Ducks’ training camp battles for roster spots, ice time ongoing

ANAHEIM — Will center Sam Steel win a roster spot in the final days and nights of training camp? Is goaltender Anthony Stolarz assured of the backup’s role behind John Gibson? Can right wing Troy Terry click with center Ryan Getzlaf? Who will fill the final spots in the Ducks’ defense corps?

Coach Dallas Eakins couldn’t answer those and many other questions before the Ducks lost to the Kings, 6-3, on Wednesday night in the sixth of seven exhibition games before the regular season begins next Wednesday. Time is growing short before final rosters must be submitted to the NHL.

“There are still lots of moving pieces,” Eakins said.

Thirty-two of them, as of Wednesday.

The Ducks’ began their training camp with 60 players on the roster. They have made some moves recently, assigning some players to the San Diego Gulls, their AHL team, and returning others to their junior-level clubs. Then they signed defenseman Ben Hutton to a professional tryout.

Training camp battles have been welcomed.

“I think when there’s none, you’re very, very concerned about not only your team but the individuals that are in your organization,” Eakins said. “If there’s no battles for positions or ice time, then you’ve got a big problem. There are some right now (battles). It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.”

In addition to exhibitions Wednesday and Saturday against the Kings, the Ducks have practices scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Sunday before cutting their roster to 23 players by the end of training camp. The Gulls’ opened their training camp Tuesday at Great Park Ice in Irvine.

In some seasons, for some teams, the evaluation process ends sooner rather than later. For the Ducks, this season, it’s ongoing.

“We don’t know our opening night lineup yet,” Eakins said. “The battle goes on.”

As a result, the Ducks took another look at players such as Mason McTavish, their first-round draft pick. McTavish played only two of the first five exhibitions because of a sprained ankle, but he scored a goal in a 3-2 shootout victory Monday over the Sharks in San Jose.

Eakins shifted McTavish, 18, from his natural position of center to left wing to ease his burden. The Ducks made a similar move last season with Trevor Zegras, moving him to the wing to start his pro career before he began an apprenticeship as a center in San Diego.

If all goes according to plan, McTavish will play a handful of games with the Ducks and Gulls leading up to the World Junior Championships in late December in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. He might then spend the rest of the season with his junior team in the Ontario Hockey League.

“McTavish is in (the lineup Wednesday),” Eakins said. “Sam Carrick is in, (Josh) Mahura is in on ‘D.’ (Simon) Benoit is in on ‘D.’ Stolarz is scheduled to go the whole game, but (Lukas) Dostal is backing up. The guys I’m not mentioning, they’re all saying, ‘Am I going to stay on this power play or not?’

“We’re not dead set on lines. We’re still tweaking those, too.”

ROSTER MOVES

The Ducks assigned defensemen Axel Andersson and Brogan Rafferty and right wings Vinni Lettieri and Buddy Robinson to the Gulls and released left wing Tobias Rieder from his pro tryout, trimming their roster to 32 players (17 forwards, 11 defensemen and four goalies).

MANSON UPDATE

Defenseman Josh Manson has been sidelined by an unspecified lower-body injury, Eakins said. Manson didn’t play in the Ducks’ victory Monday over the Sharks. Eakins said he would have an update on Manson after Wednesday’s exhibition against the Kings.

KINGS BEAT DUCKS

Nicolas Deslauriers, Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell scored first-period goals for the Ducks, who then gave up six unanswered goals to the Kings en route to a 6-3 loss at Honda Center. The Ducks outshot the Kings by 42-29, and they outchanced them 21-11, by Eakins’ count.

“It was one of the more interesting games I can remember,” Eakins said. “Overall, there’s a lot of stuff that we’re going back to and look at and try to promote doing more of. We broke the puck out well, we transitioned it well. … There was a lot of good. (But) when you establish the lead, you’ve got to find a way to keep it.”

Anthony Stolarz started in place of John Gibson and made 23 saves. Gibson is expected to start Saturday’s rematch against the Kings at Staples Center, the Ducks’ exhibition finale. Stolarz has played in three games. Saturday’s game will be Gibson’s third appearance.