Day 2 of the NHL Entry Draft started off with a bang – or should we say with a Wang.

The host city, the Los Angeles Kings, made a trade that excited the crowd, sending Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick (67th overall) and the Colorado Avalanche’s 2026 sixth-round pick.

But perhaps the biggest trade of all was between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman announced during the second round that the Ducks are trading goaltender John Gibson to the Red Wings.

The Ducks drafted Gibson in the second round (39th overall) of the 2011 NHL draft. He has spent his entire 12-year NHL career in Southern California, accumulating a 204-217-63 with 24 shutouts. Gibson finishes his Anaheim career with a 2.89 goals against average and a .910 save percentage, which is impressive considering the state of the Anaheim Ducks, especially in the latter years.

Anaheim has been scraping the bottom of the barrel for the last few seasons, which kept Gibson busy, often facing upwards of 30+ – sometimes 40+ – per night.

Shortly after, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli released the details of the trade:

The Red Wings sent goaltender Petr Mrazek and a pair of future picks (second- and fourth-round picks), but are taking on Gibson’s full $6.4 million for the final two years of his deal.

Detroit has been searching for its future netminder for years. Having struggled with a carousel of netminders over the past few seasons, they thought they found their duo in Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon last season. However, the tandem struggled, forcing the team to bring in Petr Mrazek at the trade deadline as they fought for their playoff lives.

With 2021 first-round pick Sebastian Cossa coming down the pipeline, the Red Wings will now have a tandem they can trust in as the team looks to break their lengthy postseason drought. While for Gibson and the Ducks, it’s a fresh start for the player, while the team can move forward with their next man up, Lukas Dostal.

Now, let’s put on our Canucks-tinted glasses and take a look at what this means for Vancouver.

It has been reported that the team is looking to extend Thatcher Demko. However, if extension talks go sideways, and with Gibson now off the market, Demko is the far-and-away the top option on the trade market for other teams who’re looking to fix their crease.

Does this make them reconsider extension talks? Likely not, but this could be enough to hold off on budging on their offer if they know he’s the most valuable guy on the market. With the Canucks making their 15th overall selection on Friday night, Demko would be the most valuable asset their willing to part with.

So does this signing change anything for Demko and his future with the Canucks?