According to the NHL media site, the Anaheim Ducks have activated forward Ryan Strome from injury reserve. Strome has yet to make his season debut, as the Ducks have gotten off to the best start to a season (10-3-1) since 2014-15.
Strome sustained an upper-body injury in a preseason practice, forcing him off the ice and onto IR for the first month of the 2025-26 season. Strome had been extraordinarily healthy in his three seasons in Anaheim, and since he signed a five-year contract in July 2022 with an AAV of $5 million. In those seasons, he’s suited up for 82, 79, and 82 games, respectively.
“Experience. He’s one of the guys,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said of what he brings to the team. “I think that with him, he’s going to come on this trip. I don’t know if he’ll play on the trip, but he’s getting close.”
Strome has been an automatic and exact 41-point producer for the Ducks in three of their leanest offensive years in their history. With a new coaching staff, systems, and budding young stars, the Ducks are the NHL’s top offensive team, averaging 4.14 goals/G. One wonders if Strome will see an uptick in production upon his return to the lineup, as he’s one of the players who seems like a perfect fit for the Ducks’ zone defense, play-building, and puck possession systems.
With Mikael Granlund also currently out due to an injury and Frank Vatrano serving admirably on the team’s fourth line, Ryan Poehling has played the last four games as the Ducks’ third-line center between Alex Killorn and Nikita Nesterenko. It would seem Strome could slide into that line without disturbing any impactful chemistry that’s developed within the rest of the forward group.
He’s been practicing with the team for the last week in a non-contact jersey, and indications suggest he’s set to make his season debut on Sunday when the Ducks host the Winnipeg Jets.
“I think he’s very close to getting consideration to play,” Quenneville said just before the Ducks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in OT on Saturday.
Radko Gudas has been placed on IR, and Granlund remains out, but not on IR.
“Yeah. I say a little bit (away), but not that far. Close,” Quenneville said of his remaining two injured roster players.