A.J. Greer’s move to Anaheim comes with real weight behind it. The Ducks didn’t just add a body for the bottom six - they added a 29-year-old winger coming off the best season of his career, and they committed to him with a four-year contract worth a $4.25 million AAV and a 10-team no-trade clause for the life of the deal.
Anaheim made the signing official on Wednesday after reports of the contract surfaced on Tuesday. For Greer, it caps a climb that looked a lot different not too long ago.
Last season with Florida, he put up career highs across the board: 17 goals, 15 assists and 32 points in 78 games. He also logged the most stable workload of his NHL career, averaging 12:26 of ice time per game. Before the 2025-26 season, his career total sat at 49 points in 248 games.
“I just really put my head down and gave it everything I had,” Greer said of the opportunity he earned and the production he displayed in 2025-26. “I know that I can do that again.
I don’t think it’s a one-off. Personally, I know what’s in the tank, and I’m a competitor.
I’m only going to get better, I believe. So, I’m really looking forward to this opportunity.”
That kind of confidence makes sense when you trace his path. Greer was a second-round pick, 39th overall in 2015, by Colorado out of Boston University. After a year and a half of limited production there, he moved on to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL and found more offense.
From 2016 through 2022, he spent most of his time in the AHL, with brief NHL looks for the Avalanche and Devils. Then came a stretch from 2022 to 2025 in a more defined fourth-line role with Boston, Calgary and Florida, a run that included a Stanley Cup with the Panthers in 2024-25.
Florida’s injury pileup in 2025-26 changed his role again. With key players sidelined after the Panthers’ run of back-to-back Stanley Cups and three straight trips to the Final, Greer moved into top-nine minutes and watched his production take off. His shooting percentage jumped to 16.4%, and he was skating with more reliable minutes and better linemates.
What Anaheim is getting now is not a flash player. Greer is built more like a classic grinder, though he brings surprising skating ability for a 6-foot-3, 225-pound forward. His game is rooted in pace, pressure and physical presence.
He hunts pucks hard, pressures defensemen into mistakes and can turn those turnovers into chances in the dangerous areas of the ice. In the offensive zone, he protects the puck well, keeps his feet churning and works to keep possessions alive.
Away from the puck, he keeps battling for inside positioning and makes himself a nuisance to play against. His shot isn’t lightning fast, but it has enough weight to beat NHL goalies from range when he has room.
In transition, he won’t be the one carrying the puck end to end, but he does enough to move play forward through neutral ice and across the blue line. Defensively, he tracks back through the right lanes, helps apply pressure on rushes and makes life difficult for opponents trying to work the cycle.
That profile should fit what the Ducks were looking for. In theory, Greer will see plenty of puck touches in a new system, with new teammates and a new coach, and he brings a mix of offensive support, disruptive defense and forechecking that Anaheim needed in 2025-26 and into its playoff run.
There’s also another layer here. Greer hasn’t logged much penalty-kill time in the NHL, but if that becomes part of his game, it would raise his value even more for a Ducks team that has struggled on special teams for much of the past decade.
And then there’s the human side of it. Greer’s workmanlike mindset shows up in the way he talks about the opportunity, and that kind of attitude tends to travel well inside a locker room. If Anaheim gets the same drive and buy-in that Florida did, he looks like the sort of player who can become a quick favorite with both teammates and fans.
In Other News...
Ducks Add Another Low-Cost Blue Line Option Fans Will Debate
The Ducks kept adding to their organizational blue line depth this week, joining a wave of minor league free-agent activity around the league. Anaheim signed defenseman Travis Mitchell to a one-year, two-way contract, a low-cost move that fits the kind of depth shopping teams often do at this stage of the calendar as they try to shore up both the NHL roster and the AHL pipeline.
Mitchell is coming off a season that included his NHL debut, while he spent most of the year with Bridgeport and produced 1 goal and 17 points in 58 games with a plus-3 rating. For Anaheim, the appeal is obvious: another inexpensive option on defense, another body for the organization, and another name that could end up in the mix if injuries or call-ups start to thin out the back end. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Are Taking No Chances With A Cornerstone Of Their Future
The Ducks have spent much of their summer acting like a team that knows exactly where its future lives. Anaheim has kept its free-agent moves restrained and made clear to other clubs that it intends to protect its young core, with Leo Carlsson at the center of that plan. Coming off his best season yet, the center has become the kind of player a rebuilding team can build around, and the Ducks are treating his next contract like a priority rather than a possibility.
That caution fits the broader picture around Anaheims roster, where rivals have already shown interest in other pieces of the young group. The Flames tried to pry Mason McTavish loose, only to be outbid by St. Louis in a deal built around draft capital, a reminder that the Ducks talent is drawing attention even before the next wave of decisions arrives. For now, though, the real focus is on keeping enough room available to make sure Carlsson stays in Anaheim for the long haul. [Read more 🡒]
Former Ducks Veteran Already Found His Next NHL Home
John Carlsons time in Anaheim was brief, but the veteran defenseman still left the Ducks with a reminder of why teams keep betting on him. After arriving from Washington at the trade deadline and finishing last season in Orange County, the 36-year-old brought the kind of steady production and experience that can still matter on a blue line, even as his career has already spanned well over 1,100 games.
Now Carlson has a new landing spot, and it comes with real commitment from a contender. Tampa Bay signed the unrestricted free agent to a two-year deal worth $17 million, a sign the Lightning see him as more than a depth addition as they try to keep their roster in win-now shape. For Anaheim, it is another quick reminder of how fast veteran rentals can move on once the season ends. [Read more 🡒]