The Ducks Have Had An Uneven Offseason
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.
The NHL’s Best Bargains Of 2025-26: Cheapest Cost Per Point Among Forwards
This offseason has focused a lot on the big names and the big contracts. From the league-altering Leo Carlsson offer sheet to the seemingly never-ending Jason Robertson contract negotiations, the league’s stars have been in the spotlight. However, some of the most important players on a roster are those who provide the biggest bargain for their production. Tonight, we look at the top ten forwards from the 2025-26 season whose costs per point were the least expensive for their teams.
List excludes players on their entry-level contracts.
- Marcus Johansson ($16K Per Point) — Nobody in hockey produced a cheaper point last season. Playing on an $800K deal in Minnesota, Johansson posted 49 points, and his 0.65 points-per-game pace lapped the rest of this group. However, the list’s best bargain is the only one not cashing in on an NHL raise: the 35-year-old is instead headed home to Sweden on a one-year deal with Färjestad BK of the SHL, likely closing the book on a career of more than 500 NHL points.
- Linus Karlsson ($22K Per Point) — Vancouver’s fourth-line find was the first bargain on this list to expire. Karlsson parlayed a $775K cap hit into 35 points, and the Canucks didn’t wait for the market to notice; they nearly tripled his salary with a two-year, $2.25MM AAV extension back in January, buying out what would have been his walk to free agency and keeping him through 2027-28.
- Mavrik Bourque ($23K Per Point) — Bourque gave Dallas 20 goals and 41 points on a $950K hit after taking on a bigger role during the second half of the year. He then watched that impressive sophomore season change his life in the span of a few days: Bourque’s RFA rights were traded to Nashville on July 1, and he signed a six-year, $33MM contract that pushes his cap hit to $5.5MM, almost six times what the Stars paid him to produce it.
- Parker Kelly ($24K Per Point) — The group’s top goal scorer this past season with 21, Kelly stretched an $825K cap hit into 35 points for Colorado. The Avalanche have never been shy about locking up their identity players, and they moved quickly here too, roughly doubling his money on a four-year, $6.8MM extension that carries him through 2029-30.
- Justin Sourdif ($24K Per Point) — The one bargain still standing. Sourdif matched Kelly’s line almost exactly, an $825K cap hit and 35 points in his first season in Washington after arriving from Florida, and unlike everyone above him, his deal isn’t done. He’s signed at the same number through 2026-27, giving one of the league’s top offseason spenders, the Capitals, one more discounted season before his restricted free agency arrives.
- Mackie Samoskevich ($24K Per Point) — Florida’s cap crunch turned Samoskevich’s value year into a trade chip. After posting 32 points on a $775K hit, the 2025 Cup winner was shipped to Seattle in June for first- and second-round picks, and the Kraken promptly paid him like the investment he was: three years at $3.85MM AAV ($11.55MM Total Value), with a top-six opportunity Florida’s forward depth never allowed.
- Michael Carcone ($25K Per Point) — Carcone’s is the feel-good version of this story. A year after openly expecting to leave Utah, he returned on a league-minimum deal, produced 31 points, and by March had played his way into a two-year, $1.75MM AAV extension, more than doubling his pay and cementing a roster spot that looked nearly gone twelve months earlier.
- A.J. Greer ($27K Per Point) — Nobody converted a value season into money faster. Greer’s 32 points on an $850K deal made him a target the moment the season ended; Anaheim acquired his rights from Florida before the market even opened and signed him to a four-year, $4.25MM contract on July 1, a five-fold raise for a bottom-six forward who picked the right year to peak.
- Vasily Podkolzin ($27K Per Point) — The list’s unique case of a player who banked his raise before earning it. Edmonton signed Podkolzin to a three-year, $2.95MM extension last September, betting his game would grow into the number, then watched him deliver 37 points and 19 goals on his expiring $1MM hit. The new deal starts in 2026-27, and after a season like that, it might already be the next bargain on a future version of this list.
- Jamie Benn ($28K Per Point) — The most well-known name here was also quietly one of the league’s better contract values. Playing on a near-minimum deal in his 17th season, Benn produced 36 points in just 60 games despite missing 20 to injury, scoring his 400th career goal and crossing 1,200 games with the franchise along the way. And like most of this list, the number is already settled: the longest-serving captain in Stars history re-signed on July 3, one year at an $850K base with up to $1.15MM in performance bonuses, meaning Dallas gets its captain at a discount one more time.
All contract information provided by Puckpedia.
Ducks Sign A.J. Greer To A Four-Year Deal
The Ducks have signed forward A.J. Greer to a four-year $17MM contract, according to TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. The contract will carry an AAV of $4.25MM and have a ten-team NTC (No Trade Clause) for the duration of the deal, as reported by Elliotte Freidman with Sportsnet.ca.
