Tomas Suchanek is walking into a new season with a clear goal: leave the frustration of 2025-26 behind and rediscover the goalie who turned heads three years ago.
That version of Suchanek seemed to arrive fast. He came out of the Western Hockey League as an undrafted goalie, earned a camp invite, and climbed quickly into a regular role with the Gulls.
When injuries and uncertainty hit in 2023, he was pushed into action and gave San Diego the steadiness it needed. Anaheim noticed, and in 2024 the Ducks signed him to his first NHL contract.
Then the momentum stopped cold. While training in the offseason, Suchanek tore his ACL and missed the entire 2024-25 season, which was the first year of his NHL entry-level deal.
"Very tough, very long way,”"Suchanek said. "I didn't expect it to be this long.
It was my first big injury, so I thought it was going to be pretty quick, and I'm going to be ready to go. But it was the total opposite.
It took way longer than I expected."
He returned last season, but the results never settled in. Instead of a clean runway back into the AHL, he bounced between San Diego and the ECHL. In 15 AHL games, he went 5-7-3 with a 3.31 GAA and .879 SV%, a sharp drop from his 2023-24 line of 14-10-5, 2.92 GAA and .910 SV% in 29 games.
Now he says the work he put in over the summer has him feeling more like himself again.
"The season was exactly not what I wanted," Suchanek said. "It wasn't good at all from my side.
I think it was also like a big learning experience for me because I think it's been a long time with since I had this bad a season, so I worked during the summer even with the mental coach and everything just to get back to the road where I wanted to be before the injury. So, I think I was able to do that, and this year I just feel great and very excited to show how can I play."
Getting back to regular AHL starts, though, won’t come easy. The Gulls have three goalies in the mix, with Laurent Brossoit bringing 141 NHL games and nearly 200 AHL appearances, and Damian Clara arriving after stealing the show as Italy’s goaltender at the 2026 Winter Olympics. That leaves San Diego with a crowded crease and a nightly decision that could change the look of the net.
Goaltending coach Jeff Glass said Suchanek’s past success at this level gives him a real edge.
"We've seen him compete and win and win a lot at this level, and I think he's going to have to rely on that experience he has at this level to help him get through it," Glass said. "He has something no one else has done here.
We all know he can battle and compete and steal games for this team at this level. So, he's got to go out and show that.
He's got to prove it again, and if he does that, he'll be fine."