The Anaheim Ducks had a fantastic season in 2025-26. Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier emerged as legitimate young stars in the NHL. They saw big improvements from the likes of Pavel Mintyukov as the season went along.
We are getting closer to the start of the season as August rolls along, and the Anaheim Ducks are on the move. While nothing official has happened for the franchise, members of the squad are out and about, creating community and making a name for the team.
The Anaheim Ducks enter the 2026–27 season with a younger, leaner roster after a busy offseason that saw them trade away some pieces, lock up their core, and add depth on a budget.
Toronto Maple Leafs fans have plenty of reasons to feel good about what’s going to happen with Cutter Gauthier negotiations in Anaheim, even though the Ducks winger has nothing to do with the Leafs on the ice.
The Anaheim Ducks locked up Leon Carlsson when the Philadelphia Flyers threw a wrench into their summer plans. Forced to pay more for the soon-to-be star center, Pat Verbeek bit the bullet and paid $18 million per season over five years to keep Carlsson a Duck.
The NHL has had an interesting new millennium. It was a league sans a salary cap when the 2000s started… and then the owners locked the players out for an entire season.
It is the same old story with the Anaheim Ducks: they keep it close to the vest when it comes to signing their restricted free agents heading into training camp.
The Anaheim Ducks were involved in one of the biggest stories in recent hockey history. Philadelphia Flyers’ general manager (GM) Danny Briere tendered an offer sheet to centerman Leo Carlsson with an average annual value (AAV) of $18 million.
For the past few years, the Philadelphia Flyers could point to the rebuild whenever things went sideways. The roster was young. Bad contracts had to come off the books. Prospects needed time. That explanation will not carry nearly as much weight next season.
After spending the better part of the last decade overseas, veteran defenseman Simon Despres isn’t ready to hang up his skates just yet. According to a team announcement, Despres has agreed to a one-year contract with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets for the 2026-27 season.
Simon Despres, whose once-promising NHL career was cut short in 2017 due to a series of concussions, will return to North America for the 2026-27 season after signing a one-year contract with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
Make no mistake, these are exciting times to be an Anaheim Ducks fan. The team is coming off their first playoff series win since 2017, and they boast a young core of talent few other teams can rival.
People will talk about the “Mount Rushmore” for a franchise, which is to say the four people, usually four players, that most define the franchise. Not always the four-best players, but the four that evoke the essence of the franchise.
The Leo Carlsson offer sheet has changed how NHL teams will approach their restricted free agents (RFAs). Philadelphia backed Anaheim into a corner. This forced them to make their young center the highest-paid player in NHL history.
The Anaheim Ducks signed forward Nikita Klepov to a three-year entry-level contract, the team announced Saturday. Klepov was selected by Anaheim with the 15th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Anaheim Ducks have signed 2026 first-round pick Nikita Kelpov to a three-year, entry-level contract. Klepov’s deal will hold a cap hit of $1.075 million.
The Anaheim Ducks avoided another offseason problem by signing Pavel Mintyukov to a new contract. However, reports suggest the young defenseman was close to becoming another restricted free agent targeted by an NHL team.
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.
Coming off a successful 2025-26 season that saw the Ducks win a playoff series, Anaheim was forced to make a decision that would alter the course of the franchise one way or another.