Anaheim acquired Greer’s negotiating rights from the Panthers on Monday in exchange for the rights to Radko Gudas, who’s expected to return to Florida. The 29-year-old set new career highs with 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points in 78 games this past season, and won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers in 2025.
Greer’s path to Anaheim has been a winding one. A second-round pick (39th overall) by Colorado in 2015, the former BU Terrier made his NHL debut with the Avalanche in 2016. Over the next several years, Greer was up and down between the AHL and NHL, spending time with the Avalanche, Islanders, and Devils. In July of 2022, Greer signed a two-year deal in Boston before the Bruins placed him on waivers in October 2023, where Calgary claimed him. He signed with Florida as a free agent that following summer on a two-year, $1.7MM deal carrying an $850K cap hit, and turned that into a career year in his second season with the club.
Greer has built a reputation as a reliable shutdown forward over his career, logging regular shifts on the penalty kill and bringing physicality to whatever line he’s slotted on. He led the Panthers with 130 penalty minutes and 222 hits in 2024-25, his first season in South Florida, then backed it up with 203 hits and 113 PIM during his breakout campaign this past season. He carried that identity into the playoffs as well, holding down a regular role on Florida’s checking fourth line throughout their run to the 2025 Stanley Cup. Defensive reliability, physical play and penalty-killing value have been the calling cards of his career, regardless of how much he’s chipped in offensively.
At 6’3″ and 207 pounds, Greer gives Pat Verbeek‘s club another physical, defensively responsible piece for the bottom six, continuing the GM’s trend of adding size and grit around Anaheim’s young core.
Panthers Acquire Rights To Radko Gudas
According to a team announcement, the Florida Panthers have acquired the signing rights to defenseman Radko Gudas from the Anaheim Ducks for the signing rights to forward A.J. Greer. Each player is set to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday unless a deal is reached with their new clubs.
Florida has been adding grit to their lineup in an effort to return to the playoffs for the 2026-27 season. Already boasting the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Dmitry Kulikov, the Panthers have already added Brady Tkachuk and Garnet Hathaway this offseason, and are set to add Gudas if they can agree to a new contract.
Gudas, 36, is no stranger to being the bad guy. The 14-year veteran has been suspended for a total of 26 games throughout his career, the latest being a five-game punishment for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews this past March.
Additionally, Gudas is already familiar with the Panthers’ modus operandi, having played for the team from 2020-21 to 2022-23, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in his last season. Throughout that stretch, Gudas scored even goals and 44 points in 203 games with a +47 rating, throwing 917 hits and blocking 314 shots. Although he’s largely a bottom-pairing defenseman at this point in his career, he’ll make Florida that much harder to play against, at the very least.
Meanwhile, Greer isn’t unfamiliar with the nastier side of the game himself. Furthermore, he’s coming off the best offensive output of his professional career. Gaining access to more playing time this past season due to the number of injuries that Florida faced, Greer finished the 2025-26 season with 17 goals and 32 points in 78 games with a +14 rating, delivering 203 hits.
Still, it’s important to mention that Greer doesn’t have a long track record of success and may regress to his previous production if he’s unable to find a home in Anaheim’s middle-six. However, his physicality alone should make him a decent option for the Ducks.
The only two forwards on the team that totalled more than 100 hits last season were Ross Johnston and Jansen Harkins, both of whom are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday. Greer is objectively an upgrade on them, even if he doesn’t match his offensive output from this past season.
Panthers’ A.J. Greer Intends To Hit Open Market
This year’s free agent market could be rife with impactful, veteran, depth forwards. Top of the list oculd be Florida Panthers winger A.J. Greer who intends to reach the open market this summer per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Greer is coming off the highest-scoring season of his NHL career, marked by 17 goals and 32 points in 78 games. He once again crested the century mark in penalty minutes as well – with 113 – marking his third season in the last four years reaching that mark.
Greer will represent a true bruiser on the open market. He led the Panthers with 203 hits this season, over 60 more than Jesper Boqvist in second place. That has long been the presence that Greer brings to the lineup – and what has kept him at the NHL level despite failing to surpass 20 points in any of his prior three full seasons in the league. He found a small burst of scoring with the Panthers, setting a career-high 17 points in 81 games during the 2024-25 season, then nearly doubling that performance thanks to an elevated lineup role and a 16.3 shooting percentage this season.
Interested teams shouldn’t expect that scoring to stick around, though. Through his career, Greer has averaged 20 points, 113 penalty minutes, and 176 hits per 82 games played – while averaging under 10 minutes of ice time each night. He will likely settle into a similar role wherever he heads next, and should command the associated cost – though Greer could also represent a tinge of interesting upside after a career-year in Florida.
