Originally published by NHLRumors.com
Anaheim Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek had everything all laid out nice and neat with his salary cap structure. He was going to lock up his core to reasonable contracts, similar to what the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes had done. He had cap space to spend.
There was a reason his only move was to acquire A.J. Greer and then sign him to a four-year deal with a $4.25 million cap hit per season. Verbeek knew leaving himself $36 million in cap space would allow for any potential offer sheets to Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov. Not to mention the new contract for Cutter Gauthier.
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What Verbeek didn’t expect was how high the offer sheet for Carlsson would be. Most figured it would be in the $15-$16 million range. However, the Philadelphia Flyers, days after the Shea Weber offer sheet expired, tabled a five-year, $18 million-per-season offer sheet that Carlsson signed. There is $20 million in liquid cash that needs to be paid right away, and $85 million of the $90 million is paid as signing bonuses.
That $18 million AAV puts a dent in the Anaheim Ducks cap space. Again, that was before Mintyukov and Gauthier were signed. The problem now is that their cap space is even less than that because of the deal Verbeek signed Mintyukov to on Sunday, July 5th.
Word is that there were at least two offer sheets sent to defenseman Pavel Mintyukov of the Anaheim Ducks. Had those been signed, a real decision for Pat Verbeek would have been coming. Just the threat of one forced Verbeek to sign the defenseman to a five-year deal at $7.2 million a season. For reference, Los Angeles Kings defenseman just signed a five-year deal at $7.4 million a season.
NHL Thought of the Day
Anaheim Ducks Cap Space Ruined
Pat Verbeek Have No One to Blame But Himself #flytogether pic.twitter.com/h8kaPdk7eU
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) July 5, 2026
Most projections had Mintyukov earning around $5 million, or a little more, per season on a similar deal. However, given the marketplace, with Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Ducks each making $9 million per season, you have to wonder whether the offer sheet presented to him came in at around this number anyway.
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With this five-year deal signed by the Ducks and Mintyukov as it stands right now, if the Ducks are to match the Carlsson offer, Pat Verbeek has $9.97 million to sign Cutter Gauthier. This scenario could have been avoided had the Ducks’ general manager handled his business last offseason, at least with Carlsson.
While there are new reports out saying Mintyukov wanted to stay in Anaheim, earlier in the season, he was trying to find a change of scenery. But with the Ducks not bringing back Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Jacob Trouba, an opportunity opened up, and Mintyukov wanted to stay in Anaheim.
Leo Carlsson is inexcusable by Pat Verbeek, and the Ducks’ general manager has no one to blame but himself. Again, those negotiations with Troy Terry, Lukas Dostal, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, and Jamie Drysdale did more damage than people think.
While Verbeek likes to play hardball and follow in Steve Yzerman‘s footsteps, there was no reason to let Carlsson reach July 1st. Even Kings GM Ken Holland knew better not to allow Brandt Clarke to get to a spot where his defenseman could get an offer sheet.
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But multiple holdouts by Zegras, McTavish, and Drysdale got to this point. Not to mention the Ducks avoiding arbitration hearings with Terry and Dostal before those contracts were signed. Don’t think players didn’t take notice? They did, and they talked too.
Verbeek kept pushing off these negotiations and allowed Carlsson to play out the season. Despite his injury, Carlsson still put up 67 points (29 goals and 38 assists) in 70 games. The second overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft has 141 points (61 goals and 80 assists) in 201 regular-season games. Remember, he was on a load-management schedule in his rookie season, playing only 55 games.
In his first stint in the playoffs, Carlsson put up 11 points (four goals and seven assists) in 12 games for the Ducks. There was no reason for this type of asset to ever be offer sheeted. Verbeek’s past is clearly catching up to him.
A good general manager gets this player locked up when he is eligible to sign an extension. While Mason McTavish was a priority last summer, Verbeek could have been working on Carlsson’s next contract as he did with LaCombe. Even still, once LaCombe and McTavish were taken care of, Carlsson could have been next.
Verbeek has always been Carlsson’s guy, so for him to allow this to happen to his number one center is mind-boggling. But Verbeek thought he could get Carlsson and Gauthier in the $10-$12 million AAV range. Well, he thought wrong. And now his lack of negotiation during the season has put the Anaheim Ducks in a situation where they must choose between four first-round picks and losing Carlsson to Philadelphia, or trading another player to free up the cap space needed to sign Gauthier to a new deal.
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While having four first-round picks is good for acquiring or drafting a player, none of them will be as good as Leo Carlsson. So when the Ducks decide to match, one of Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, or Troy Terry could be on the way out.
Again, had Pat Verbeek negotiated better in the past and gotten his business done earlier, like Kent Hughes in Montreal, the Ducks would not be in a position where they are up against the salary cap.
Actions have consequences, and so does inaction. The Anaheim Ducks are seeing what happens when negotiations go poorly in the past. Play games, and these are the results. Again, there is no one to blame but themselves for what is happening.
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