Ducks’ Lukas Dostal isn’t arriving. He was already here
To meet the man is to understand why he’s developing so rapidly into a star in the NHL.
As an Anaheim Duck, goaltender Lukas Dostal plays in a market that draws fewer than 16,000 fans to each game and hasn’t hosted a playoff contest since 2018. He spent the first few seasons of his career as the 1B to John Gibson. Dostal hails from Czechia, a hockey nation that was mighty 25 years ago but qualifies as a second-tier power on the men’s side these days.
If you’re a casual fan, then, he might walk past you on the street unnoticed. Him winning the NHL’s First Star of the week for Oct. 27 – Nov. 2 might come as a surprise, even.
But those who’ve been paying attention know his breakout as Anaheim’s No. 1 goaltender was already beginning before this season. And a conversation with Dostal, 25, makes it clear he’s no green newbie in this league. He is polished in his conversation, speaking four languages: Czech, Slovak, English and Finnish. He’s cerebral, opinionated and sneaky-experienced internationally for his age.
He understands that the Ducks were taking somewhat of a chance this past summer by trading Gibson, the franchise’s all-time games leader, who was fresh off an excellent 2024-25 performance. And Dostal was more than ready for the opportunity to be a true starter.
“You always hate to see the guy [leave] that was helping you along,” Dostal told Daily Faceoff at the Player Media Tour in Las Vegas before the 2025-26 season started. “When I got to the NHL, he was always around. I could have always asked him anything. So obviously it was a big part of my growth. But at the same time, I just feel like it opens up the door for me, for the opportunity to take over his role, and I’m very excited for that.”
Dostal’s surface numbers last season didn’t necessarily suggest he was ready to become a workhorse No. 1; he posted a 3.10 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. But the Ducks, of course, were an atrocious defensive club, surrendering the most shots and scoring chances of any team in the league. Lukas Dostal had, statistically, the most difficult workload game-to-game of any NHL goalie, facing the most shots and the highest expected goals mark. The .903 SV% was low-key miraculous, and among 53 goalies who appeared in at least 25 games, he sat 17th in goals saved above expected per 60. Theoretically, if the Ducks could improve from horrific to even “just subpar” defensively, Dostal could explode into stardom.
After an offseason in which Anaheim named three-time Stanley Cup winner Joel Quenneville head coach and beefed up its forward group with Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund…and with continued development from a young core including Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and Jackson LaCombe…what’s happened so far in 2025-26? Well, the Ducks remain really, really bad defensively. They still yield the highest expected goals against rate in the league. So there’s no help for Dostal yet in his own end. But the Ducks are also leading the NHL in goals, and Dostal appears to be the perfect netminder to bail out a team playing firewagon hockey.
So far this season, Dostal faces the most expected goals in the NHL – and saves the most expected goals per 60 in the NHL. He has graded out as the best goalie in the league over the first month of the season. His athleticism and puckhandling mesh perfectly with a Ducks team still finding its way but putting opponents on their heels with an attacking style. And he seems mentally tough enough to weather the torrents of opposing chances because he’s surprisingly mature and confident for a guy with only three full seasons and 131 NHL games to his name.
It’s fascinating just to talk goaltending with Dostal. He explains how he, like so many goaltenders, stumbled into playing net despite starting his playing days as a forward. That gave him a baseline that helped make him into the strong puckhandler he is today – one who scored a goal for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls a few years back – but he really only started prioritizing his puckhandling in his late teens once he turned pro and moved from Czechia to play for Ilves in the Finnish Liiga. When discussing the evolution of the position in his country, which once ruled the goaltending mountain with Dominik Hasek, Dostal expresses frustration. He feels the nation was developing its goalies in an innovative way before turning its back on a mastermind coach.
“There was a person that was kind of leading and he put all the coaches together, to have the same philosophy to teach it also in the teams: his name was Radek Toth,” Dostal said. “He’s not actually part of it anymore. I know last two years, things changed and I’m not really happy about it, to be honest, but nothing I can do. When I was growing up, he united it. There were always the camps in the summers. Whenever you turn under-15, they already start scouting you. They went to the games and they were watching you, what kind of techniques you are using, if you have talent and all that stuff. And when there’s under-16, they take 15, 20 goalies and you go to the camp and you go over the skills. They try to watch you, and they give you the chance in the national team under-16, and that’s how they pick the best goalie. So there’s actually structure to it. This used to be when I was young. I don’t know how is it now.”
National pride clearly matters a lot to Dostal, who helped Czechia win the 2024 World Championship and was named tournament MVP. He’s cherishing the chance to compete in the Olympics and, unlike some European NHLers who felt excluded by the 4 Nations Face-Off, he’s level-headed about it.
“In all fairness, I’m not sure if we would be able to put the whole team for [Czechia] from the NHL, which was the thing, right?” he said. “All the players were NHL players. So it was fair because NHL was making the tournament, so obviously they expected NHL players, and if we are not able to put up the team, how we can compete?”
And as Czechia’s expected starter for the 2026 Milano Cortina games, Dostal understands the best-on-best thirst will be quenched for eight additional countries.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “I just turned 25, so I’m kind of lucky that I just started my career and I can go to the Olympics right away, because some guys have been waiting for how long? Like 12 years. It’s going to be a fun tournament.”
But Dostal can’t think too far ahead. After starting a career-high 49 games last season, he’ll likely exceed that number and manage the biggest workload of his pro career. He has excelled so far this season but, as Gibson’s career arc has shown us, a puck-stopper can only thrive with no help on defense for so long before he starts to wear out. So it remains to be seen if Dostal can be wire-to-wire brilliant with such a taxing slate.
Still, he appears to be mentally up to the task, and it’s not a question of his talent, clearly. Dostal still plays in relative obscurity, but he could be a household hockey name by season’s end.
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POST SPONSORED BY bet365
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