ANAHEIM, Calif. — Brian Dumoulin is no stranger to being traded, having moved just last summer when the Seattle Kraken dealt him to the Anaheim Ducks. That experience might soon be something for the defenseman to summon as a processing tool.
The Ducks invested a 2026 fourth-round draft pick in Dumoulin, and the 33-year-old has given their defense much-needed stability. He’s been a calming force who consistently makes good plays under pressure while usually exhibiting sound positional play. If the Ducks were in the Stanley Cup discussion, or even just firmly in a playoff position, he’d be a necessary part of their postseason plans.
But the Ducks acquired Dumoulin on an expiring contract for this season. A valuable player who’s an impending unrestricted free agent on a club outside the playoff picture is ripe to change teams at the NHL trade deadline. Dumoulin knows there’s zero certainty of him remaining with the Ducks after March 7.
“It’s not something I try to focus on because it’s out of my control,” Dumoulin said on Thursday. “I just try to play the best game I can and try to be as consistent as I can. And that’s the only way that I know. That’s how I’ve been my whole career.
“I haven’t really been in this position before. For me, obviously, it’s nerve-wracking for my family. Just having two kids now, it’s not easy. You got to think of more than just yourself. But for me, I just want to keep winning games so we’re in that position where we are fighting for a playoff spot. That’s the only thing I’m thinking about.”
Life as a prime deadline asset (he’s No. 33 on The Athletic’s most recent trade board) is a new experience for Dumoulin. His 10-year association with the Pittsburgh Penguins included back-to-back championships as a highly respected shutdown defender. He signed a two-year free-agent deal with Seattle in 2023. Both sides were ready to cut ties after one season, even though he had six goals to establish a career high. But until now, Dumoulin was either too valued as a playoff contributor for years alongside Kris Letang with the Penguins or was barely into a fresh contract with the Kraken as the trade deadline approached.
If it wishes, an interested contending team can now view Dumoulin as a pure rental. While the Ducks’ John Gibson and Trevor Zegras routinely come up in trade rumors, Dumoulin might be the one whom Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek actually deals away by next Friday. The way the veteran has played this season could see Verbeek doing better on a return than the fourth-round pick he surrendered.
However, Dumoulin is playing a big role for the Ducks, whose surge from the latter part of January to now has pushed them toward the battle for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They’re 8-2-1 over the last 11 games after a 5-2 win Thursday over the Vancouver Canucks, the current holder of that wild-card berth the Ducks are seeking. Aided by the Canucks playing the night before (an overtime win over Los Angeles), Anaheim scored five straight goals after spotting Vancouver a 2-0 lead.
For sure, the Ducks have an uphill battle on their hands. They’re still six points back with four teams to climb over — two of which (St. Louis and Utah) also won Thursday. Even with seven of their final 24 games remaining against those squads, the Ducks will likely have to gain points in all of those head-to-head matchups, winning most, while avoiding any sort of losing streak the rest of the way.
It is a daunting task, but the Ducks are finally playing games of consequence this time of year. This was their goal at the start of the season.
Dumoulin wants to remain part of this team’s steps back toward NHL relevance after seasons spent far off the radar.
“Everyone wants to be in the Stanley Cup (Final), but I know their messaging for this group was to play meaningful games come March and put yourself in a position to make playoffs,” said Dumoulin, who played nearly 22 minutes against the Canucks and was a plus-3 on the night. “We’ve done that as a group. I don’t think people outside this room expected us to be .500 or above at this point in the season. I think it’s important for this group. …
“Last year was the first time I’ve ever played kind of meaningless games … and you kind of lose your focus a little bit as a group. I tried not to but I know as a group it’s hard to maintain that level of play when it’s not there for you.
“I think that’s big for this group. To be able to play in these meaningful games, take pride in them and learn how to play in these tight games against teams that you’re competing against (in the standings).”
