Anaheim Ducks Acquire Reserve Rights To Judd Caulfield From Pittsburgh

Mar 31, 2023

The Anaheim Ducks announced today that the National Hockey League (NHL) club has acquired the reserve rights to right wing Judd Caulfield from Pittsburgh for the reserve rights to defenseman Thimo Nickl.

Caulfield, 22 (3/19/01), completed his senior season at the University of North Dakota in 2022-23, recording 10-9=19 points with a +8 rating and 12 penalty minutes (PIM) in 39 games while serving as an assistant captain. He tied a career high in assists, while matching his personal best in appearances. Among team leaders this season, he ranked second in plus/minus, and fourth in points and goals.

The 6-4, 212-pound forward appeared in 133 career NCAA games with North Dakota from 2019-23, scoring 29-33=62 points with a +39 rating and 31 PIM. He set single-season career highs in scoring (11-9=20) and goals in 2021-22. He completed his junior season leading the club in shorthanded goals (3) while he was tied for second in goals. He also helped the Fighting Hawks to a NCHC championship in 2020-21.

Originally selected by Pittsburgh in the fifth round (145th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Caulfield scored 26-48=74 points in 123 games at the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) from 2017-19. He was teammates with Trevor Zegras and defenseman Drew Helleson. A native of Grand Forks N.D., Caulfield helped Team USA to a bronze medal at the 2019 U-18 World Championship and gold at the 2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge.

Nickl, 21 (12/4/01), collected eight assists (0-8=8) and 69 PIM in 47 games with AIK of the HockeyAllsvenskan (Sweden’s second division) this season. The 6-foot-2, 176-pound defenseman recorded 2-16=18 points in 88 career HockeyAllsvenskan contests with AIK and Mora IK from 2020-23. Nickl also skated in 15 games with Rogle of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) in 2020-21.

Selected by Anaheim in the fourth round (104th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Nickl earned 10-29=39 points and 43 PIM in 58 games for Drummondville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in the 2019-20 season. The Klagenfurt, Austria native helped his country to a gold medal at the 2020 World Junior Championship Division 1 Group A tournament (second tier), and consecutive appearances at the 2018 and 2019 U-18 World Championship Division 1B tournaments (third tier).