The 32-year-old forward missed 16 games due to an oblique injury and was a frequent healthy scratch upon his return.
The Ducks completed their 2026 trade deadline by sending veteran forward Ryan Strome to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2027 seventh-round pick. The Ducks are not retaining any salary in this deal, which means that Strome's $5 million AAV for this season and next season is now completely off the books.
This move gives general manager Pat Verbeek more flexibility ahead of a summer where large contract extensions are expected for young phenoms Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier. Several pending UFAs will also require attention, including recent trade acquisition John Carlson.
"Ryan is an ultimate professional," Verbeek said. "He showed a lot of character. 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, 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––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."
Jan 25, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri (91) and Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Strome (16) battle for the puck during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn ImagesStrome played in just 33 of Anaheim's 61 games this season, missing 16 of those games due to an oblique injury that he suffered prior to the start of the season. Upon his return, the emergence of Beckett Sennecke, coupled with Anaheim's early-season success, kept Strome from being a regular in the lineup. At times, head coach Joel Quenneville even preferred having natural defenseman Ian Moore line up as a fourth line winger versus having Strome in the lineup.
"This deadline here, you think about names and names of young guys, middle guys or older guys," Quenneville said on Tuesday. "He's been around, he's been through it. He can talk about how it's not easy being in the position he's in, and I understand it. Sometimes, that's the tough part of our business."
With the departure of Nazem Kadri via trade, Strome is billed for a top-6 role on a rebuilding Flames team. The opportunity to be a regular in the lineup once again is surely one that Strome will relish. It will be the second time in his NHL career playing for a Canadian team after playing parts of the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers.
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