Ducks GM Pat Verbeek on 2026 Trade Deadline Moves

The Ducks completed two major trades prior to the 2026 NHL trade deadline, acquiring longtime Capitals defenseman John Carlson and sending veteran forward Ryan Strome to the Calgary Flames. General manager Pat Verbeek spoke to local media via video conference call on Friday afternoon. Below is a full transcript of the call, which has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Tell me about the process of landing John Carlson. That's a pretty big deal.

(The) process is similar every time you work a trade. It's funny. You call around and you talk to general managers to see what's going on, what they're looking to do. Washington kind of expressed that they were looking to move John Carlson, and we started to engage in talks probably a couple days ago. And it became more serious as the day went along, yesterday. There's a lot of back and forth, and then we finally settled on the compensation that’s been reported. We're excited to add John to our group.

His abilities are pretty well-known around the NHL, what he does well. What did you like about him in particular for your team, for your group at this point where you're trying to make that breakthrough?

Well, he's run a good power play. He's been with a group that's been exceptional (on the) power play. I think there's things that he can help us in that area. I think probably the things that I’ve liked a lot about him is he's a very intelligent player, very good puck mover. I like how he joins the rush in a real cerebral way. His 5-on-5 numbers this year have been outstanding. So I think moving forward, whether it's a playoff run or a playoff push, 5-on-5 play becomes very important, and it'll be important for our group to make sure that we can keep pushing to make the playoffs. When I look at what he's done, I think that was probably the most important part of all. Now, we can distribute the ice time in a different manner. We can get better matchups.
There's a lot that went into acquiring him and allowing us to have different looks, different options for our coaching staff, and I think that went into a lot of it as well.

As far as positional focus, you look at the team; there was no glaring need. Were you looking, primarily, to upgrade defense and maybe right defense in particular, or did you take a best player available approach to the deadline?

I looked at forward. I looked at everywhere we could probably try to improve. John is a big improvement for us. So I think that we looked at that as an opportunity. I looked at being able to create a deeper changing on the defense side. The way the schedule is going, the last 20 games of the season, you're playing every other day and it becomes a grind. And so injuries become a major factor. And I think with adding John to our group without having to subtract, it certainly adds a lot of depth to our group. And if certain things happen in the last stretch of the season and into the playoffs, we're positioned to have a lot of players that can still go in the lineup that are NHL-ready.

In your discussions with Q (head coach Joel Quenneville), have you talked about where Carlson might fit as far as the power play? You had the big commitment to Jackson (LaCombe) before the season, but Carlson’s been a PP1 guy for the most part.

The one thing when you kind of look at power plays, you need two good power plays. You can have one, but there might be one that's running hot one night and not the next. So I think giving the coach options and different chemistry options is very important, and John certainly adds to that mix. And so Jackson's there. We also have Pavel Mintyukov. There's a lot of options that we can now put on the ice.

The Ryan Strome trade, it gives him an opportunity to play regularly, gives you guys a lot of cap flexibility in what is going to be an important summer. Can you clue us in a little bit more on the process?

I think Ryan is an ultimate professional. He showed a lot of character.
I think in this instance, he got injured at the start of training camp and ended up being six weeks out of the lineup. We were winning, and it's difficult for any player to kind of come into that scenario and try and carve out a role. And so Ryan was kind of chasing it, and so he was in a tough position. 
And so being healthy and being scratched from time to time, it's certainly not the best for the player at times. It gives us depth, but I thought for Ryan and––I think he's been just an outstanding person. Like I said, great character. From my perspective, we looked at it to give Ryan an opportunity to go to a team where he's going to be able to play and contribute to that team in a meaningful way. And as a player, I've been in his chair, and I understand exactly where he's coming from. It's important to play and not sit out. Even though we're a team that's kind of in a playoff push and run, from his perspective and from his family's perspective, it's important that he continues to have the opportunity to play.

What led you to conclude that surrendering a first-round pick, that kind of price, that this was the right time to do it? Was it more the fact that you had this kind of a player that became available, or was it more the fact that you guys had played yourself into a position where maybe the division is there for the taking––and maybe even that side of the bracket––once you get into the postseason?

First of all, you look at the player that you’re putting into the group. It's a big add. It's a big add. He's a heck of a hockey player. To your point, they don't come along often. I think what we've been doing the last three years is adding assets. And I thought this was a time where I looked at giving this group another extra push, another little aid in helping us make this push to where we want to go. And so ultimately, if we get into the playoffs and we can have a nice run, I looked at it like this: it's worth it. It's worth it to give this group experience, give them a chance to make the playoffs and to do well in the playoffs. And that's kind of how I looked at it. And, with the hope that we'll be able to re-sign him when this season's over.

Is it too early to broach that with him, or will you maybe start with his representation (soon)?

