The Ducks have acquired defenseman Brian Dumoulin from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2026 draft, both teams confirmed Tuesday.
Dumoulin, 32, chipped in 16 points across 80 games for Seattle and finished as a plus player for the fifth time in six seasons despite the Kraken turning in a disappointing campaign that led to a coaching change. A year earlier, he contributed a career-high 25 points to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with whom he played eight full seasons (plus parts of two others) and won Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017.
Dumoulin’s tenure in Pittsburgh was delineated by an ankle injury he sustained in 2019, but he’s missed just eight games over the past three seasons.
“I feel great. That ankle injury was a long time ago, I’m fully recovered from that and these past years I’ve felt really good,” Dumoulin said by phone. “Last year with Seattle, I’d say that was one of my best years in a long time. I don’t bring a lot of flash to the lineup, but I know what winning hockey is and I offer a lot of consistency.”
Like Alex Killorn did leaving Tampa Bay as a two-time champion to come to Anaheim, Dumoulin underwent a stark, abrupt change of atmosphere last season, albeit with one-time Penguins by his side like frequent defense partner Justin Schultz, Jamie Oleksiak, Brandon Tanev and Jared McCann from his days in Pittsburgh.
“After playing a full 10 years, it was different being in a new organization, but former teammates eased that transition in Seattle. It taught me about fitting in with a new group and finding a role with a new team,” said Dumoulin, who said he has previously played with the Ducks’ Brock McGinn and that he knows Frank Vatrano’s brother, Greg, from the amateur circuit.
The 2009 Carolina Hurricanes draft pick and Boston College alumnus adds another New England connection to the Ducks as a Maine native who also played junior hockey in New Hampshire.
He has one year remaining on his contract at $3.15 million, a potentially solid value for a player who has performed effectively in two different settings and has considerable playoff experience. His acquisition cost indicates that, much like Ilya Lyubushkin last year, he could be flipped for a profit at the trade deadline if Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek so chooses. Dumoulin’s contract does have a modified no-trade clause that will allow him to submit a no-trade list of 10 teams, per CapFriendly.
During the Stanley Cup runs, he first paired regularly with No. 1 defenseman Kris Letang, and then carried an even bigger load the following postseason, which Letang missed entirely with a herniated disc in his neck.
“(That experience) still gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I can still bring that game and play that way,” Dumoulin said. “The thing I most remember about those times is just how fun it is to win, and that winning should be the end-all and be-all.”
Dumoulin remains a two-way blue-liner with an emphasis on his own end. At 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, he has prototypical size for a rearguard. Perhaps the one question mark in this acquisition is how another left-handed shot fits into the Ducks’ defense corps.
Eternally tenured veteran Cam Fowler, lottery pick Pavel Mintyukov and promising aspirant Olen Zellweger all roamed the left side last year for the Ducks. So, too, did Urho Vaakanainen, whom the club re-signed Monday, and Jackson LaCombe, to whom they extended a qualifying offer Sunday.
In addition to their acquisition of Dumoulin, the Ducks signed another former Penguin, industrious center Jansen Harkins. The 27-year-old had four points in 45 games for Pittsburgh last year in a checking role. His most notable NHL campaign came in 21-22 when he played a career-high 77 games in which he scored 13 points for the Winnipeg Jets.
