ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Ducks did not trade Frank Vatrano as part of this year’s deadline sell-off, even as interest and offers came their way, and one theme should come out of that.
The Ducks’ time as sellers needs to end. This must be the last deadline.
This isn’t a call for the Ducks to blow much of the expansive amount of salary cap room they’ll have this offseason on free agents, or to suggest that they can quickly jump from a bottom-five team into a playoff club. And this isn’t saying they won’t trade a roster player for a quality asset or two in the future.
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But it’s time for general manager Pat Verbeek to do some targeted additions instead of pure subtraction. It doesn’t have to be done at a trade deadline, and his attention-grabbing January bet on Boston College star Cutter Gauthier already shows that he can pull off a bold move.
In that trade, though, Verbeek parted with young top-four defenseman Jamie Drysdale, so there was still some subtracting in order to address the future. Gauthier is the NCAA’s leading goal-scorer for the nation’s top team, but there will be an adjustment to the NHL, and it shouldn’t be assumed that he will be a top rookie or a nightly force right away.
He’ll be part of a young group that’s still being cultivated, the kind of leading players who bring hope for much better days. Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov and Trevor Zegras – the injured playmaker still a part of the building core – are big talents but they’re not top NHL stars (yet) and it’s been next to impossible to see what they can all do together this season. Injuries to all have made Greg Cronin’s first season as coach more challenging.
That gives Verbeek more reason to use his financial resources and draft capital this summer to improve the roster with more players who can push the club further and help flip some of this season’s close losses into victories. The Ducks have had their share of stinkers, but they’ve also won only 17 of the 42 games decided by one or two goals.
The Ducks are in position to make more noise on the acquisition front. Cap Friendly estimates Anaheim having more than $34 million of cap space once the contracts of Adam Henrique, Ilya Lyubushkin, Sam Carrick and Jakob Silfverberg are completely off the books. They’re not faced with major contract negotiations with restricted free agents, like last fall with Zegras and Drysdale. They have seven draft picks in the first three rounds this year and extra picks in 2025 (though their second-rounder went to Philadelphia for Gauthier).
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There is ammunition to upgrade the roster through free agency or trades. Verbeek knows he has the bulk of his club under contract for next season but said he doesn’t have a crystal ball and can’t forecast a team set to take its first small step out of its rebuild. He did stress he’s always looking to improve the team.
Here is a call for him to back up those words with actions. That doesn’t mean moving into full “buy” mode and adding salary by spending foolishly, but doing it wisely. They need more players that can help them start to win now, especially to provide a better environment for their young core to continue growing in.
“I’m looking at this as a way forward,” Verbeek told The Athletic. “Our young kids, I’m looking for them to take a step. I’m looking for us to be in a playoff race next season. That’s all forward progress. That’s not ‘selling’ progress. I’m looking forward to us competing to get in a playoff race. That’s my mindset for not only myself but for the coaching staff. For the players.”
You can throw the fans in there, too. They’ve been a hearty bunch and mostly have gone along with Verbeek taking the franchise back a couple steps to ultimately take leaps forward and realize his often-stated goal of creating a consistent Stanley Cup contender for many years. They’ll be putting up with a sixth consecutive playoff-less season, the longest by far since the Ducks entered the league in 1993.
But there comes a time when you’ve got to give fans something, more than just the thrills of Zegras, the unbridled promise of Carlsson and the oncoming potential lottery pick that will add another young talent to the stable. The trade deadline is an exciting time for hockey fans and teams that are in contention. Alex Killorn knows that feeling. In Tampa Bay, he watched players like Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller, David Savard, Nick Paul and Brandon Hagel walk through the doors as late-season acquisitions.
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“As a player on a team that has a chance to win, you’re always excited,” said Killorn, in his first season with the Ducks after signing as a free agent. “Like in Tampa, we didn’t care about draft picks. Because it just takes a long time and that’s a different situation than here obviously. We were so excited when we would get guys to just add depth. And guys like (Henrique) and Sammy (Carrick), they’re going to a great team (in Edmonton). I’m sure those guys are going to be so excited to have them. They’re going to help them a lot. It’s going to be great.
“You just want guys that’ll come and fit right in.”
Verbeek’s time as Anaheim’s GM thus far has been about getting the best deals for free agents he can flip or simply won’t re-sign. Now, it’s time to start the build-up — and you can argue that it began with Gauthier. But it’s time for more. It’s time to start raising expectations.
To his credit, Verbeek did solid work at this deadline in squeezing a first-round pick out of the Oilers for Henrique and Carrick, instead of jumping at lower offers from other teams for Henrique alone. The first-round pick that Sean Monahan fetched was the price point Verbeek saw for Henrique.
“You’re always trying to get the best deal you can,” Verbeek said. “I saw what Winnipeg gave to Montreal and I valued Adam and Sam in that same light. So, I stuck to my guns.”
But this wasn’t a teardown like in 2022, his first with the Ducks. After only several weeks on the job, Verbeek dealt Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Rickard Rakell and Nic Deslauriers. All were set to be UFAs. The Ducks had started sliding after a surprising first half under Dallas Eakins, but the deadline moves effectively torpedoed any chance of a playoff run. Verbeek’s call then was to enter a true rebuild, which had long been delayed.
Last week, however, he kept Vatrano, who could have been moved at his possible highest value point.
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“Frankie’s going to be a 35-goal scorer,” said Verbeek, who has him under contract for one more season. “They don’t just drop off of trees, you know what I mean? Or grow on trees. We like Frankie. We like what he brings inside the locker room. We like his work ethic. We like how he shoots the puck in the net. We like his contract. There’s just so much to like about him.
“Unless you’re going to blow my doors off, why would I do that?”
Verbeek also brushed away the heavy chatter about any potential Zegras trade by strenuously stating he didn’t shop him or get calls from teams as Friday approached. Injuries have limited the 22-year-old to only 20 games, with a broken ankle keeping him out since Jan. 9.
“We want ‘Z’ to play with us,” Verbeek said. “Hopefully, he can get through this injury pretty quick and get him back on the ice.”
All that’s left for the Ducks is to build toward next season. And if that goes sideways, Verbeek could look at parting with Vatrano on an expiring contract if he doesn’t re-sign him. But it’s time for the players to make decisions like that tougher on Verbeek. It’s also on Verbeek to build a team worthy of giving him an argument to buy at the deadline instead of sell, to build toward the day when a trade target has reason to waive his no-trade clause.
“That’s the goal,” Killorn said. “You want to be buyers, not sellers. I think the great part here is that we can kind of see the light. It’s tough. We’ve got a lot of young players and we’ve had a lot of injuries. But you can see the light. You can see the right direction it’s going.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take. But I think we’re all excited because it seems like there’s a change that’s happening. When you look at the talent like Gauthier and Zegras, Carlsson and McTavish – these guys are young. (Olen) Zellweger. (Tristan) Luneau. It’s just a matter of time when these guys start getting reps and become really good NHL players.”
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Killorn, a key veteran add by Verbeek last summer, has bought into the hope. It’s time for the Ducks’ boss to start boosting a roster that can bring something more: results. Make buying at the deadline a thing again in these parts.
(Photo of Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Strome and Cam Fowler: Harry How / Getty Images)