"In the days before the NHL entry draft, Ducks general manager Bob Murray indicated that he's not fond of using his first-round pick to select a goaltender and he didn't on the floor of the Xcel Energy Center on Friday night.

Murray never said he wasn't targeting one.

Using an extra second-round pick they acquired, the Ducks grabbed the highest-ranked goalie on Saturday by taking John Gibson of the U.S. National Team Development Program with the 39th overall selection.

The pick was gained when Murray made another deal with his former Ducks boss, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, as he traded down from the 22nd pick of the first round to the 30th and final selection.

Burke gave Murray the 39th pick in order to move up and take rugged winger Tyler Biggs, a teammate of Gibson's. But the U.S. under-18 team netminder was the one the Ducks' scouting staff had its eye on after making Swedish winger Rickard Rakell their first pick.

Martin Madden, the Ducks' amateur director of scouting, acknowledged an aspect of the trade was done in order to draft Gibson, saying "it was certainly part of it."

"We don't look at positions that closely," Madden said by phone from St. Paul, Minn. "But in this instance, you do have to take into consideration at some point, especially with goaltending.

"Having said that, he was amongst the group of four or five [players] that we had rated at a similar level as far as pro potential and impact on an NHL team is concerned."

Gibson doesn't turn 18 until July 14 but he has started putting together a nice resume."