A.J. Greer Receives Three-Game Suspension
After announcing that he’d be receiving a phone hearing last night, the Department of Player Safety has made its ruling on Panthers forward A.J. Greer. The league announced (video link) that the veteran has received a three-game suspension for his hit on Flames winger Connor Zary.
The incident occurred during Thursday’s game where Greer hit Zary from behind into the boards. On the play, he was assessed a two-minute minor for hooking, a five-minute major for interference, and a game misconduct. In its ruling, the Department of Player Safety noted that Greer was in control at all times. That ultimately puts the onus on him to deliver a legal check, something he didn’t do given the distance from the boards when he hit Zary from behind.
This is the second suspension of Greer’s career. He received a one-game ban back in 2023 for a cross-check on Montreal’s Mike Hoffman. Given that it has been more than two years since that suspension, he is not classified as a repeat offender for the purposes of determining forfeited salary. Accordingly, Greer loses three days’ pay (3/192 days) compared to three games’ pay (3/82) had he been a repeat offender. With his $850K AAV, that means he will forfeit $13,281.24 in salary; that money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Greer will miss Florida’s upcoming games on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and will be eligible to return to the lineup a week today when the Panthers travel to New York to take on the Rangers.
East Notes: Greer, Stolarz, Quick
In a somewhat surprising development, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced it would have a phone hearing for Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer for his hit against Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary.
Ultimately, it means that Greer won’t be given a suspension any longer than five games. On the play in question, Greer was assessed a two-minute minor for hooking, a five-minute major for interference, and a 10-minute game misconduct. Essentially, Greer hit Zary from behind into the boards, well before there was any expectation of incidental contact.
At the very least, it suggests that the NHL DoPS isn’t feeling any outside pressure to change the way they assess supplementary discipline. After Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas was suspended for five games for delivering a knee-to-knee hit on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews, who suffered a season-ending injury due to the incident, there was an outcry from fans and media for the DoPS to impose stricter discipline to prevent such situations in the future.
Other Eastern Conference notes:
- Netminder Anthony Stolarz did not make his scheduled start tonight because of an injury suffered in warm-ups. Before the game, the Maple Leafs announced that Stolarz was struck in the neck by a puck during warm-ups and was subsequently taken to a local hospital for further testing. Toronto has not provided any additional updates regarding Stolarz since.
- There is additional context regarding the New York Rangers’ recall of netminder Dylan Garand yesterday. According to Andrew Crane of the New York Post, veteran netminder Jonathan Quick is dealing with a minor upper-body ailment. Regardless, the expectation is that Garand will make his NHL debut while Quick is sidelined.
Panthers Want To Extend Sergei Bobrovsky, A.J. Greer
Leading up to the deadline, it was believed that the Florida Panthers were shopping pending unrestricted free agents Sergei Bobrovsky and A.J. Greer. Ultimately, neither player was moved, and the Panthers appear intent on keeping them in Sunrise for a while longer.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Florida is focused on signing Bobrovsky to an extension. LeBrun later added that the same is true for Greer. Both should be doable since the Panthers will have roughly $15MM in cap space this summer with all of their core retained. The only hangup could be Mackie Samoskevich‘s next contract, as he will become a restricted free agent in a few months.
It’s not entirely known what Bobrovsky’s asking price is for his next contract, but it’ll certainly be lower than his current $10MM AAV. Furthermore, he’s on the wrong side of 30 and will be coming off the worst season of his professional career.
Granted, Bobrovsky has backstopped Florida to three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final and has won the last two. Still, this season, he has managed a 22-19-1 record in 43 games with a .873 SV% and 3.13 GAA. Additionally, his -0.382 Goals Saved Above Expected per 60 is the fourth-worst in the league among netminders that have played in 30 or more contests.
If the Panthers can get Bobrovsky on a two-to-three-year deal, they’ll likely be able to agree with Bobrovsky relatively quickly. Some outlets have indicated that Bobrovsky is seeking a five-year deal, which could be the reason that the two sides haven’t arranged anything sooner.
Meanwhile, unlike Bobrovsky, Greer is enjoying the best season of his career. Over the past two years with Florida, Greer has scored 17 goals and accumulated 39 points in 142 games, along with 381 hits. It’s not a groundbreaking production by any stretch, but Greer offers immense physicality and timely goal-scoring from the fourth line.
Unfortunately, his productivity likely means that the Panthers won’t be able to extend him on a similar salary. Greer is earning an $850K salary this season and is likely seeking to cash in while he can. Still, even if he is expected to sign a larger contract, his salary shouldn’t be more than $2MM.
Trade Notes: Garland, Haula, Duhaime, Greer
After yesterday’s report that the New York Islanders were in serious discussions to acquire Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks, no completed trade has emerged. In a subsequent update from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, the Islanders may be pulling away from their pursuit of Garland.
