The Anaheim Ducks just matched a five-year, $90 million offer sheet for Leo Carlsson. That was the headline. But the real test of Pat Verbeek’s offseason is just getting started. Because Cutter Gauthier, the Ducks’ 22-year-old winger who scored 41 goals last season, still needs a new contract. And after watching Carlsson get paid through an external offer from the Philadelphia Flyers, Gauthier’s camp knows exactly what the market looks like.
There’s one big difference here. Gauthier isn’t eligible to sign an offer sheet with another team. So unless Verbeek trades him — which would be a disaster for a team trying to build around two young stars — Gauthier is staying put. The question is what he’ll cost.
The Ducks have roughly $9.07 million in cap space right now. That’s not enough if Gauthier wants a long-term deal worth $14 million per season, which is the number some around the league are eyeing. And he has leverage even without an offer sheet. Ten of his 41 goals came off assists from Carlsson. He also helped set up 29 of Carlsson’s tallies. The two have chemistry. You don’t break that up to save a few million.
The numbers game Anaheim has to play
Verbeek can clear cap space. Names like Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn and Chris Kreider have been floated as trade candidates. Moving Killorn alone would solve a lot of the math. But that hurts depth, and the Ducks aren’t deep enough to just ship out veterans for nothing.
If Gauthier signs for eight years, he’d be locked up through his prime. That won’t be cheap. A bridge deal would keep the salary lower in the short term but pushes him toward unrestricted free agency faster. That’s not ideal for Anaheim either.
A five-year deal at $14 million per season feels like the landing spot. It would make Gauthier the second-highest-paid winger in the league, behind only Kirill Kaprizov. That sounds expensive until you remember Gauthier just scored 41 goals as a 22-year-old. The Ducks will push back initially. They’ll say the Carlsson contract was an anomaly driven by Philly’s front office. But the cap keeps going up, and goal-scorers who produce at that level don’t hit the market often.
What happens after five years
Here’s the thing. After five years on a $14 million cap hit, Gauthier would hit unrestricted free agency at age 27. Carlsson, meanwhile, will have one more year of RFA status before his own UFA eligibility. So the Ducks have a ticking clock on both guys. Trading Gauthier now would be a massive mistake. You don’t find 41-goal wingers lying around. The cap space will come eventually. The question is whether Verbeek moves fast enough to keep this duo together without letting another team dictate the terms.
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