The Anaheim Ducks spent the summer making moves, but the kind of busy they were isn’t the kind that usually leaves a team better off.
What looked, for a moment, like a club ready to push deeper into the Pacific Division took a hard turn. The Ducks’ already shaky defence group got thinner, their cap situation got tighter, and by the time the dust settled, they looked more vulnerable than they did at the end of last season.
The biggest ripple came when Anaheim matched Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet. The Philadelphia Flyers put five years and $18 million on the table early in the off-season, and the Ducks chose to keep their first-line centre.
That was no small decision. If Anaheim had walked away, it would have landed four draft picks in return.
Instead, it kept a player drafted second overall in 2023, one who scored 29 goals and 67 points in 70 games last season and followed that with a strong postseason. The price, though, was a cap structure that now looks badly out of whack, especially since Carlsson is set to be the highest-paid player on an AAV basis.
That problem only got sharper because Cutter Gauthier still needs a new deal. The restricted free agent broke out with 41 goals and 69 points in 2025-26, and the Ducks created some breathing room by mutually terminating Chris Kreider’s contract, opening up an extra $6.5 million. Even after that move, they still have more than $15 million to sort out Gauthier’s extension.
Anaheim did lock up a few other pieces. Pavel Mintyukov got a five-year deal at $7.2 million per year, while Ian Moore and Jeff Malott also re-signed. The club added veteran right-shot defenceman Nick Jensen, a stay-at-home type who put up four goals and 17 points in 61 games with the Ottawa Senators in 2025-26.
The Ducks also brought in A.J. Greer, whose rights came over in a trade with the Florida Panthers before he signed a four-year contract carrying a $4.25 million cap hit after a career-best season. James Hamblin and Laurent Brossoit were added too, along with several players expected to round out the American Hockey League roster.
The departures, though, told the louder story.
Kreider is gone after the mutual termination, and Jacob Trouba moved on as well, signing a long-term extension with the San Jose Sharks. Anaheim also lost two other right-shot defencemen in free agency: John Carlson headed to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Radko Gudas joined the Florida Panthers.
Gudas’ rights had already been traded to the Panthers for Greer’s rights, so the Ducks at least got something back there. That was one of several draft-day transactions, but the back end still took another hit with Olen Zellweger leaving after a 2025-26 season in which he scored seven goals and 22 points in 76 games.
Then came Mason McTavish. The third overall pick in 2021 was dealt to the St.
Louis Blues for two first-round picks. Anaheim used one to select Nikita Klepov, then moved down with the other to take Marcus Nordmark.
Neither is expected to help the Ducks for at least a couple of years.
Up front, Anaheim has enough to work with. Carlsson, Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke give the forward group a solid spine, and veterans Alex Killorn, Frank Vatrano, Ryan Poehling and Greer add some production.
The defence, though, is where this team looks exposed. Jackson LaCombe and Mintyukov project as the top two left-shot defencemen, but after that the list gets thin fast: Tristan Luneau, Moore, Tyson Hinds and Jensen are the other projected blueliners.
That’s a serious drop from a unit that already gave up 288 goals last season, fourth-worst in the league. With the group now looking even weaker, Anaheim’s margin for error is razor thin.
In Other News...
Oilers Just Made A Move Fans Will Have Strong Opinions On
The Oilers added a name that immediately got people talking when they signed Alex Formenton to a one-year deal. It is the kind of move that goes beyond the usual roster churn, because Formenton has been out of the NHL spotlight and his arrival in Edmonton carries plenty of baggage beyond simple hockey fit.
Even by the standards of a late-summer transaction, this one is sure to land with strong opinions attached. Formentons past involvement in the 2018 Hockey Canada case involving five players is part of why the signing is drawing so much attention, and it puts the organization in the middle of a conversation that has very little to do with line combinations or depth charts. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Spark Immediate Backlash With Controversial Alex Formenton Decision
The Oilers latest roster move has quickly turned into something bigger than a hockey transaction, with the club signing forward Alex Formenton and putting itself right back in the middle of a sensitive conversation around a player who was previously involved in the trial tied to the 2018 Hockey Canada team. Formenton, who has been away from the NHL spotlight, expressed gratitude for the chance to return, but the reaction around the deal has been immediate and far less straightforward than a typical depth addition.
What makes this signing especially notable is the way it came together and the scrutiny it is already drawing. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Edmonton did not need league approval to make the move and learned of the signing at the same time as everyone else, a detail that underscores how quickly the news landed across the sport. For the Oilers, the bigger question now is not just how Formenton fits on the ice, but how long this decision stays in the spotlight off it. [Read more 🡒]
McDavid Just Sent A Clear Message About What Oilers Need Most
Connor McDavid spent the captains skate in Edmonton on Sept. 9 talking less about flash and more about the basics the Oilers have to get right. His message was clear: after long stretches of players being shuffled around the order and into different roles, the lineup needs more stability, and the team has to come out of the gate with the kind of pace that keeps it from playing catch-up early.
There is also a calendar wrinkle that could work in Edmontons favor. With no Olympic or Four Nations Face-Off interruptions to break up the season, McDavid pointed to the possibility of more rest and recovery as a small but meaningful edge, the kind that can matter over a long grind if the Oilers are able to settle in quickly and stay there. [Read more 🡒]