Rosner stated that the Canucks are active on multiple fronts regarding Garland, suggesting that a bidding war might be starting. Additionally, Rosner believes that Vancouver’s asking price for Garland may be too much for the Islanders to stomach.
New York still has time to reconsider Garland or seek a more affordable solution. There’s no question the team could use additional offense, especially on the powerplay. Garland has scored 82 goals and 221 points in 370 games since joining the Canucks in 2021, with 55 of those points coming on the power play.
Additional trade notes:
- For teams not interested in paying the price for Robert Thomas or Vincent Trocheck, the Nashville Predators have another center option available for trade. According to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, Erik Haula is drawing interest from around the league. Haula, a pending unrestricted free agent, has scored nine goals and 30 points in 61 games for Nashville this season, averaging 16:38 of ice time. Additionally, Haula was impressive for Team Finland at the Olympics, scoring three goals and six points in six games, helping his country to a bronze medal.
- In a separate report from Weekes, the former netminder shared that Brandon Duhaime of the Washington Capitals and A.J. Greer of the Florida Panthers are drawing interest as potential bottom-six options. Each forward is incredibly physical and can chip in offensively when needed. Greer has had the better year between the two, scoring 11 goals and 22 points in 61 games with 159 hits.
Panthers Listening On Sergei Bobrovsky, A.J. Greer
The Panthers’ resounding 5-1 loss to the Devils last night dropped them to 14th in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of a playoff spot, leaving their postseason chances at just 0.5%. That’s led them to broadcast to the league this morning that their pending UFAs are available for sale as rentals – most notably future Hall-of-Fame goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN. Depth forwards A.J. Greer, Tomáš Nosek, defenseman Jeff Petry, and backup netminder Daniil Tarasov are the Cats’ other soon-to-be free agents on the active roster, although LeBrun only mentioned Greer by name.
It’s a stunning but prudent reversal from the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, who have simply been too hampered by injuries this season to make a fourth straight run to the Final, even if they did manage to squeak into a wild-card spot. While Bobrovsky is one of the more decorated netminders of this era with a pair of Vezinas, Cups, and All-Star nods each, he hasn’t done much to drag his club along, either.
He’s still their clear-cut starter in terms of usage, starting 42 games compared to Tarasov’s 19, and has a superior winning percentage to his #2 option. Tarasov has better individual statistics across the board, though, and Bobrovsky has been a bottom-five starting option by most every measure. Among the 33 goalies with at least 28 games played, Bobrovsky ranks 29th in goals against average (3.13), 32nd in save percentage (.873), and 31st in goals saved above expected (-15.9, per MoneyPuck).
That’s led to a reported gap in extension talks between the Cats and the man who backstopped them to their first two championships in franchise history. If Florida were still in any sort of playoff contention, that wouldn’t matter; they’d keep him in the fold and hope to work out a deal after the season ended. But with Bobrovsky now in his age-37 season with a career-worst showing, the Panthers are likely opening themselves up to the idea of parting ways with Bobrovsky this year, one way or another. With little hope of a postseason berth, they might as well get something for him.
This is all assuming there’s a market for goaltending help at the deadline at all. The Blues are also making similarly struggling starter Jordan Binnington available, saturating an already slim list of teams that may have a want or need for either. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported this morning that “many people I talk to around the league are skeptical that Bobrovsky would be traded, even as the Panthers fall out of the playoff race,” due in part to no team making a documented, aggressive push for a goalie so far.
Perhaps Greer, more typical trade deadline fourth-line rental fodder in line with the Wild picking up Michael McCarron and the Knights landing Cole Smith from the Predators last night, is a far more likely name to be on the move. The 29-year-old is a career enforcer type but has seen an elevation in ice time this season with all of Florida’s forward injuries. He’s responded with a career year, netting 11 goals and 22 points in 61 games with a 14.1% shooting rate and 159 hits.
Considering Nashville just netted a second-round pick for McCarron, who’s posted far less impressive offensive impacts this season but does carry added value as a strong-on-draws center, the Panthers could be in line to land a similar pick for Greer. Nosek just came off LTIR to make his season debut after a lengthy recovery period from knee surgery, so he won’t be landing anything above a mid-to-late-round selection if there’s even any interest. Petry’s struggled with just eight assists and a -10 rating in 58 outings this season, but should have a few callers, simply by virtue of him being a right-shot D-man with over 1,000 games of NHL experience.
As for Tarasov, it would be surprising to see him moved. The Cats are presumably focusing on an extension with him, potentially even making him their starting option next season in the increasingly likely event Bobrovsky isn’t brought back. That’s especially amid a weak free agent class, in which Tarasov’s .903 SV% this season leads the pack among goalies with double-digit starts.