Tristan Luneau extension a hefty gamble for Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks made a surprising move on a very unproven player. Will it pay off?

On Thursday, general manager Pat Verbeek made a rather stunning announcement, signing defenseman Tristan Luneau to a six-year contract extension. The deal will carry an AAV of $7.2 million through the 2032-33 season. That sounds great for the player, but head-scratching for the rest of us, given that the 22-year-old has appeared in just 14 games with the Ducks.

There seems to be a lot of promise in the young blueliner, no doubt, as he is one of the top-scoring players at his position in the American Hockey League. However, given that he has yet to truly establish himself in the NHL, a deal with such a term and a high dollar amount seems to be quite the gamble for a Ducks team that is expected to remain competitive in the Pacific Division for years to come.

On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss the rather eye-popping contract that Luneau was given, and whether it could pay off down the road.

Tyler Yaremchuk: They didn’t have him in their playoff lineup last spring, and they just gave him north of $40 million on a long-term contract.

Carter Hutton: When you get that call from your agent, or agent gets that [call], like, ‘Do you have the right guy?’ I get betting on a guy and like thinking he’s good, but 14 games and a guy that wasn’t in your lineup. This is insane money, and I know the league is trending this way, but this is a head-scratcher for me. That is an insane investment in a player. I know we always see the signs of like you know what’s going to happen, what they can become. But there’s going to be a lot of these guys that get contracts that are flops, and they’re actually going to kill your cap if they don’t get it done. So, kudos to him for getting paid, but man, that’s a lot of pressure for a kid.

Tyler: If Tristan Luneau goes out and has a really good season – he’s not gonna get a ton of power play time. That’s kind of the Jackson Lacombe, Mintyukov spot- like, let’s say he has a great season. You’re telling me that you couldn’t have signed him for a 6 x $8 million this summer. Like yeah, it might have cost you an extra $800,000. But you’re telling me that guy, after one full NHL season, would have been demanding more than a 6 x $8 million? If he doesn’t have a good season, now you’re stuck holding on to a guy who, yeah, you could buy him out at 1/3 the cost because he’s young. So, for the next 2-3 seasons, you could get a cheap buyout. But why are you taking that risk? Like, to me, the upside of this contract is very slim.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…