Offseason Checklist: Anaheim Ducks

Carlsson took a big step forward toward reaching his potential this season.  After putting up 20 goals and 25 assists in his sophomore year, the 2023 second-overall pick finished second on the Ducks in scoring this season, tallying 29 goals and 38 helpers in 70 games.  He upped his faceoff percentage by three percent as well; while it was still fairly low, it was ten percent better than his rookie year which is a step in the right direction.  The big breakout hasn’t necessarily come yet but Carlsson appears to be on his way.

His camp will be looking to get paid with that in mind.  The price tag for young impact centers keeps going up with Logan Cooley (eight years, $80MM) being the recent standard for comparison.  While Verbeek has been able to keep $7MM as the high standard for forwards, that’s going to change as realistically, even a short-term bridge deal could surpass that.  Meanwhile, AFP Analytics pegs a max-term eight-year contract at around $11.4MM per season.  As a quick comparison, Cooley has 152 points in 211 NHL regular season games as he starts his second deal.  Carlsson is at 141 in 201.  The double-digit AAV range is where Verbeek will need to go to get a long-term deal done with his top pivot.

As for Gauthier, his sophomore season was also a big improvement on 2024-25.  He led Anaheim in scoring, tallying 41 goals and 28 assists in 76 games, a jump from the 20 goals and 24 assists the year before.  He appears to be well on his way to becoming the scoring winger that Philadelphia thought they were getting when they drafted him fifth overall.  Of course, when he wouldn’t sign with them, he was moved to the Ducks for a package that included Jamie Drysdale, one of the recent post-entry-level negotiations that felt a little contentious at the time.

It’s worth noting that, unlike Carlsson, Gauthier isn’t eligible to sign an offer sheet since he only played in one game in his first season.  That gives Verbeek a bit more leverage in talks with there being no potential outside threat.  Accordingly, the projections are a bit lower; AFP Analytics has a seven-year contract checking in a little over $8.8MM per season while a three-year bridge could check in around $6.3MM.

Cap space isn’t going to be a factor here.  The Ducks have over $38MM at their disposal, per PuckPedia, which is more than enough to re-sign both core youngsters, reshape the defense, and have plenty left over.  But it wouldn’t be shocking if history repeats itself and these two contracts take a while.

Examine McTavish Options

McTavish was one of the other trickier contract negotiations in recent years but he was one of the exceptions in that he received a longer-term contract, a six-year, $42MM pact.  The $7MM AAV tied him for the team lead (at the time, LaCombe has since passed it) and the thought was that one of Anaheim’s core pieces was locked up for the long haul.

One year later, his status isn’t as certain.  Yes, McTavish is still locked up for five more years but his status as a core piece is now in question.  This season, he played in 75 games, notching 17 goals and 24 assists.  It was his fourth straight season surpassing 40 points but he also saw his production dip from 52 in 2024-25 in a year where Anaheim’s offensive output as a team increased considerably.  Then, in the playoffs, he wound up being healthy scratched a couple of times.

McTavish is still just 23 years old and is a natural center, elements that should be particularly appealing to other teams.  Given Anaheim’s center depth, McTavish saw a bit of time on the wing this year which isn’t as ideal from a trade perspective.  While he’s coming off a down year, the demand for quality pivots is high enough that they could still land a strong return.  Is that the right approach to take or should they hold onto him for another season?  Verbeek needs to investigate what’s out there offer-wise to make that decision.

Backup Goalie Upgrade

Some eyebrows were raised when Verbeek decided to sign Ville Husso to a two-year, $4.4MM contract to essentially serve as the third-string option behind Lukas Dostal and Petr Mrazek.  With Mrazek ultimately dealing with injuries and undergoing hip surgery (limiting him to 10 games), Husso wound up being the second-string option for most of the season.

But the results weren’t great.  The 31-year-old made 19 starts but posted a 3.25 GAA and a .884 SV%, numbers that were well below league average.  This is something that can certainly be upgraded on and with Dostal struggling with his biggest workload (his SV% was only .888), getting a more reliable option here becomes that much more important.

In terms of finding a reliable backup who could cover 30-35 starts, the UFA market isn’t the deepest.  Stuart Skinner can shoulder that workload but he has run hot and cold over the last few years.  Connor Ingram had a decent season and might have some upside but he might be looking to go somewhere with a shot at a bigger workload than what the Ducks have to offer.  Frederik Andersen and Cam Talbot have been those types of goalies in the past but are getting up there in age.

Speculatively, Boston’s Joonas Korpisalo feels like a good fit here.  He has been a starter before and can handle the workload the Ducks would need him too.  His numbers haven’t been great but were better than what Anaheim’s netminders put up this past season.  At $3MM, he wouldn’t cost much more than Husso (who would probably go back to the third-string role) while the Bruins could benefit from the cap relief and might want to give Michael DiPietro a shot at the full-time backup role.

Whether it’s a free agent, Korpisalo, or someone else altogether, getting more of a stabilizing presence at the backup goalie spot is a good way to try to get a few extra points in the standings and take some pressure off Dostal in the process.