The Anaheim Ducks finished last season feeling pretty good about the gains the team had made, going from a non-playoff team to a second-round elimination. At the time, Ducks’ GM Pat Verbeek stated that the team would continue to build around its young core while attempting to add complementary veterans. That was around mid-May, and since then the Ducks have done a lot of roster shuffling, and not much of it has been good. The Ducks have effectively lost the entire right side of their defensive core, have been targeted by offer sheets (or the threat of offer sheets) twice, and now they are in a bit of a pickle when it comes to forward Cutter Gauthier’s next extension. All in all, it’s been a forgettable two months for Verbeek and company, and it’s tough to imagine how they will navigate the noise to enter next season with a roster better than the one they had this past year.
The offseason began with the announcement that Troy Terry would miss the first few months of the regular season after hip impingement surgery. The timing isn’t ideal for the Ducks, but it was certainly a better option than having the surgery mid-season or at the start of the regular season. The 28-year-old is a big piece of the Ducks’ offence, and they will feel his absence in the early going next season.
The transactions this offseason started inconspicuously with Anaheim trading the rights to a couple of pending UFAs, John Carlson and Radko Gudas. Anaheim even picked up forward A.J. Greer in the Gudas swap and signed him to a four-year deal worth $4.25MM per season. Greer is a big risk for the Ducks, as he’s had just one career season with more than 30 points, and it happened this past season, when he shot 16.3%, nearly double his career average. Greer could be just scratching the surface of his potential, but at 29 years of age, that feels unlikely.
Next came the Mason McTavish trade with the St. Louis Blues, which was probably the best piece of business Anaheim has done this summer. McTavish struggled immensely last season and was demoted from a top-six center to a bottom-six winger at one point. The deal sent two first-round picks to Anaheim, a solid return for a player whose skating and defensive work made moving him feel like the right decision for Anaheim. It remains to be seen whether McTavish will live up to the potential that made him a third-overall pick, but that will be the Blues’ concern now.
Around the same time as the trade, general manager Verbeek brought in veteran defenseman Nick Jensen to replace the losses on the right side of the defense core. Jensen has been a dependable NHL defender for a long time, but at this stage of his career it’s hard to consider him a top-four fixture, even though he shouldn’t be, given what he’s being paid and where his skills are at. Jensen could be a good fit on the bottom pairing in Anaheim, but if he is elevated in the lineup for any reason, he could struggle. Right now, it appears that Ian Moore and Tristan Luneau could be the top four options in front of Jensen, but that would leave a pile of question marks for Anaheim’s defense.
Then there are the contract extensions, and let’s just say these did not go to plan for Verbeek and company. A Philadelphia Flyers offer sheet to forward Leo Carlsson effectively iced the Ducks out of looking at many other moves, and the threat of an offer sheet boxed the Ducks in during contract negotiations with defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, who signed a five-year extension worth $36MM ($7.2MM AAV). It was the Carlsson offer sheet for five years at $18MM annually that absolutely threw a wrench into the Ducks’ long-term plans and is highly likely to throw their entire salary cap structure out of whack. With Carlsson now the highest-paid player in the league, the attention now turns to Cutter Gauthier and his extension, which was projected earlier this year to be around seven years at $8.8MM annually. That projection came at a time when Carlsson was projected to get roughly $11.5MM on his long-term deal, but those figures are all moot at this point given the escalation in spending that has occurred this offseason. The Gauthier extension is huge for the Ducks and could really burn through their future cap flexibility, which has been badly damaged this summer.
Ultimately, the Ducks have no one to blame but themselves for the mess they’ve made this summer, particularly with the contracts for their young stars. Verbeek long had been known as a GM who was a tough negotiator with young players, and now that has come back to bite him. The good news for Verbeek was that he didn’t commit to long-term deals for aging stars, though he has done that in the past and might be forced to move some of them (Alex Killorn, for example) to create the room under the salary cap to fit Gauthier’s new deal. Another silver lining (in the short term) is that Verbeek moved off McTavish’s deal, which should allow the team to be cap-compliant next season. But if McTavish flourishes in St. Louis, his deal will look like a massive bargain and could turn out to be another blemish on Verbeek’s record in a summer where he took his lumps.
Verbeek matching the offer will go down as one of the worst GMing decisions of the decade. There are centers Verbeek could have nabbed by dangling (say) three of those first rounders just as good as Carlsson at half the price. The team’s salary structure wouldn’t be wrecked, the money would be there for Gauthier, there’d still be cash left over to pick up some decent right side defensemen. Even if Carlsson turns into a superstar — IF — it’s not going to be worth it.
If Verbeek wasn’t so stubborn in his negotiating tactics with younger players, he could’ve gotten Carlsson signed for significantly less & still have plenty of room to sign Gauthier. What centers could Verbeek have nabbed for 3 first round picks? Anaheim isn’t on Larkin’s list & I’d prefer Carlsson over him at this point anyway. The Blues pulled Thomas from the market. The Blackhawks were never going to trade Bedard. Verbeek had to match because he would be without a top center.
