Gibson to AHL; Andersen’s job for now

On Wednesday, the Anaheim Ducks assigned John Gibson to the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League and recalled veteran Jason LaBarbera.

Before Gibson owners and Ducks’ fans start to panic about Gibson being sent to the AHL after just one start, realize that there is a method to the Ducks madness.

Frederik Andersen is a polished technical netminder who is off to a great start to the season. He has won all three of his starts while stopping 77 of 83 shots for a 1.95 GAA and .928 SV%. So, why would the Ducks change anything? They have a game this Friday and Sunday, so the day off allows them to start Andersen in start both contests. Instead of letting Gibson sit on the bench with a clipboard, they sent him to the AHL where he is expected to get some crease time and start Friday and Saturday vs. Manchester and then return to the Ducks next week.

While he is viewed as the NHL’s top goalie prospect and had a tremendous finish to last season, we have to remember that he is just 21-years-old and his game isn’t perfect.

For now the job appears to be all Andersen’s, but that does not mean that Gibson won’t work his way back into the conversation soon. He will get some work in this weekend and could draw one of the Ducks’ three games next week.

From a fantasy perspective it would be wise to add Andersen while he is available, because he is guaranteed two starts this weekend and it looks like the Ducks might split starts closer to 70/30 than the expected 50/50 while Andersen is playing well. However, if you can get your hands on both in daily leagues, that would be best case scenario, because this is a duo that is going to win a lot of games. After the news of Gibson’s assignment came down, a lot of owners likely panicked and dropped him… Take advantage of that.

In other goalie news…

– Viktor Fasth is out indefinitely after suffering a groin injury against Los Angeles on Tuesday. Richard Bachman has been recalled to back-up Ben Scrivens for the foreseeable future.

– Mike Smith will get a chance to redeem himself after an ugly season debut tonight vs. Edmonton.

– Al Montoya is likely to make his Panthers debut on Saturday (second game of a back-to-back)

– Henrik Lundqvist‘s early season struggles continue. He allowed another six goals last night and now holds a 5.41 GAA and .816 SV% through three starts. Last season was similar. He was 1-3 with a 4.30 GAA and .879 SV% in his first four starts. He finished the year 33-24-5 with a 2.36 GAA and .920 SV%, so don’t panic, or try to buy-low.