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.
Snapshots: Ducks, Stephens, Jets ECHL Affiliate
It seems like the hits will just keep coming in Anaheim this summer. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier’s price tag could be as much as a $15MM AAV, as he said on today’s episode of The Sheet with Jeff Marek.
Surely in no mood to sell himself short after a team-leading 41-goal campaign at just age 22, the forward is in for a huge payday, although he’s not offer sheet eligible. Even just a few weeks ago, the idea of Anaheim having to choose between him or the dynamic 21-year-old center Leo Carlsson would seem impossible, but Philadelphia’s five-year $90 million offer sheet ($18MM AAV) has wrecked any hopes of a smooth July in Anaheim.
The clock is ticking, as general manager Pat Verbeek has just until this Friday to decide whether to match the record-setting offer. Assuming he does, the Ducks will be left with just over $9 million in cap room, still not enough to take care of Gauthier barring something unexpected. Even if Verbeek is able to move out a contract such as Frank Vatrano’s $4.5MM, one of three high-cost veterans along with Chris Kreider and Alex Killorn, there’s still hardly any breathing room, not to mention that the Ducks lost four big pieces on the back end, 35-year-old Nick Jensen being the only addition so far.
One has to ask, how did things turn so quickly for a playoff team who had so much cap room? It’s all hindsight now, but Verbeek did himself no favors in negotiation with Carlsson. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that the Swede was looking for around $15MM earlier this summer, if not even less, an AAV which is now long gone as a possibility. Anaheim would take in four first round picks if they somehow let Carlsson walk away, a massive haul which could acquire another star caliber player via trade. With the picks themselves though, it’s highly unlikely they’d land another player of his talent without lottery luck. Whatever is in store for the Ducks in the next 48 hours will be fascinating to watch unfold.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Center Mitchell Stephens has re-signed with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in an AHL contract for two years, the team announced. A 2015 second-round selection of Tampa Bay, the now 29-year-old won a Stanley Cup in 2020 with the Bolts, making stops in Detroit, Montreal, and finally Seattle (Coachella Valley’s NHL franchise) in the past five years. With 123 NHL games under his belt, the Ontario native has 19 points. Stephens has landed at the AHL level as a solid contributor, recording 27 points in 69 games for the Firebirds this past season, good for ninth best on the team. His two-way acumen is especially impactful at the AHL level.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced a new ECHL affiliate, the Bloomington Bison. Unlike their AHL team the Manitoba Moose who share the same home arena, the Bison aren’t quite neighbors, located in Illinois. An ECHL expansion team founded in 2024, the club started out with an affiliation of the New York Rangers, going 37-30-2 last season and qualifying for the postseason. Any Bison player or opponent faces a long road to the highest level, but that’s not to say it doesn’t happen. According to the league, 36 ECHL alumni players were on Stanley Cup rosters, and one cannot forget Brandon Bussi’s performance, the Carolina goaltender having played four games with the Maine Mariners in 2022-23.
Ducks Issue Multiple Injury Updates
As is typically the case, once teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, many player injuries get revealed. That is the case for the Anaheim Ducks, who shared updates regarding six players according to a team announcement.
The highest-profile injury is that of forward Troy Terry, who has been dealing with chronic hip impingement and will undergo surgery at an undetermined date. Although he’s remained relatively healthy since the 2020-21 campaign, Terry missed 21 games for the Ducks this season, though it was defined as an upper-body injury at the time.
Regardless, despite the injury requiring surgery, it didn’t seem to impact Terry in the postseason. Anaheim regularly relied on Terry, who played the right wing of the Ducks’ first forward unit, and he finished with three goals and 11 points in 12 games. It wasn’t enough to get the team to the Western Conference Final, nor was it enough to lead the team in scoring, but Terry had a solid playoff debut based on the circumstances.
Additionally, the team confirmed Cutter Gauthier‘s vetebrae fracture from earlier in the season. The Ducks didn’t confirm when the injury took place, though its believed to have stemmed from Anaheim’s overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 30th. Impressively, even while dealing with that, Gauthier registered seven goals and 16 points in 15 games since, including the postseason.
Meanwhile, Anaheim shared that center Ryan Poehling was dealing with a concussion after being hit by Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb in Game 5 of Round Two, resulting in a one-game suspension for the latter. Additionally, the team revealed that Pavel Mintyukov was dealing with an MCL sprain, Radko Gudas an ankle sprain, and Drew Helleson a groin strain. Aside from Terry, all the other injured members have all been cleared from their injuries.
Snapshots: Gauthier, Lee, Genborg
Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier sustained two fractured vertebrae late in the regular season and played through it in the playoffs, reports Zach Cavanagh of The Sporting Tribune (Twitter link). The 22-year-old had a great sophomore year, tallying 41 goals and 28 assists in 76 games to lead Anaheim in scoring. Even while playing through the injury in the postseason, Gauthier led the Ducks in scoring there as well, picking up four goals and eight helpers in 12 appearances, a strong end to his year before he reaches restricted free agency this summer.
