The Anaheim Ducks may not have been making much noise at the NHL level, but the pipeline has been busy. This week brought a little bit of everything: Roger McQueen is headed to the Rookie Showcase, Sasha Pastujov was dealt to Montreal, and the Ducks added two prospects to professional contracts.
McQueen will represent Anaheim at the NHL Players’ Association’s annual Rookie Showcase, set for July 28-30 at the Blackhawks Ice Center Presented by Fifth Third Bank in Chicago. The event is built around newly signed NHL players getting a taste of the business side of the sport, with a focus on player identity, content creation, and commercial opportunities.
Upper Deck is sponsoring the showcase. In a press release, the company said, “Over the course of the event, Upper Deck - the official trading card partner of the NHL and NHLPA - will work directly with players to capture photos and video in their official team jerseys for upcoming trading cards, memorabilia, and promotional materials. The showcase gives Upper Deck access to the league’s next generation of talent while giving players a first look at how their name, image, and likeness can connect with fans and collectors beyond the ice.”
For Anaheim, McQueen is the name to watch. The first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft recently signed a three-year, entry-level contract and is coming off a strong season at Providence College.
He posted 27 points, with 11 goals and 16 assists, in 36 games, earned Hockey East Rookie of the Year honors, ranked second on his team in assists and third in points, and finished eighth among NCAA rookies with a 55.1% faceoff win success rate. He’s set to make his NHL debut this season.
The Ducks also made a move on the AHL side, sending San Diego Gulls forward Sasha Pastujov to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Sean Farrell. Pastujov leaves San Diego after a productive run, including a team-leading 57 points last season and 124 points across 160 career AHL games. Anaheim took him in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft after his standout season with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
Farrell arrives from the Laval Rocket, where he spent three seasons and piled up 125 points in 186 career games. Last season, he set career highs in points and finished second on the team in assists and third in goals.
Montreal drafted him in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, and his resume also includes a strong run after the draft: he represented Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and led the country with three goals and six points in four games. At Harvard in 2022-23, he was a Hobey Baker Award finalist, won Ivy League and ECAC Player of the Year honors, and totaled 53 points in 34 games.
Anaheim wasted no time locking Farrell in, signing him to a one-year, two-way contract. He has six NHL games under his belt with the Canadiens and scored once in those appearances. He’s known as a creative playmaker, an accurate passer, and a smart risk-taker.
The other new addition is Nikita Klepov, who signed a three-year, entry-level deal after being one of the team’s first-round selections in the 2026 NHL draft. Klepov led OHL rookie scoring with 97 points in 67 games for the Saginaw Spirit and was named both OHL Rookie of the Year and to the league’s First All-Star Team.
He’s being billed as a “creative, high-impact player who knows how to both score and make plays for his teammates.” General manager Pat Verbeek made clear how important Klepov’s availability was in the in-draft trade involving Mason McTavish.
“If [Klepov] wasn’t there, we wouldn’t have made the deal. That was the decision that was in our minds, so it was a big part of why we did this,” Verbeek said.
Verbeek also said he was excited to add Klepov and Marcus Nordmark, noting that the pair “[allows] us more flexibility to bolster our team for the upcoming season to keep pushing this football down the field, so to speak.”
McQueen, Farrell, Klepov, Nordmark, and the rest of Anaheim’s young group are all set to have a say in what this season looks like. The Ducks open on Oct. 2, and the Gulls begin the next day.
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