Carlsson's rise, Gauthier's contract, and defensive struggles define 2026. Can the Ducks finally become a playoff contender?
The calendar year of 2025 was nothing short of a roller coaster for the Anaheim Ducks organization. From being within shouting distance of a playoff race for the first time in seven years early on to parting with Greg Cronin as head coach to hiring Joel Quenneville to replace him to parting with long-time roster players Trevor Zegras and John Gibson, the Ducks have undergone a significant facelift and find themselves firmly in the playoff picture for the 2025-26 season.
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 OT Loss to the Lightning
Takeaways from the Ducks 5-4 Loss to the Sharks
Questions were asked and answered in 2025, but as with any year of transition, a new set of questions are always just around the corner. Here are the five biggest storylines for the Ducks in 2026:
How good will Leo Carlsson be/How far can he take the Ducks?
This will remain a question surrounding the Ducks and their superstar center from now through the foreseeable future. Carlsson has established himself as the Ducks’ franchise player, representing the reason for the suffering over the last seven years and the light at the end of that tunnel. After ending the 2024-25 season on a high note and getting off to a scintillating start to 2025-26, where he scored 26 points (10-16=26) in his first 16 games, he’s tallied just 16 points (7-9=16) in 22 games since.
His game is still anything but complete, as he still needs to round out his small-area play and defensive habits if he’s to realize his true and full potential. He’s already one of the most potent offensive weapons in the NHL, but the Ducks need him to reach elite status soon if they’re to solidify their spot in the playoffs and do any damage once there.
How expensive will Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier’s extensions be?
The Ducks have a projected $41.373 million in cap space for the 2026-27 season with six pending UFAs (Ryan Poehling, Ross Johnston, Jansen Harkins, Jacob Trouba, Petr Mrazek, and Radko Gudas) and five pending RFAs (Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and Ian Moore). Two of those 11 players project to account for more than or around $20 million of that cap space, as they’ve solidified themselves as foundational pieces of the Ducks' present and future core: Gauthier and Carlsson.
Carlsson enters the new year with 42 points (17-25=42) in 39 games and Gauthier with 38 (19-19=38) in 40. With the salary cap projected to rise to at least $113.5 million by 2027-28, the minimum these two will fetch on eight-year deals would be $10 million, with Carlsson likely pushing $12-$13 million per year. Fortunately for them, and perhaps unfortunately for the Ducks, those numbers will only increase with each passing day.
Can the Ducks become a good defensive team?
The last time the Ducks didn’t finish as a bottom-ten NHL team in terms of GA/G was the 2018-19 season. In 2025-26, at 5v5, they allow the ninth-most shots on goal per 60 minutes (28.03), the eighth-most shot attempts/60 (59.81), and the fourth-most expected goals/60 (2.85). All considered, the Ducks remain a poor defensive NHL club.
They have had their growing pains, adjusting from their man-to-man defensive zone coverage system to their new pressure zone. However, they’ve had half the season to adapt, and despite flashes of success, the same mistakes persist and cost them several times per game. The silver lining is that due to this new coverage system, they’ve finally been able to break through offensively, especially when generating rush chances. However, if this team is ever going to compete for Stanley Cups, they’re going to have to play a more consistent and staunch brand of defensive hockey.
From the current roster, who stays and who goes?
As mentioned, the Ducks have six pending UFAs with contracts due to expire on July 1. Among those six are captain Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, whose 22:14 TOI/g is second on the Ducks, and Ryan Poehling, who was the centerpiece in the trade that sent Trevor Zegras to Philadelphia. Beyond the pending UFAs, there are a handful of veteran forwards who have seen their roles diminished as the team has turned the corner this season.
Frank Vatrano was a 37-goal All-Star just two seasons ago and is now injured, averaging just 12:21 TOI/g, a fixture of the bottom-six, and struggling to produce, with just six points (3-3=6) in 38 games. Alex Killorn remains a versatile, defensive-oriented winger, but he’s also seen his minutes (15:34 TOI/g) decrease along with his production (11 points in 40 games). Ryan Strome, with a top-six skillset, has struggled to carve out a non-scoring role for himself under the Ducks' new coaching staff and is now frequently watching games from the press box as a healthy scratch. With the team in this period of transition, it will be interesting to monitor who remains in Anaheim at the end of 2026.
Where/who/how does Pat Verbeek add to the roster?
By any metric, the Ducks are a top-ten offensive team and bottom-ten defensive team at the halfway mark of the 2025-26 season. However, indications from NHL insiders like Elliotte Friedman, Chris Johnston, and David Pagnotta suggest that Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek has the metaphorical bat on his shoulders, ready to take a big swing, and add a scoring winger to the top of his lineup.
Verbeek famously struck out in the summer of 2024, when he offered Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault larger contracts than what they ultimately signed with the Nashville Predators. While on the surface, the Ducks' defense is an issue, their blueline is currently seven players deep, with five players under 25 years old. They also have projected NHLers Tristan Luneau and Stian Solberg patrolling the San Diego Gulls' blueline in the AHL, along with others like Tyson Hinds and Noah Warren, with more on the way like prospects Tarin Smith and Lasse Boelius. So perhaps moving forward with that unit untouched, banking on internal growth, will be the proper course of action for Verbeek.
The Ducks have five core members of the forward group currently occupying top-six roles in the NHL (Terry, Carlsson, Sennecke, Gauthier, McTavish). Another scoring addition to that group would be welcome, but perhaps prioritizing more two-way habits with a forward addition might be more beneficial to stabilize the overall team defense. Verbeek could go in several different directions when it comes to adding to the current and projected future roster, as the Ducks could be in “buy” mode for the first time in nearly a decade.
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