The 2020–21 Anaheim Ducks season was the 28th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 15, 1993.

On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Ducks played this season in the West Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.

On April 29, the Ducks were eliminated from playoff contention after the St. Louis Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild. They finished last in their division for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

Following offensive woes the whole season, Anaheim finished with the worst single-season power play in NHL history, at 8.94%.

Standings

Divisional standings

Schedule and results

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020. 2020–21 game logJanuary: 3–5–2 (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 1–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Anaheim 2–5 Vegas Gibson 0 0–1–0 0 2 January 16 Anaheim 1–2 Vegas OT Gibson 0 0–1–1 1 3 January 18 Minnesota 0–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 1–1–1 3 4 January 20 Minnesota 3–2 Anaheim Miller 0 1–2–1 3 5 January 22 Colorado 3–2 Anaheim OT Gibson 0 1–2–2 4 6 January 24 Colorado 1–3 Anaheim Gibson 0 2–2–2 6 7 January 26 Anaheim 1–0 Arizona Gibson 1,808 3–2–2 8 8 January 28 Anaheim 2–3 Arizona Gibson 2,252 3–3–2 8 9 January 30 St. Louis 6–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 3–4–2 8 10 January 31 St. Louis 4–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 3–5–2 8 February: 3–5–3 (Home: 1–2–2; Road: 2–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 February 2 Anaheim 3–1 Los Angeles Gibson 0 4–5–2 10 12 February 5 San Jose 5–4 Anaheim SO Gibson 0 4–5–3 11 13 February 6 San Jose 1–2 Anaheim SO Miller 0 5–5–3 13 14 February 9 Anaheim 4–5 Vegas Miller 0 5–6–3 13 15 February 11 Anaheim 1–0 Vegas Gibson 0 6–6–3 15 16 February 15 Anaheim 2–3 San Jose Gibson 0 6–7–3 15 17 February 18 Minnesota 3–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 6–8–3 15 18 February 20 Minnesota 5–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 6–9–3 15 19 February 22 Anaheim 3–4 Arizona Gibson 2,346 6–10–3 15 20 February 24 Anaheim 3–4 Arizona SO Miller 2,319 6–10–4 16 21 February 27 Vegas 3–2 Anaheim OT Gibson 0 6–10–5 17 March: 5–10–1 (Home: 2–6–0; Road: 3–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 22 March 1 St. Louis 5–4 Anaheim Gibson 0 6–11–5 17 23 March 3 St. Louis 3–2 Anaheim Gibson 0 6–12–5 17 24 March 5 Anaheim 2–3 Colorado OT Gibson 0 6–12–6 18 25 March 6 Anaheim 5–4 Colorado OT Miller 0 7–12–6 20 26 March 8 Los Angeles 5–6 Anaheim OT Gibson 0 8–12–6 22 27 March 10 Los Angeles 5–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 8–13–6 22 28 March 12 San Jose 6–0 Anaheim Gibson 0 8–14–6 22 29 March 13 San Jose 3–1 Anaheim Miller 0 8–15–6 22 30 March 16 Anaheim 4–8 Colorado Miller 0 8–16–6 22 31 March 18 Arizona 2–3 Anaheim OT Miller 0 9–16–6 24 32 March 20 Arizona 5–1 Anaheim Miller 0 9–17–6 24 33 March 22 Anaheim 1–2 Minnesota Miller 0 9–18–6 24 34 March 24 Anaheim 2–3 Minnesota Miller 0 9–19–6 24 35 March 26 Anaheim 4–1 St. Louis Gibson — 10–19–6 26 36 March 28 Anaheim 3–2 St. Louis OT Stolarz — 11–19–6 28 37 March 29 Anaheim 2–5 Colorado Miller 0 11–20–6 28 April: 4–9–1 (Home: 0–7–1; Road: 4–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 38 April 2 Arizona 4–2 Anaheim Stolarz 0 11–21–6 28 39 April 4 Arizona 3–2 Anaheim OT Gibson 0 11–21–7 29 40 April 6 Anaheim 5–1 San Jose Gibson 0 12–21–7 31 41 April 9 Colorado 2–0 Anaheim Gibson 0 12–22–7 31 42 April 11 Colorado 4–1 Anaheim Gibson 0 12–23–7 31 43 April 12 Anaheim 4–0 San Jose Stolarz 0 13–23–7 33 44 April 14 Anaheim 4–1 San Jose Stolarz 0 14–23–7 35 45 April 16 Vegas 4–0 Anaheim Gibson 1,717 14–24–7 35 46 April 18 Vegas 5–2 Anaheim Gibson 1,717 14–25–7 35 47 April 20 Anaheim 1–4 Los Angeles Stolarz 1,431 14–26–7 35 48 April 24 Vegas 5–1 Anaheim Gibson 1,717 14–27–7 35 49 April 26 Anaheim 1–4 Los Angeles Stolarz 1,373 14–28–7 35 50 April 28 Anaheim 3–2 Los Angeles Gibson 1,763 15–28–7 37 51 April 30 Los Angeles 2–1 Anaheim Gibson 1,717 15–29–7 37 May: 2–1–2 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 1–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 May 1 Los Angeles 2–6 Anaheim Miller 1,717 16–29–7 39 53 May 3 Anaheim 1–3 St. Louis Gibson — 16–30–7 39 54 May 5 Anaheim 3–2 St. Louis SO Stolarz — 17–30–7 41 55 May 7 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Gibson 3,000 17–30–8 42 56 May 8 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Miller 3,300 17–30–9 43 Legend:

