Ducks Begin Extension Talks With Joel Quenneville

Generally speaking, teams don’t like to have their head coach in the final year of his contract.  However, four bench bosses find themselves in that very situation.  One of those is Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville.

The veteran may not find himself in that situation for long, however.  In a recent TSN Early Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic indicated that there is a mutual desire to keep Quenneville behind Anaheim’s bench and that discussions are underway about a contract extension.

Quenneville was out of the league for the better part of four years before taking this job as he worked his way through becoming eligible to be rehired following information coming out about his knowledge of allegations of sexual assault on former player Kyle Beach.  He resigned in 2021 when word came out about it and was deemed ineligible to coach until July 2024.

Back in May 2025, the Ducks hired Quenneville as their new head coach, a sign that expectations were set to change as they emerged from their rebuild.  The first year went quite well, as they made it to the second round of the playoffs while forwards like Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, and Beckett Sennecke all had big years, taking big steps forward in their development.

Things haven’t gone quite as smoothly this season, though Anaheim enters the weekend in possession of the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division.  Their core three forwards continue to produce while defenseman Jackson LaCombe is building off his breakout performance from 2025-26 as well.  Accordingly, it’s not surprising that GM Pat Verbeek is hoping to keep Quenneville around.

Given that Quenneville is 68, it wouldn’t be shocking if any extension is of the shorter-term variety.  But given the impact he has had on Anaheim’s roster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see something get done sooner than later.

The other three head coaches in the final season of their deals are Scott Arniel (Winnipeg), Rick Bowness (Columbus, who only signed a one-year agreement), and Andrew Brunette (Nashville).  The Predators hold a team option on Brunette’s contract, making his case a little different than the other two.