On that front, Eric Stephens of The Athletic notes that talks on a new contract have yet to start. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has quickly earned a reputation for being a tough negotiator, with several prominent contracts dragging out into training camp in recent years, including this season with Mason McTavish. He also has Leo Carlsson as a prominent pending RFA. Gauthier is someone who Anaheim would likely want to sign to a long-term deal, with AFP Analytics suggesting that a seven-year pact could check in at around $8.5MM per season. We’ll see if this will be something that gets worked out quicker than their recent summer talks.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Predators prospect Ryker Lee won’t suit up for Team USA at the Worlds after all, relays FloHockey’s Chris Peters (Twitter link). Named to the original squad, he only played in pre-tournament action and was never formally added to the roster. That leaves an open spot for them to fill over the coming days, speculatively being someone who just has been or will soon be eliminated from the playoffs. Lee, the 26th overall pick last June, had 15 goals and 15 assists in 35 games in his freshman year at Michigan State.
- Red Wings prospect Eddie Genborg has been released from his ATO with AHL Grand Rapids, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 19-year-old spent this season with SHL Timra, picking up 25 points in 43 games and then joined the Griffins in March after signing his entry-level deal. A 2025 second-round pick, Genborg played in 13 games during the regular season for them, picking up a goal and two assists while suiting up a couple of weeks ago for one playoff contest. However, he sustained an injury and hadn’t played since. Now, his season has come to an end and he will likely return to Grand Rapids for the 2026-27 campaign.
Injury Notes: Makar, Roy, Ekman-Larsson, Gudas, Gauthier, Mintyukov
The Avalanche have received largely good news so far on the status of injured star Cale Makar and trade deadline pickup Nicolas Roy. Head coach Jared Bednar made it clear on Wednesday that Makar will be back before the playoffs. He said the same about Roy earlier in the week after he shed his no-contact designation at practice. However, neither will be re-entering the lineup during their back-to-back this weekend, Bednar told Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette. They will not travel to Dallas for tomorrow’s tilt against the Stars but could accompany the team as they head out to face the Blues on the road next Tuesday. They were tossed around by the Canucks 8-6 in their lone outing without Makar so far as he deals with an upper-body injury, while they’ve managed a 3-2-0 record in five games without Roy since he went down with an upper-body issue on March 22.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson could miss a game because of an injury designation for the first time all season. Toronto was eliminated from playoff contention with last night’s loss to the Sharks, and they also lost Ekman-Larsson midway through the game with a lower-body injury. He hasn’t been ruled out entirely for tomorrow’s game against the Kings but is highly doubtful to play, Luke Fox of Sportsnet relays. The 34-year-old has been good for eight goals and 38 points through 73 games, leading Toronto defenders in scoring while producing his best point-per-game total since 2020-21, his final season with the Coyotes.
- While Ducks captain Radko Gudas hopped back into the lineup against Toronto earlier in the week after ending Leafs captain Auston Matthews‘ season with a knee-on-knee hit, he wasn’t fully recovered from a lower-body injury of his own that he sustained back on March 26 against the Flames. After racking up 17 penalty minutes against the Leafs, he bowed back out of the lineup for Wednesday’s loss to the Sharks. He won’t be able to go tonight against the Blues, either, head coach Joel Quenneville said (via Derek Lee of The Hockey News). Neither will fellow rearguard Pavel Mintyukov nor leading scorer Cutter Gauthier, for that matter, a blow for their hopes to gain some separation from the streaking Oilers for the Pacific Division title. Mintyukov has also missed two of the last three with a lower-body issue, while Gauthier will miss his second straight game with the upper-body injury he sustained against Toronto in an early collision with teammate Leo Carlsson.
Ducks’ Cutter Gauthier Suffers Upper-Body Injury
Anaheim Ducks star forward Cutter Gauthier suffered an upper-body injury in the team’s overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports Gauthier will not travel with the team on their upcoming trip to San Jose for their game against the Sharks, but adds that the Ducks are “hopeful he returns this weekend.”
While it’s certainly fortunate for the Ducks that Gauthier appears to have avoided a more serious injury, losing Gauthier for any period of time takes one of the team’s best players out of the lineup. The 22-year-old winger has had a breakout sophomore season, leading the team in scoring with 38 goals and 65 points in 73 games played.
The only player in franchise history to score more goals in a season before age 23 is Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Paul Kariya. Gauthier is, without question, one of the most promising young players on a team filled to the brim with high-upside skaters aged 25 or younger.