It’s kind of early. There’s other free agents in our group. We've got RFAs, we've got UFAs. I want the dust to settle here, and I want the players to really concentrate on playing good hockey. All that stuff will take care of itself at the appropriate time. I just want him to concentrate and play hockey and play the best hockey that he can and help the team the best way that he knows how. And that goes for the rest of the guys as well. I don't want any distractions for this group, and I think this stuff will work itself out in due time.

Going into this deadline, the last few years, it's been a selling mindset of trying to get assets and continue to build a team. How did that change for you going into this one, where your team is doing well? It's an opportunity to reward them with this opportunity. Is that how you saw that?

Well, absolutely. I mean, had we not done anything, I would have felt comfortable the same way. But I think when you have an opportunity to better your team, I think that's your responsibility and your duty to do that. I think we have enough draft picks. We have enough prospects coming. Is it worth it to give up a conditional first-rounder? In my opinion, yes, it is. And so to get the quality of a player with John Carlson, then it made sense not only to us, but to our organization. So that's how I viewed it.

When you look at the mix on the defensive side now, you have all the veterans there on the right and all the young guys on the left side–

That's kind of the way it works out, man. *laughs* At some point, here in the next few years, the left side's going to be the veteran side and the right side's going to be the younger side. So we're going to take turns. That’s just kind of how it's worked out.

You touched on it a little bit, but when you're looking at the summer, and you're looking at the guys that you have coming up. You got (Ryan) Poehling done the other day. Was there any thought to getting more of these guys done before the deadline, or just waiting?

No, I think we reached a point (in) maybe late October, early November, that we just decided to table talks with any of our young players and just focus on playing hockey. If they play hockey well, then all the contracts and all that stuff will take care of itself. I just wanted their mindset to be worried on playing good hockey and helping this team win and to get into the playoffs.

I wanted to go back to an earlier trade. Jeffrey Viel comes in. He was a guy that wasn't playing much at all in Boston. How do you even scout a guy like that to have him come in and then be as successful as he has been with your group so far?

Well, we scout. I mean, we have lots of scouts that do their job and they do it well. I watched him play against us early in the season, and I thought he had a pretty good game against us when we played in Boston. He was on what I call a fourth line/grind line, and I thought he did a good job. What you're seeing now out of him, we saw in the minors with his skill level and his doggedness to get in on the forecheck, to finish checks. We saw all of that stuff. He's a quiet, tough customer, and he's always been there for his teammates, which I love. And he's actually starting to feel really comfortable with our group, with our system and he's been kind of a little bit of a pleasant surprise for us. But we've seen some of the things that he's showing now in the minors, and he looks like he's just gained confidence to be able to do it at the NHL level now.

There hasn't been a ton of movement between San Diego and Anaheim this year. A lot of injuries to account for in the bottom-6 and all that. What are you seeing from the development down in San Diego in terms of these young guys and getting their spots, whether it's the forwards or the defensemen?

Well, I think things are going good. We're in a good spot with San Diego. They're in a playoff spot. The big thing is, our younger guys are starting to take more of a leadership role in the sense of production. I look with (Tristan) Luneau and (Tyson) Hinds and now (Stian) Solberg, those guys, they're progressing very nicely. Learning to win and to get into the playoffs is as crucial for our forwards and our young defense. I'm looking to get them a playoff experience, it's just at a different level to help progress them along for next year and for the year after. So, it's a really good development. We're at a really good development stage with those players in San Diego.

You touched on Poehling a little bit. It's been a couple months since those trades. How would you assess the deals that you made this offseason to bring in Poehling and Petr Mrázek?

Well, Mrázek, he's done for the season. I think that was just part of the deal with John Gibson. With Mrázek, we had to secure a backup goaltender, and Mrázek, he filled that spot. Obviously, now, he's done for the rest of the season, but I think looking back on it, I think that with the experience last year, where we had all our goaltenders get hurt, it was crucial for us to sign Ville Husso. And so we ended up getting Ville for a two-year deal, and now he's our backup. Now, the emergence of Callie Clang (in the AHL) has kind of really taken over. It looks like if we needed him as a No. 3, that he could start to fill that spot, and he's progressed this year. So, we've been fortunate, from my perspective, to have Ville in the wings.
He did a good job helping San Diego win, and now he's doing a good job here at the NHL level to help us win, especially with the win we had the other night. So it's been good. I view it as a good deal.

It seemed like prices were high and activity was a little low at this year's deadline. I wanted to get your read on the market overall and ask, without getting into any specifics, were you guys maybe close on something else?

Not really. I was kicking tires. I would say I was targeting players that, if we did something, they would be futures. They'd be part of the future moving forward if I was looking for our team. But, overall, it was quiet. Really didn't feel like there was anything else going to happen with that, and some of the teams that we were talking to got focused on other things. That's kind of how every trade deadline goes. You start to pivot things, and things shake out. 
So I was happy with what we got accomplished. There'll be certain things that will get reviewed later in the summertime.