Blues’ Cam Fowler expects nerves in first return to Anaheim to face Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Cam Fowler returned to play in Anaheim for the first time since the Ducks traded the longest-serving and highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history to the St. Louis Blues less than three months ago.

Fowler insists he feels no bitterness or disappointment about the way his 14 1/2 seasons in Orange County ended, and he was likely to receive a boisterous welcome when the Blues face the Ducks on Friday night at Honda Center.

“With everything wrapped up in it for me, it’s going to be hard to treat it just as a normal game, but I’m going to do the best I can,” Fowler said Thursday after practice with the Blues, who beat Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

Fowler had been a mainstay on the Ducks’ blue line since 2010, when the team selected him with the 12th overall pick in a draft held in Southern California. Fowler immediately won a job in Anaheim as an 18-year-old rookie, and he remained a dependable two-way contributor for the next decade and a half.

While he made just one All-Star team for Anaheim and never became a league-wide star, he steadily rose to become the most prolific defenseman in Ducks history. He also played a key role while Anaheim won five consecutive Pacific Division championships from 2013-17 and reached two Western Conference finals.

Fowler is the Ducks’ franchise leader among defensemen in goals (96), assists (361) and games played (991).

Fowler had never been in the visitors’ dressing room at the arena still affectionately known as the Pond before Friday. He says the process of finding the room from the familiar parking lot will be “super-weird.”

“Some nerves about the whole thing, but overall, I think it’s just going to be a fun experience for me,” Fowler said. “Get back to a place I spent a lot of years in, see all my friends. Being on the other side of it now and going back to Anaheim, I think there’s going to be a lot of emotions, so I think I’m just going to try and take it all in and handle it the best I can.”

The breakup happened after Fowler managed just four assists in Anaheim’s first 17 games this season. Fowler and Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek say they came to a mutual agreement that a fresh start would be best for Fowler, who still has another season left on the eight-year, $52 million deal he signed with Anaheim in 2017.

The Ducks traded Fowler and a fourth-round pick in 2027 for a second-round pick in 2027 and minor-league defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka.

Fowler’s production has increased for the Blues. He has seven goals and 19 assists in 33 games while playing more than 22 minutes per night.

Fowler rejects the idea he was motivated by the trade.

“I’ve had people ask me if it reinvigorated my career or my passion for the game,” Fowler said. “I’ve always been passionate about the game and I’ve always been energized to play the game, but sometimes you get to a certain point in your career as a player, and just for both sides it might make sense to find a situation that works better. So anytime you come into a new environment, you want to make a great impression on the people that believed in you, so I was energized in that way, but it wasn’t like this whole eye-opening experience where I found my love for the game and everything again.”

Fowler’s departure opened playing time on the Ducks’ blue line, and the most prominent beneficiary of an increased role has been Jackson LaCombe. The former second-round pick is enjoying a breakout season, leading Anaheim’s defensemen with 11 goals and 22 assists.

Anaheim is stuck in a six-year playoff drought that won’t end this spring unless the Ducks amplify their recent surge. After winning nine of their past 14 games, the Ducks enter Friday night’s matchup with 61 points, seven shy of the second wild-card spot in the West.

The Blues are one of the teams in the Ducks’ way: With 66 points, St. Louis entered the day two points out of the second wild-card spot.

“I’m happy with the situation in St. Louis where we’re playing meaningful hockey and every game matters to us,” Fowler said. “Happy for those guys, too, that they’re having some success and playing good hockey as well. I think it’s going to be a great game. They’ve been playing really well, and so have we.”