That’s what Dumoulin has been doing most of his career: 81 playoff games across eight postseasons with the Penguins along with the pushes to lock down bids in those springs. The Ducks had a must-win game Thursday and have another Saturday against lowly Chicago. How they do there, as well as in road tests at Edmonton and Vancouver, could help Verbeek decide if there are any moves to be made by next week. It would be harder to take Dumoulin away from a team that’s starting to gain traction under Cronin.
Or there’s already a deadline plan in place to execute. The Ducks have their first-round pick in this year’s draft and extra selections in the third and fifth rounds but are without a second-round choice that was put with Jamie Drysdale in the trade to Philadelphia for Cutter Gauthier. (By the way, Gauthier’s goal Thursday was the rookie’s fifth in the last nine games). But this is also a franchise that can’t continue to solely bet on a big and bright future.
Cutter Gauthier – Anaheim Ducks (12) pic.twitter.com/mSPIEGD8U9
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) February 28, 2025
The playoffs might be beyond the Ducks’ grasp this season, but it will be something to reach for in 2025-26 as they look to start a run of success and contention. Maybe Dumoulin is part of that, or maybe he’ll be flipped for another asset to use toward acquiring an impact forward if they’re unable to bring one to Anaheim through free agency. Beckett Sennecke will come one day, but adding another difference-maker now to join Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish for their prime years would show the Ducks are serious about winning.
“Yeah, I don’t control that,” Cronin said. “I’m totally committed to Pat and Pat’s plan here. I say this. The general manager and the management — the staff that works with Pat — they have the same goals we have in the short term. They want to win. But they have a longer view of what’s going on here. My elevator doesn’t go to that floor. We as coaches stay in our lane. We coach and we develop. Whatever happens with Brian Dumoulin, I have no control over it.
“I value him every day that he’s here. If he’s here in the long run, happy days. If he’s not, it’s not my — I have no control over it. At the end of the day, we’re working with everybody to try and make the playoffs. And that’s what I can control.”
Here’s another potential twist: Would the Ducks consider re-signing Dumoulin? That might not seem too likely given that Jackson LaCombe has surfaced as the first-pairing defender on the left side and the club has fellow youngsters Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger, both of whom should be in the lineup but are currently alternating due to the crowd on the blue line.
But Dumoulin is open to an extension. Dumoulin, a Maine native and former All-American at Boston College, has a 10-team no-trade clause. He acknowledged that he and his family did at one time prefer to be dealt to an Eastern team by the Kraken, but he’s also come to like living in California and the direction the Ducks are moving.
“I’ve come to find out and come to learn going to different organizations now that the grass isn’t always greener in different places and stuff like that,” he said.
“We’ve had a discussion,” Dumoulin continued. “Basically, through my agent, we expressed that this is a place that we want to be. I believe in this group, and I believe in the things that we’re doing. I really, really like this group a lot. It’s been a lot of fun to see where we were at the start of the season to where we are now. I see that progression in this group. And I think the expectation this year and next year is to make playoffs.
“I think you got to put that pressure on this group. … No more four- or five-game losing streaks. We got to nip that in the bud. If you want to make playoffs, you can’t do that. There has to be that pressure, and I want to be a part of it and bring my knowledge and my experience. Keep playing well.”
There is nothing ambiguous about where Cronin stands on the veteran and the influence he’s had on the defense and the Ducks as a whole.
“He’s been awesome,” Cronin said. “He’s a quiet guy. I think he’s that typical older defenseman who, in the absence of having a rah-rah confrontational type of image as a leader, he’s more of a galvanizing guy. He’s a soft-spoken guy that does a lot of things behind the scenes, whether it’s having dinners at his house or taking the kids out to lunch.
“Whether it’s a game or a practice or even in the weight room, he works hard. He’s extremely professional. And those guys, they’re money for these young kids. He’s not just a lip-service superficial guy. He’s very authentic. He’s very committed to his craft. And, again, in a quiet way, he’s given these young kids a role model to mirror their habits on.”
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
