Anaheim Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek had everything neat and tidy with his salary cap structure. He would cap his core on reasonable contracts, similar to what the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes had done. He had a place to hang out.
There was a reason his only move was to find AJ Greer and sign him to a four-year deal with a cap hit of $4.25 million per season. Verbeek knew that leaving $36 million in cap space would allow for any possible offer sheets for Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov. Not to mention Cutter Gauthier’s new contract.
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Verbeek didn’t expect how high Carlsson’s offer sheet would be. Many thought it would be in the $15-$16 million range. However, the Philadelphia Flyers, days after the Shea Weber offer sheet expired, presented a five-year, $18 million per season offer sheet signed by Carlsson. There is $20 million in cash due immediately, and $85 million of the $90 million is being paid as signing bonuses.
That $18 million AAV puts a dent in the Anaheim Ducks’ cap space. And, that was before Mintyukov and Gauthier were signed. The problem now is that their cap space is much smaller than that due to the deal Verbeek signed Mintyukov to on Sunday, July 5.
Word is that there were at least two offer sheets sent to defenseman Pavel Mintyukov of the Anaheim Ducks. If those had been signed, Pat Verbeek’s real decision would have been forthcoming. Just one threat forced Verbeek to sign the defender to a five-year deal worth $7.2 million per season. For reference, the Los Angeles Kings defenseman recently signed a five-year deal for $7.4 million per season.
🚨NHL Thought of the Day 🚨
Anaheim Ducks Cap Space Destroyed
Pat Verbeek Has No One To Blame But Himself #flytogether pic.twitter.com/h8kaPdk7eU
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) July 5, 2026
Most speculation had Minttyukov earning around $5 million, or slightly more, per season in the same deal. However, when you look at the market, 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 if the offer sheet handed out to him came in around this number anyway.
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With the five-year deal signed by the Ducks and Minsyukov as it stands now, if the Ducks are going to match Carlsson’s offer, Pat Verbeek has $9.97 million to sign Cutter Gauthier. This situation could not have been avoided if the Ducks’ general manager had been in charge of his business last season, at least with Carlsson.
Although there are new reports that Mintyukov wanted to stay in Anaheim, at the beginning of the season, he was trying to find a change of location. But since the Ducks didn’t bring back Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Jacob Trouba, an opportunity opened up, and Mintyukov wanted to stay in Anaheim.
Leo Carlsson cannot be forgiven by Pat Verbeek, and the Ducks’ general manager has no one to blame but himself. Once again, those conversations with Troy Terry, Lukas Dostal, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, and Jamie Drysdale did more damage than people thought.
Although Verbeek likes to play hardball and follow in the footsteps of Steve Yzerman, there is no reason to let Carlsson reach July 1st. Even GM Ken Holland knew better than to let Brandt Clarke get to a point where his defender could get an offer sheet.
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But most of the catches for Zegras, McTavish, and Drysdale came at this point. Not to mention that the Ducks avoided a hearing on the dispute with Terry and Dostal before those contracts were signed. Don’t you think the players didn’t pay attention? They did it, they talked again.
Verbeek continued to push through these negotiations and allowed Carlsson to play out the season. Despite the injury, Carlsson still collected 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. Keep in mind, he was in the running order in his rookie season, playing in just 55 games.
In his first game in the playoffs, Carlsson posted 11 points (four goals and seven assists) in 12 games for the Ducks. There was no reason for this type of material to be given a sheet. Verbeek’s history clearly resonates with him.
A good general manager gets this player locked up when he is eligible to sign an extension. While Mason McTavish was leading the way last summer, Verbeek may have been working on Carlsson’s next contract as he did with LaCombe. However, once LaCombe and McTavish were taken care of, Carlsson could follow.
Verbeek has always been Carlsson’s guy, so for him to let this happen at his first base is surprising. But Verbeek thought he could get Carlsson and Gauthier in the $10-$12 million AAV range. However, he thought wrong. And now his lack of negotiation during the season has put the Anaheim Ducks in a situation where they have to 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 four first-round picks are good to get or draft a player, none of them will be as good as Leo Carlsson. So when the Ducks decide to match up, one of Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, or Troy Terry could be on the way out.
Also, if Pat Verbeek had negotiated better in the past and had his business done earlier, like Kent Hughes in Montreal, the Ducks would not be in a situation where they are against the salary cap.
Actions have consequences, and so does inaction. The Anaheim Ducks see what happens when negotiations go wrong in the past. Play the games, and these are the results. Again, no one should blame himself for what happened.
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