Ducks’ Pavel Mintyukov Garnering Offer Sheet Interest

Teams around the league are responding to the Philadelphia Flyers’ record-setting offer sheet tendered to Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson. The most immediate impact has been an uptick in interest around another of Anaheim’s restricted free agents. Multiple teams have approached defenseman Pavel Mintyukov about an offer sheet, with at least one expected to formally offer a deal before the end of the day, per PuckPedia. The offer of a potential offer sheet will not guarantee that one is tendered. That will be reliant on Mintyukov’s willingness to move forward with signing the offer sheet.

An interested team could seek out an offer that doesn’t return much compensation to the Ducks. Signing Mintukov to a deal with a $4.776MM cap hit would only return a second-round pick to Anaheim, should they not match the offer, as pointed out by Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff. Mintyukov is projected to sign to a cap hit in the realm of $3.4MM on a short-term deal per CapWages and AFP Analytics.

A bridge contract seems like the right next step for the 22-year-old defenseman. Mintyukov scored 22 points in 73 games last season, a small return to normalcy after he fell from 28 points as a rookie to just 19 points in his sophomore season. More importantly, Mintyukov racked up 112 shot blocks in 2025-26, a new career-high that spells out the young defender’s willingness to stand in the way of NHL opponents. The 2022 10th-overall pick seems headed for an important lineup role down the road, after breaking into the NHL as a teenager. Any team interested in signing Mintyukov to an offer sheet would do so with his long-term potential in mind, even if the deal only accounts for a few seasons.

A price tag in the realm of $3.5MM to $4MM would remove eight, cap-strapped teams from contention for Mintyukov. Of the teams with available cap space, the left-shot defender could have the best fit with the rebuilding San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, or Calgary Flames. All three clubs have been active in free agency – and even taken steps to improve their blue line, though adding an up-and-comer in Mintyukov could be too tempting to ignore.

Regardless of who steps up with an offer, the rumors will place Anaheim in a difficult position. The Ducks would wield just $17.9MM in available cap space, should they decide to match Philadelphia’s offer to Carlsson. That would be the budget left to sign Mintyukov and reigning scoring-leader Cutter Gauthier, who is not eligible for an offer sheet. Anaheim could quickly be priced out of one-or-more of their top draft picks after taking just a little too long to negotiate with their RFAs. Mintyukov will be a name to follow as the off-season continues to unfold.