It is the same old story with the Anaheim Ducks: they keep it close to the vest when it comes to signing their restricted free agents heading into training camp. Even though training camps don’t start for over a month, a familiar pattern is forming with restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier.
After matching the offer sheet presented to Leo Carlsson and extending defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, the Anaheim Ducks still have work to do when it comes to completing their roster. Gauthier, a restricted free agent, still needs a contract. There hasn’t been too much on the Gauthier front other than the fact that what GM Pat Verbeek thought he was going to sign him for just went up, given Carlsson’s AAV of $18 million.
NHL Rumors: Cutter Gauthier and the Anaheim Ducks
We know Pat Verbeek is a tough negotiator. He came from the Steve Yzerman school of negotiating. Look what that did for Yzerman in Detroit. Not to say the same thing can’t happen to Verbeek in Anaheim, but the Leo Carlsson offer sheet threw a monkey wrench into the Anaheim Ducks internal salary cap.
But Verbeek’s pattern of being a tough negotiator for players coming out of their entry-level deals, minus, say, Jackson LaCombe and Troy Terry, has landed him in this situation. Let’s not forget the players who signed deep into training camp and struggled when the season got going.
First it was Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale two seasons ago, and then last season it was Mason McTavish. Zegras and Drysdale are in Philadelphia and just re-signed with the Flyers. McTavish was traded this offseason after a six-year, $42 million deal carrying a $7 million AAV. The McTavish misstep had more impact given that Joel Quenneville was just hired ahead of his first season in Anaheim.
For the Ducks’ sake, they need to buck the trend and sign Cutter Gauthier so he doesn’t miss any time during training camp, given the pattern that has occurred. It is an anomaly that shouldn’t happen but does.
Good general managers figure out the salary cap issues after signing their players. Remember, teams can go over the cap by 10 percent in the offseason. There is no reason to say the Ducks can’t sign Gauthier now and have him ready to go for training camp in September. Verbeek should lay the groundwork for roster moves later on, but should not pigeonhole himself into making everything work now.
Cutter Gauthier’s number has gone up, and the Anaheim Ducks will need to move money
The New Jersey Devils got into that problem last season before the Luke Hughes extension and, to a greater extent, with their non-acquisition of Quinn Hughes. Former GM Tom Fitzgerald didn’t understand he could have made the money work after acquiring the eldest Hughes brother.
Instead, he tried to align everything perfectly and missed out. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek is doing the same with Cutter Gauthier. The Ducks have a little over $9 million in cap space to sign Gauthier.
Verbeek knows he has to trade someone like Chris Kreider, Alex Killorn, or Frank Vatrano to make the dollar work for Gauthier. Anaheim already lost a lot this offseason, but this is the price of another team doing business for you.
Ideally, the Ducks would like to get their 40-goal scorer under the $15 million mark on an AAV. Given what Carlsson is making and Connor Bedard signing a five-year deal with a $15 million AAV, the feeling is that Gauthier will land in the $16-$17 million range on a similar contract.
NHL Rumors: Anaheim Ducks, and the San Jose Sharks
Again, there is still a lot of time before training camp. But the September 15th deadline looms for Gauthier to sign an eight-year extension with the Ducks. After that, players can only sign a seven-year deal with the club they are on and a six-year deal elsewhere.
But one thing is clear: the Anaheim Ducks must break the pattern of top young players missing training camp and sign Cutter Gauthier as soon as they can so he can mentally and physically prepare for training camp in September. Once that is done, Verbeek can make a move or two to create cap space.
Doing things in reverse never works out. Not to mention having another top young player miss training camp.
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