That’s what makes Gauthier’s injury so significant, even if it only ends up costing him a game or two. He’s the Ducks’ most lethal scorer and his loss will be felt as the team looks to secure its place atop the Pacific Division. As the Ducks are hopeful Gauthier will return at some point relatively soon, it’s likely the team will also hope that the injury he’s suffered won’t be something that lingers and hampers him even slightly after he’s been cleared to return to the ice.
With Gauthier out of commission, the Ducks will be forced to turn to other players to fill Gauthier’s role, which was most recently on the team’s third line alongside Ryan Poehling and Jeffrey Viel. Veteran Frank Vatrano, a healthy scratch, could draw into the lineup in Gauthier’s place. It would be a real opportunity for Vatrano to get his season back on track, at one game at a time. The 32-year-old has endured a nightmarish campaign, one where he’s scored just four goals and eight points in 46 games played, a career-worst scoring rate.
Evening Notes: Ducks, Heiskanen, Sourdif
The struggling Anaheim Ducks will be especially short handed tonight, as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Troy Terry are all absent, per Derek Lee of The Hockey News. The team updated that Carlsson has a lower-body injury and Gauthier is ill, along with Terry’s known upper-body injury.
Terry was considered a game-time decision, clearly unable to go, while Carlsson and Gauthier were last minute surprises. Lee went on to add that as a result of being down three forwards, Anaheim will have to go into an 11-forward, 7-defensemen configuration, but defender Ian Moore may slot in as a forward.
After a great start to the season, the Ducks have faltered recently, with just one regulation win in their last 10 games, and a five game losing streak. Carlsson, Gauthier, and Terry rank in order as the team’s top three scorers, so all of them out of the mix against the league’s second best team, Dallas, will make an especially formidable challenge.
In such situations, sometimes teams give undersized puck moving defenders the opportunity to move up, but if Moore plays forward, he is known as a more stay-at-home player with size. Regardless, tonight may be a night to remember for the 24-year-old.
Updates on the status of Anaheim’s three top forwards will be watched closely, as the group is back in action Friday and Saturday, with a home-and-home against their in-state rivals from Los Angeles.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Things will also be unusual in Anaheim from the other side, as the Dallas Stars announced that defenseman Miro Heiskanen will not play due to a personal matter. The 26-year-old had yet to miss a contest prior to tonight, posting 36 points in 46 games. In place of their #1 defender who averages just over 26 minutes a night, Ilya Lyubushkin will return to the lineup, who has skated 33 games this season.
- Washington Capitals forward Justin Sourdif missed tonight’s game, as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury, reported by Sammi Silber of The Hockey News earlier today. It marks just the second game of the campaign that Sourdif has not dressed. The 23-year-old came to Washington in a summer trade from Florida as a primary AHLer with just four NHL games under his belt. Since then he has earned a real role as a middle six forward under Head Coach Spencer Carbery. Sourdif has 19 points on the year, including a three-goal, five-point effort on January 5, and hopefully will return Thursday against San Jose. In his absence, the Capitals defeated Montreal in overtime.
NHL Announces 2024-25 All-Rookie Team
Considering the votes for the 2024-25 Calder Memorial Trophy, there weren’t many surprises on this year’s All-Rookie Team, which the NHL announced this morning. There were three unanimous selections, while the other three winners had a closer vote margin. The team is as follows:
G Dustin Wolf (Flames) – Wolf finished second in Calder Trophy voting after a superb rookie campaign. The 24-year-old netminder finished the year with a 29-16-8 record in 53 starts with a .910 SV% and 2.64 GAA. Furthermore, Wolf finished with 15.1 Goals Saved Above Average according to Hockey Reference, and nearly backstopped the Calgary Flames to the postseason despite expectations of a rebuilding year.
D Lane Hutson (Canadiens) – Joining Wolf as another unanimous selection to the 2024-25 All-Rookie Team, Hutson was this year’s Calder Trophy winner. Scoring six goals and 66 points in 82 games while averaging 22:44 of ice time per game, Hutson joined Bobby Orr, Brian Leetch, and Quinn Hughes as the only defensemen to lead rookies in scoring during their respective inaugural campaigns.
D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets) – Although he didn’t share similar point production to Hutson, Mateychuk had a quietly productive campaign for the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring four goals and 13 points in 45 games, averaging 18:02 of ice time a night. Much of Mateychuk’s value came on the defensive side of the puck, securing a 91.4% on-ice save percentage at even strength despite starting 57.4% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
F Macklin Celebrini (Sharks) – As last summer’s first overall selection, expectations were high for Celebrini this season. He largely lived up to them, scoring 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting. There were some significant defensive shortcomings in Celebrini’s game, but that should improve as he matures and has better teammates around him. He outscored last year’s Calder Trophy winner, Connor Bedard, by two points in two more games played.
