The Anaheim Ducks have taken another step toward shoring up their blue line for the 2026-27 season, locking in Tyson Hinds on a two-year contract worth $1.8 million, or $900,000 per year. Anaheim also said the deal is a one-way contract in both seasons.
For Hinds, 23, it’s the latest move in a development path that started when the Ducks selected him 76th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. His junior career ran through the QMJHL, beginning with the Shawinigan Cataractes before a trade to the Rimouski Océanic in the 2020-21 season and a finish with the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
His best offensive work came in that final junior year with Sherbrooke, when he piled up 11 goals and 54 points in 56 games and posted a plus-61 rating. That was the high-water mark of his scoring profile, and the pro game has asked for more from him on the other side of the puck.
Hinds’ first full season with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls in 2023-24 produced two goals and 10 points in 71 games, along with a minus-8 rating. The following season brought a similar return: four goals and 18 points in 71 games, with a minus-9 rating.
This past year, though, he showed signs of real progress. Hinds put up five goals and 19 points in 62 AHL games and finished at plus-16, a clear jump from his previous pro seasons. He also got his first NHL look, skating in six games for Anaheim, where he went scoreless while averaging 15:37 of ice time.
It was a small sample, but the Ducks saw enough to keep pushing forward with him. His brief NHL stint came with solid defensive metrics and a willingness to play physically. With Anaheim’s current roster setup, Hinds is a candidate to open the season as the team’s seventh defenseman, though he could also slide into a bottom-pairing role if the club decides to move Ian Moore to the right side.
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Ducks Just Made Their Stance Clear On Young Defenseman Tyson Hinds
The Ducks have made a clear commitment to Tyson Hinds, locking up the young defenseman on a two-year extension that runs through the 2027-28 season. It is also a one-way deal, which says plenty about how Anaheim views a player it drafted in 2021 and has continued to develop through the organization.
Hinds has already started to turn that long runway into NHL opportunity, making his debut this season after building up his rsum in San Diego and adding to a profile that already included a QMJHL best defensive defenseman honor and a gold medal with Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championship. For Anaheim, the larger question now is how quickly that trust translates into a more regular role at the NHL level. [Read more 🡒]
Ian Moore Just Earned A Bigger Place In Anaheims New Blue Line
Ian Moores first full look with the Ducks came in a season that asked him to do a little bit of everything, and it ended with a stronger case for a long-term role on the blue line. Drafted by Anaheim in 2020 after his path ran through the USHL and Harvard, Moore spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the NHL and showed enough poise to stick around for 67 games, finishing with four goals and 12 points while also getting into 10 playoff games.
What makes Moores rise interesting is how much he had to adapt along the way, even before the postseason. At different points he was shuffled around the lineup, then sent back to defense, and the Ducks clearly saw enough to keep investing in him with a new two-year deal. Now the real question is how he fits into a blue line that is getting more crowded, and whether his next step is simply surviving camp or carving out a regular role in a defense corps that is starting to take shape. [Read more 🡒]