Transactions The Ducks have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

Free agents Date Player New team Previous team Ref October 9, 2020 Anaheim Ducks Philadelphia Flyers October 9, 2020 Anaheim Ducks Tampa Bay Lightning October 9, 2020 Buffalo Sabres Anaheim Ducks October 9, 2020 Detroit Red Wings Anaheim Ducks October 9, 2020 Detroit Red Wings Anaheim Ducks October 9, 2020 Anaheim Ducks New York Rangers October 9, 2020 Anaheim Ducks Philadelphia Flyers October 10, 2020 Colorado Avalanche Anaheim Ducks

Imports This section is for players who were not previously on contract with NHL teams in the past season. Listed is the last team and league they were under contract with. Date Player New team Previous team League Ref November 6, 2020 Anaheim Ducks Sarnia Sting OHL November 7, 2020 Anaheim Ducks Erie Otters OHL October 11, 2020 Anaheim Ducks Erie Otters OHL

Trades Retained salary transaction: Each team is allowed up to three contracts on their payroll where they have retained salary in a trade (i.e. the player no longer plays with Team A due to a trade to Team B, but Team A still retains some salary). Only up to 50% of a player's contract can be kept, and only up to 15% of a team's salary cap can be taken up by retained salary. A contract can only be involved in one of these trades twice.

Hover over-retained salary or conditional transactions for more information.

October October 7, 2020 To Anaheim Ducks7th-round pick in 2020 (#207 overall) To Columbus Blue Jackets 7th-round pick in 2022 October 8, 2020 To Anaheim DucksEDM 5th-round pick in 2021 To Ottawa SenatorsErik Gudbranson

Draft picks

Below are the Anaheim Ducks' selections at the 2020 NHL entry draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26-27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 6-7, 2020 the draft was held virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)16 Jamie Drysdale D Erie Otters (OHL)1271 Jacob Perreault RW Sarnia Sting (OHL)236 Sam Colangelo RW Chicago Steel (USHL)367 Ian Moore D St. Mark's School (USHS-Prep)41042 Thimo Nickl D Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)5129 Artyom Galimov C Ak Bars Kazan (KHL)6160 Albin Sundsvik C Skellefteå AIK (SHL)72073 Ethan Bowen C Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) Notes The Boston Bruins' first-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on February 21, 2020, that sent Ondrej Kase to Boston in exchange for David Backes, Axel Andersson and this pick. The Nashville Predators' fourth-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on February 24, 2020, that sent Derek Grant to Philadelphia in exchange for Kyle Criscuolo and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Anaheim will receive the higher of Nashville or Philadelphia's fourth-round pick in 2020. – was converted when Nashville was eliminated from the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs on August 7, 2020, ensuring that Nashville would select higher than Philadelphia. The Columbus Blue Jackets' seventh-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020, that sent a conditional seventh-round pick in 2022 or 2023 to Columbus in exchange for this pick.

References