F Cutter Gauthier (Ducks) – Gauthier finished with the fewest vote totals for an All-Rookie nod with 79 out of a potential 187. Still, it was enough to earn third place among forwards. Despite being streaky, Gauthier finished fifth in scoring on the Ducks with 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games. Gauthier’s offensive output should improve with increased ice time during the 2025-26 season, as he finished his rookie campaign averaging slightly above 14 minutes a night.
F Matvei Michkov (Flyers) – Although he wasn’t a unanimous selection like Wolf, Hutson, or Celebrini, Michkov finished one vote shy of those honors. He came exactly as advertised for the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 26 goals and 63 points in 80 games, leading the team in goal-scoring and finishing second in total output. Like Celebrini, there were significant defensive shortcomings in Michkov’s game throughout the regular season, but those won’t be as important an issue for a winger.
Team USA Announces 2025 World Championship Roster
Team USA has announced the first 18 players on their World Championship roster. The lineup contains all three goaltenders, six of seven defensemen, and nine of 13 forwards. The roster is led by American stars like Clayton Keller, Tage Thompson, and Brady Skjei. That trio will look to take a mixed group of experience to Team USA’s first gold medal appearance since 1960.
The American roster notably features top young players like Frank Nazar, Mason Lohrei, Cutter Gauthier, Logan Cooley, Jackson LaCombe, and Matty Beniers. Beniers offers the most experience on the Men’s Team, having joined USA at the 2021 World Championship and 2022 Winter Olympics. He scored two points in each tournament. Team USA will also continue their trend of bringing collegiate goaltending by adding Los Angeles Kings prospect Hampton Slukynsky to the roster. Slukynsky led the Fargo Force to a USHL championship last season, then won Western Michigan’s starting role and carried the school to their first NCAA National Championship as a freshman this season.
Team USA will still need to add four forwards and one defenseman. The World Championship will run from May 9th to May 25th in Herning, Denmark – giving the Americans a chance to add some more firepower after playoff exits. Jeff Kealty is serving as USA’s general manager, while San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky heads a coaching staff that also features Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mike Vellucci, Chciago Blackhawks assistant Kevin Dean, and Michigan State University head coach Adam Nightingale.
The current roster is as follows:
F Tage Thompson (Sabres)
F Drew O’Connor (Canucks)
F Frank Nazar (Blackhawks)
F Michael McCarron (Predators)
F Clayton Keller (Hockey Club)
F Cutter Gauther (Ducks)
F Conor Garland (Canucks)
F Logan Cooley (Hockey Club)
F Matty Beniers (Kraken)
D Alex Vlasic (Blackhawks)
D Brady Skjei (Predators)
D Andrew Peeke (Bruins)
D Mason Lohrei (Bruins)
D Jackson LaCombe (Ducks)
D Michael Kesselring (Hockey Club)
G Joey Daccord (Kraken)
G Jeremy Swayman (Bruins)
G Hampton Slukynsky (Kings)
Teams Moving On From Prospects Earlier Than Ever
One of the sub-themes from the 2024 offseason and part of a larger theme in general from the 2024-25 NHL season — organizations are moving on from top prospects much earlier than in previous years. Nick Faris of The Score recently broke down this narrative and explained how it symbolizes a few shifting narratives.
Faris writes that ten players drafted in the top 15 between 2019-2023 have changed teams since the start of the calendar year 2024. This is partly due to NCAA prospects using their inevitable free agency as a negotiating tactic to move on from their draft organization and teams reassessing their needs much quicker than in previous years.
Anaheim Ducks’ Cutter Gauthier and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Rutger McGroarty are the most recent examples of NCAA stars choosing to forego their entry-level contract with their drafting teams in the hopes of being traded to a different organization. Both were granted their wishes as the Philadelphia Flyers traded Gauthier to the Ducks for Jamie Drysdale, and the Penguins traded their top prospect Brayden Yager to the Jets for McGroarty.
The remaining top 15 talents from the previous four NHL Drafts were moved out of rapidly shifting team needs. The Colorado Avalanche had a larger need for a second-line center rather than a long-term top-four option on the blue line culminating in the trade for Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres for Bowen Byram. The Utah Hockey Club and Sabres moved on from Conor Geekie and Matthew Savoie, respectively, for more immediate needs on their roster with only one game played combined for their drafting franchise. The Penguins moved on from Yager for more immediate help in McGroarty, and the Nashville Predators traded top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov as they will not need another starting goaltender until the 2030s.
This is not to say that NHL organizations are non-committal towards their high-end draft selections as Faris notes 12 players drafted in the top 15 from 2019-2023 have already signed long-term contracts with their respective franchises. It has become clear that NHL teams are assessing young talent faster than ever. There has been no indication that the quality of assessment has improved as some of the players who have changed hands will inevitably have better careers with their new teams.