Agree it was too much, but that is what happens in every sport and Hockey is no exception. This does mean that Cutter Gauchier must be signed to a long term deal. If not for 7 or 8 years …. At least the 5 currently being signed by everyone. If I was the Ducks, give him an increase at a reasonable amount and than if necessary match the Leo contract. Sennecae is coming before you know it. We have our key defense players under contract. Going to let our older Forwards leave when contract expire in 27 and it gets us through this season. We have drafted better than most teams. Have a good pipe line at San Diego and will have to play people a little sooner… it is what happens when salary cap occur. We will find out of our GM is worthy or not soon. Instead of front loading the contract for Cutter, back load it till the other contracts fall off in 2027/28. Get it done now!
It looks like Verbeek worked hard to win battles at the expense of winning the war.
I think this started last year with McTavish negotiations. Verbeek won, damaged the relationship and ultimately moved McTavish before settling business with Carlsson. At that point they had to match IMO. Would have been a different outlook having McTavish locked up, more cap room and 4 1st round picks to find another top 6 C.
No one saw this contract coming. Foolish on the Flyers part and now the whole league will suffer. Top players will get more and the rest of the league
Players less. Older players will be replaced with rookies much faster to stay cap competitive. Hurts the team, hurts the league, hurts the fans is the bottom line. Leo is not worth the contract … but he is now. Because it sets the going rate. Agree with signing him… no real choice. Our GM is reacting to circumstances outside his control. He will adapt, either trade our older forwards or let their contract expire in 2027. Needs to get Cutter Gauthier signed ASAP. I suggest a 6 to 8 year deal. He will want Leo money to sign it 5 years 90 million is now the going rate. He is under contract for this upcoming year. Give him a nice raise on his existing contract for this year and try 7/8 years for 90 million on the back end. If it is 18 million a year … so be it! Lock him up. Sennecae deal will be coming before you know it. Hockey will change over the next 3/4 years. You have to keep this young core in place. We have drafted well and help
is available in San Diego…. Need to use the farm and the younger players more … Ducks will find out if our GM is capable…. But do not blame him … no one seen this coming. Our GM is learning and adapting. Love his draft every year and his ability to out draft the other GM’s. It is up to the coaching staff to develop these young players and make team
Competitive
I would seriously try to trade Gauthier.
Of course you would. Just another reason that your dream to be an NHL GM never really got any traction.
We simply cannot do that! The reason the draft is so important is because of salary cap problems in keeping core players. The Ducks will figure this out. I do not believe the ducks will be drafting the top ten anymore in the foreseeable future. We must hold on to those key players we drafted in the top ten in the draft. Cutter Gaithier is just as important as Leo. We must sign him to the current going rate in the NHL. He is under contract for this year. If I was the GM I would rework his existing contract and give a nice raise this year. Than get him for 7 more years at whatever rate we can… even if that means $18 million .. you cannot replace his talent. Our older forwards big contracts expire in 2027. We will have to
Let them walk. We will have Sennecae contract coming up before you know it. This young core of Leo, Cutter and Sennecae is important to the ducks being competitive! Our GM has the ability to draft well. All the trades this year were
Getting rid of players who would not play for the ducks to secure future ducks who
Will. Think about the cap and why it was important, we got rid of one big contract and one that would have become a big contract. Those moves keep this Leo contract from destroying the ducks. No one seen this coming and the Flyers were idiots to offer Leo that contract. He was not worth that contract and everyone knows it. Bottom line is he is worth it now! This contract hurts every player in Hockey, every team in Hockey and every fan of Hockey! Why because the product we watch on TV or see in person will not be that good anymore. This contact changes Hockey forever. The top player will all be paid more. The others players will all be paid less to stay under the cap. The older players will get more and younger players will replace them before they should, This makes drafting more important and coaching more important, Will teams invest more in farm
Systems, add more coaching and add weight management and skating coaches the development level? We will see.
Bottom line is the fans will suffer and it will hurt attendance and make Hockey less enjoyable against other sports. The GM that should be fired is the Flyer GM… not our GM!
We all have our dreams my friend
Guys, this idea that Beeker “could/should” have forced Carlsson to sign for less is only good on paper. Judging by Uncle Leo’s behavior, it doesn’t seem like he would have been interested in the old hometown discount route. I just looked up his agents’ info on PuckPedia. The Keators have 33 active contracts totalling a staggering $2.88M in average cap hits. Leo’s contract skews that upward a bit, assuming it’s already counted in the total, meaning the bulk of their clients are lower in the pay scale. Maybe Beeker thought the negotiations would be easier, just because of that. A miscalculation on his part, though.
I do not blame Leo or his agent for this disaster to Hockey. Every player should get as much as he can. Every agents has to do his job. The blame for this disaster to hockey is the Flyers GM. He should be fired immediately by the owners of the Flyers. The owners of the Flyers need to understand what he has done to their salary cap in the future and how he has hurt the product that we the fans see every day. What is the end result of this situation, to be under the cap, older more talented players will be cut and replaced with younger less talented players. The product will be slower and more error prone. People always complain about how the wealthy have all
of the money … life in the real world has come come to Hockey. Teams will keep the top 6/7 players and fill in the blanks. This Flyer GM needs to be fired immediately