Gulls get defenseman Travis Mitchell down from Anaheim, send goaltender Tomas Suchanek to Tulsa
Two Monday roster moves reshaped San Diego's blue line and its crease: Mitchell arrives after five games with the Ducks to open the season, and Suchanek heads to the ECHL Oilers, where he played 12 games last season.
SAN DIEGO: The Anaheim Ducks reassigned defenseman Travis Mitchell to the San Diego Gulls on Monday, the clubs announced, and the Gulls in turn assigned goaltender Tomas Suchanek to the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL.
Mitchell, 26, opened the season with Anaheim and appeared in five games, recording three shots and nine penalty minutes while averaging 16:36 of ice time. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with Anaheim on July 2 and made his Ducks debut on Oct. 2 at Vegas, skating a career-best 20:38. His most recent appearance was Saturday's game against Calgary, where he logged 17:32, according to FPTrack's game log.
The South Lyon, Mich. native has played 14 career NHL games with Anaheim and the New York Islanders. He made his NHL debut last season with the Islanders and scored his first NHL goal during a nine-game stint, spending most of the year with Bridgeport of the AHL, where he set career highs with 17 points. In 163 career AHL games, all with Bridgeport, he has 34 points and 231 penalty minutes. Before turning pro he played four seasons at Cornell, earning 47 points in 95 games.
Suchanek heads back to Tulsa
Suchanek, 23, posted a 5-7-3 record with a 3.31 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage in 15 games for San Diego last season, and went 3-8-0 in 12 games with Tulsa. In 44 career AHL games with the Gulls he carries a 3.06 goals-against average, a .901 save percentage and three shutouts.
The Prerov, Czechia native backstopped his country to silver at the 2023 World Junior Championship, where he led all goaltenders with a 1.38 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage and was named to the tournament all-star team.
The moves land with the Gulls at 2-1-1-0 after Saturday's home opener at Pechanga Arena, a 2-0 shutout of the Henderson Silver Knights in which Damian Clara stopped all 25 shots for the first shutout of his AHL career.
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