Ducks’ John Gibson out 3-6 weeks after appendectomy surgery

The Anaheim Ducks announced on Thursday that goaltender John Gibson will miss the next 3-6 weeks after undergoing an emergency appendectomy surgery on Wednesday.

With the surgery being due to an appendix removal, this was obviously not due to something that occurred during game play. Considering an appendix bursting is a very sudden occurrence, there was no way to plan the timing of the surgery. However, there has been no word of any complications to the surgery, so Gibson should experience a relatively normal recovery.

With Gibson’s timeline to return being 3-6 weeks, that puts his return as early as the Ducks’ October 18th game against the Colorado Avalanche and as late as their November 8th against the Minnesota Wild. Should that be the case, he’ll likely miss somewhere between 3 to 12 games.

It’s a tough start to what Gibson was likely hoping to be a bounce back year after a 2023-24 campaign that saw him put up a 13-27-2 record, an .888 save% and a 1.02 goals saved above expected in 46 games. While his save% was the worst mark of his career, his GSAx was actually the first time it’s been positive in five years.

With Gibson out for a bit, the Ducks will look to lean on Lukas Dostal as the starter. Dostal had a 14-23-3 record, a .902% save%, a shutout and a 2.79 GSAx, with both goalies splitting time last year and likely going to do the same this year. The Ducks don’t have a clear cut candidate for the backup position in the meantime as only Oscar Dansk has NHL experience, but both Calle Clang and Tomas Shuchanek played a majority of the games for their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

The Ducks currently find themselves 1-0-0 in preseason action after a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. They’ll host the Sharks again in Anaheim on Thursday at 10 p.m. EST.