ANAHEIM, Calif. – The reorganization of the blueline is underway for the Anaheim Ducks, as Olen Zellweger was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for prospect forward Anton Wahlberg and the 45th overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft, which begins tonight in Buffalo.
The Ducks now have seven picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, including two second-rounders at 45th and 50th overall, but no first round picks, as Anaheim sent its 2026 first-rounder to Washington in the John Carlson trade.
It remains to be seen whether Anaheim keeps all of those picks before tonight’s first round, as trade rumors continue to grow around Mason McTavish. NHL insider Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic and TSN reported today that “Ducks don’t want to be sellers” and any picks acquired in a trade would likely be flipped to acquire a roster player. LeBrun and other insiders have reported the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers having trade offers in for McTavish.
Wahlberg was selected No. 39 overall by Buffalo in 2023, and the 6-foot-4, 205-pound second-round pick completed his second full season with AHL Rochester last year. The 20-year-old posted 37 points (nine goals, 28 assists) in 68 games and three assists in three playoff games last season.
Wahlberg is adept at using his size to protect the puck while being a strong skater at his size. While likely to start with AHL San Diego, he’ll be extremely effective as a forechecker, something both Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek and coach Joel Quenneville value, and he’ll get to the tough areas of the ice.
On the other side, Zellweger was metaphorically and quite literally muscled out of the Ducks blue line late in the season. Zellweger (5-foot-10, 193 pounds) was scratched for the final four games of the regular season, the entire first round and the first half of the second round in favor of the more defensively minded Tyson Hinds (6-foot-3, 201 pounds).
Despite an offensive spark late when he did return in the second round, the writing was seemingly on the wall for the pending restricted free agent leading to Friday’s move.
Zellweger–ever the hard-working rink rat, as typically the first and last off the ice at practices–never gained a consistent hold of his spot in the Anaheim defensive corps in his two-plus seasons with the Ducks.
Zellweger impressed as a rookie with two goals and seven points in 26 games late in the 2023-24 season, but with a chance to earn a full-time spot in 2024-25, he was stuck in a defensive logjam on the left side, as he and Pavel Mintyukov rotated in and out of the line-up. Zellweger played in just 62 games that season with seven goals and 13 assists.
That logjam seemed to be alleviated entering this season, and Zellweger opened the year on an extremely effective pairing with Jacob Trouba. However, Trouba was eventually moved up to form a shutdown pair with Jackson LaCombe, who also extricated himself from that leftside logjam midway through the 2024-25 season, and Zellweger struggled to find the same consistency with Radko Gudas.
Zellweger found himself on the wrong side of the puck down the stretch, sat out twice in March, and despite playing in 76 games, was swapped out of the line-up for Tyson Hinds straight up from AHL San Diego. Zellweger did not play in the final four games of the regular season, all six first-round games against Edmonton and the first three games of the second round against Vegas.
The 22-year-old provided a spark against Vegas with an assist on Ian Moore’s game-winner in Game 4 and late game-tying laser in Game 5. That was not enough to leave a lasting impression heading into the offseason.
The Anaheim defensive pipeline remains crowded, particularly on the left side.
With Jackson LaCombe’s eight-year deal kicking in this season and 2022 No. 10 pick Pavel Mintyukov looking to lock in in his own RFA summer, there is just one NHL spot on that left side. Zellweger, Hinds and quickly rising hard-hitting 2024 first-rounder Stian Solberg (6-foot-2, 207 pounds) all have angles on that slot.
While there are opportunities opening on the right side with veterans Carlson, Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba all hitting unrestricted free agency–with the increasing likelihood that none return–the Ducks haven’t been keen to play defensemen on their off side, and those spots can already be accounted for internally, if that’s the tact Anaheim wants to take.
Ian Moore earned his stripes with a two-year contract on Thursday, and Tristan Luneau looks more than ready to come up from AHL San Diego and finally take his spot. Drew Helleson has also shown strings of reliability, and Noah Warren continues to develop.
All of that to point to the fact that someone was going to get squeezed out of the Ducks defensive corps, and Zellweger may not even be the last, as Anaheim looks to build on a breakout season and take the steps towards being a true contender.