size and compete throughout their pipeline led by high picks Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson and Jamie Drysdale amongst others. It's been some dark days in Anaheim in recent years but I think within five seasons they will be a good team again."

The Ducks placed in the top five for the second straight year, moving up from 2022's #4 ranking with the additions of Carlsson, Nico Myatovic, Carey Terrance, Coulson Pitre and others. All told, Pronman and co. slotted 15 Anaheim prospects as likely to reach the NHL, eight of which were drafted by the Ducks in the last two years.