After another tumultuous offseason, the Anaheim Ducks cannot keep repeating the same mistakes

Well, the final storm cloud hanging over the Anaheim Ducks 2026 offseason has finally passed, as Cutter Gauthier signed an extension with the team late Tuesday night.

After having one of the most challenging offseasons in franchise history, the Ducks core group of players are finally together heading into training camp, which begins on September 17th. However, this was another summer in which Ducks GM Pat Verbeek tried to strong-arm his core players during contract negotiations. The fallacy of Verbeek's tactics has made the Ducks a worse team, on paper, than last season and it's high time he gets held accountable for mismanaging key negotiations.

The 2026 disaster

This keystone moment of Verbeek's tenure has been discussed ad nauseum already, but the Leo Carlsson offer sheet fiasco was the cherry on top of the chaos sundae. At no point during the 2026-27 season, should Carlsson have been left wafting in the wind of offer sheet rumors. Carlsson conceivably could have signed for much less than $18 million AAV the Ducks are now tied to. Everyone could see the glow up that was about to happen and Carlsson did not disappoint, notching 67 points (29 goals, 38 assists) in 70 regular season games. Carlsson would have been the number one center for Team Sweden too, during the Winter Olympics in February, but an abnormal injury knocked him out before the tournament even began.

Lost in the Carlsson offer sheet noise, was the Pavel Mintyukov five-year extension that carries an AAV of $7.2 million. Mintyukov has been a serviceable top four defenseman, as he had 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) in the regular season, but the extension felt like a panic move. Mintyukov was also offer sheet eligible and Verbeek tried to get ahead of being caught in the crossfire from another team, while dealing with the Carlsson contract.

Which brings us back to Gauthier.

Why did it take until just hours left before the new CBA would have kicked in, to get this deal done? Verbeek and the Ducks knew how much cap space they had to work with and who would have to be moved out to make the money work. Chris Kreider was waived and found a new team, but that could have been accomplished before last week. While Gauthier signed for less than the Connor Bedard line, what was the point of waiting almost until the last minute for just a six-year term? The focus should have been on maximizing the years Gauthier would spend in Anaheim, rather than squeezing out every last dollar.

The 2025 standoff

Last summer should have been a clue as to how the Carlsson and Gauthier contracts would eventually be handled, but the Mason McTavish contract standoff with the Ducks was just as uncomfortable. Without arbitration rights, McTavish was in a similar position as Gauthier; hailed as a core piece of the Ducks' future, a future number two center, and coming off a productive offensive season with 52 points. But Verbeek held his ground and grinded McTavish through all of training camp. Tacked onto that, was trying to learn the systems of new head coach, Joel Queeneville, and after being behind the eight ball from the jump, McTavish never really found his footing in the Ducks lineup and was ultimately traded on draft night. McTavish should have been a pillar for the Ducks' future, but an important developmental offseason was wasted on stubbornness.

The 2023 blueprint

The first offseason that displayed Verbeek's reliance on using strong-arm tactics, as both Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale became the unlucky targets. Neither skater were Verbeek draft picks and despite their high upside, Zegras and Drysdale had to suffer through a lost training camp awaiting new deals and struggled under then Ducks head coach, Greg Cronin, upon returning to the team. Drysdale was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Gauthier, during the 2023-24 season and Zegras would follow suit in 2025. Both skaters have flourished with the Flyers and have since been resigned to extensions. The combination of poor coaching and prolonged contract negotiations hampered the development of skaters that should have been pieces of the Ducks core.

But will 2027 be any different?

Beckett Sennecke is the next high profile Ducks skater that will be eligible for an extension in 2027. As a rookie last season, Sennecke exceeded expectations with 60 points (23 goals, 37 assists) and finished third in Calder trophy voting. And depending on how his season plays out, Tristan Luneau will also be need of a contract extension as well. Neither Sennecke or Luneau will have arbitration rights though and once again, Verbeek will be holding all the cards. But with how the previous offseasons have transpired, is there any Ducks fan that has faith that Verbeek will actually get ahead of a key negotiation for once? The track record has been uninspiring so far and watching core pieces get rung through the meat grinder every offseason has become tiring and embarrassing. When franchises like the Montreal Canadiens can sign their core pieces to reasonable deals and still be able to add another veteran, like Kreider, Verbeek's gaffes become even more glaring.

Under Verbeek, the Ducks have been able to identify and draft talent well; look no further than Sennecke. But other than the Gauthier trade, there have not been many wins during Verbeek's tenure. The Carlsson offer sheet debacle should have been the final straw, but Ducks fans are still saddled with a GM that almost cost the franchise its number one center. Will the 2027 offseason finally be the time when the Ducks say, enough is enough?

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