Ducks Sign Tristan Luneau To Six-Year Extension

The Anaheim Ducks have secured a long-term commitment with one of their most promising young defenders. Tristan Luneau has signed a six-year, $43.2MM contract extension per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman points out that it’s the largest contract ever handed out to a player with only 14 NHL games played. The deal will be reminiscent of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ eight-year extension of Ville Koivunen over the summer – a long-term commitment to a player the organization believes has sky-high upside.

Luneau, 22, will carry a lofty, $7.2MM contract into the 2027-28 season. First, he’ll have to prove he’s worth the money with a strong performance in the final year of his entry-level contract. The Ducks opted to keep Luneau in routine, minor-league minutes over the last two seasons – passing up small opportunities for minutes on the NHL third-pair. Luneau made good on his minor-league assignment by growing into a top role with the San Diego Gulls. He scored nine goals and 52 points in 59 games of his rookie AHL season in 2024-25, filling the role of a true offensive-defenseman on a team with many defensively-inclined blue-liners. The 2025-26 season marked a chance for Luneau to hone his two-way game, sparking a dip in scoring to 10 goals and 41 points through 70 games.

While his scoring moved the wrong way last season, there remains little doubt about Luneau’s performances at the AHL level. He emerged as a top option for San Diego and could soon take on the same standing in Anaheim. The Ducks have a shallow right-defense, with veteran bottom-pair defender Nick Jensen standing as the only right-defender making more than $1.5MM this season. He will likely occupy the bottom-pair role, while Luneau and Travis Mitchell compete for standing in the top-four. That battle will be Luneau’s to lose – a sentiment underlined by an early, and hefty, contract extension.

Filling a top-pair role would place the mobile Luneau next to Anaheim’s top defenseman, Jackson LaCombe. That should be the perfect setting for Luneau to leverage his unique ability to drive play down ice – taking advantage of LaCombe’s talents for sparking breakouts and defending the rush. Luneau could fit right in with high-tempo Ducks forwards like Mikael Granlund, Beckett Sennecke, and Leo Carlsson. That chemistry would offer the young defender a clear path towards production in his rookie season. Luneau will also be a favorite to man the second power-play unit, while LaCombe quarterbacks the top unit.

This extension will stand as a bode of confidence in one of Anaheim’s top prospects. Luneau should have open opportunity in front of him, though with a looming challenge for minutes from Drew Helleson and Ian Moore who are currently injured. How he can weather that competition, and perform in premier minutes, will underscore Luneau’s value as he builds towards a lofty pay raise in 2027.