Making the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in eight seasons and an eye-catching upset of the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers in the first round would lead you to think that the Anaheim Ducks are flying into the upcoming 2026-27 season on a serious jet stream.
If only their summer had the same kind of momentum as the spring.
This offseason for the Ducks has been noteworthy, all right — with little of it resulting in positive headlines, mostly centered around their three important restricted free agents, Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov and Cutter Gauthier. Two are now locked down on new five-year contracts, but the prices for Carlsson ($18 million average annual value) and Mintyukov ($7.2 million) are far beyond what the Ducks originally hoped to pay. The same could occur for Gauthier, who isn’t signed but could have his own eight-figure AAV.
Put those contractual calamities that have helped drain their once-abundant salary cap space together with losing veterans from a defense corps that’ll be reconfigured mainly with youth, and there are reasonable questions about Anaheim’s ability to build off last season.
The Ducks didn’t (or couldn’t, thanks to those issues with their RFAs) do much to boost the roster through free agency and they won’t have reliable two-way forward Troy Terry for what could be the first third of the season. They’ll likely need to subtract a salaried roster player just to get Gauthier signed and stay under the cap. And they’re already without Mason McTavish, Jacob Trouba, John Carlson, Radko Gudas and Olen Zellweger.
It is quiet right now, but the wheels of a new season will soon churn and more news involving the Ducks is on the way. Training camp is a little more than a month away, dear readers. Let’s gauge your thoughts on some of the more pertinent questions surrounding the franchise with this fan survey.
(Anyone having difficulty accessing the survey can use this link.)

