With three veteran pillars hitting free agency, Pat Verbeek must decide between re-signing experienced leaders like Jacob Trouba or trusting a youth movement to sustain Anaheim’s resurgence.
The Anaheim Ducks continued their climb out of their elongated rebuild and ended the NHL’s third-longest playoff drought in 2025-26 (eight years).
They won their first series in nine years to open the playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers, but were ousted by the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the second round.
The Ducks’ front office, led by general manager Pat Verbeek, will face a catalog of decisions in the 2026 offseason that will shape the future of their contending window, which has just been kicked wide open.
Several of those decisions will pertain to the right side of their blueline, as three key veteran defensemen will all see their contracts with the Ducks expire on July 1.
This spring, Jacob Trouba (32), John Carlson (36), and Radko Gudas (35) made up the Ducks’ right side of their defense corps for the franchise’s very first playoff game since 2018. All three are set to become UFAs on July 1, leaving Drew Helleson (25), Ian Moore (24), and Tristan Luneau (22) as the organization’s only right-shot defensemen with NHL experience under contract for the 2026-27 season.
Corinne Votaw-Imagn ImagesJacob Trouba
Of the three UFA veterans, Trouba seems to have the inside track on a potential extension due to his impact and fit since he was acquired in Dec. 2024, along with his role as the blueline’s top penalty killer and partner to #1 defenseman Jackson LaCombe.
Trouba arrived at his exit interview on May 15 with his hair in a bun and relayed that he intended to let it grow until he signed a contract extension.
“Until I sign. That was the promise at the start of the year,” Trouba said. “It was going ’til I sign an extension, and it’s still going.”
“We’ll see where it goes, I guess,” Trouba continued. “I’ve never been through the free agency situation, so I don’t know if I’ll have a lot of answers right now, and we’ll see where it goes.”
When asked if there had been any extension discussions to that point, Trouba responded by saying, “A little bit at the deadline. Didn’t get very far.”
“That’s something that I’ll always, no matter how this whole thing plays out, be appreciative of Pat and the organization,” Trouba said. “(They) took a chance on me when I was down, and I was certainly down.
“Finishing out that last year (in New York) was tough. Coming back this year, I had a lot to prove to myself, and I thought I did a good job of playing hockey again, and I’m pretty proud of that.”
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn ImagesRadko Gudas
Radko Gudas signed a three-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks on July 1, 2023, and was announced as the team’s ninth captain in franchise history on Sept. 19, 2024, ahead of the 2024-25 season. The Ducks had spent the prior two seasons without a captain, following their long run with franchise legend Ryan Getzlaf wearing the “C” in Anaheim.
He provided a physical presence on the ice, leading by example by playing as hard as he could every shift, and he was the first player to answer media questions after difficult losses.
Gudas sustained various injuries during his time in Anaheim, including an ankle sprain that kept him out of all but two of the Ducks’ final ten games of the regular season and all but their first playoff game against the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.
He also stated during his exit interview that an injury he sustained a couple of years ago had still been lingering, adding to the reasoning for his absence through the final 11 games of the Ducks’ playoff run.
“Yeah, still dealing with that (the ankle),” Gudas said. “Since the injury I had a couple of years ago, it’s been still lingering throughout the whole time I was here, and we didn’t like the way it looked.”
Gudas has logged 885 games in his NHL career, adding 58 career playoff games. One wouldn’t be blamed for questioning how much he has left in the tank or questioning if he’d prefer to play his last professional games in his native Czechia.
“Yeah, we talked a few times,” Gudas said on whether he’s had contract discussions with the Ducks’ front office. “There’s so many aspects, so many options. I’ve definitely really enjoyed my time here, and I’m open to anything. So, we’re going to have a few of these conversations over the next few weeks. I think we need the season to calm down and see where the whole team’s going to head. So, there’s still lots of time.”
“Wearing the ‘C’ for the Ducks is one of the biggest prides I had in my professional career, being able to represent a club that’s doing this well and striving for greatness and having the opportunity to work with all of these guys here, and being the leader,” Gudas said on seeing his captaincy through.
“It was one of the biggest honors of my career. I have a very soft spot for Anaheim after these few years here, and if there’s a chance for me staying here, I’m open to do that…It would be a shame to say I don’t want to be part of a group that’s getting better every day. So, definitely it’s something that I would like, too.”
Griffin Hooper-Imagn ImagesJohn Carlson
The Ducks put the nail in the coffin of their long rebuild when they acquired veteran rental defenseman John Carlson in exchange for a conditional first-round pick and a third-round pick at the 2026 trade deadline, the type of move rebuilding teams do not make.
Verbeek stated at the time of the trade that he intended to see how Carlson integrated into the roster and potentially pursue an extension following the season.
Carlson took on a massive role immediately on the Ducks’ blueline, down the stretch of the regular season, and into the playoffs, averaging 24:11 TOI per game and featuring on both special teams units.
He played the majority of his minutes alongside young left-shot defenseman Pavel Mintyukov (10th overall in 2022), aiding the talented youngster, whom the organization spent a valuable asset on, toward becoming an impact top-four contributor.
Various speculations on Carlson’s preferences have been made since the Ducks’ season came to an end nearly two weeks ago. Pondering has led some to postulate that his preference would be to return to the East Coast, as he was born in Massachusetts, played his minor hockey in New Jersey, and played the first 16+ seasons of his NHL career in Washington DC.
“That’s the part of it I don’t have answers for right now,” Carlson said during his exit interview. “I certainly loved it here, and there’s a lot of moving parts to that to properly answer the question. But I’ve loved my time. It’s a special place here, for sure, with extraordinary talent and a really bright future. So, that is certainly attractive to anyone, not just myself.
Carlson went on to state that there hadn't been extension talks to that point and that when it comes to potentially re-signing, he’s “open, for sure. There’s no bones about that.”
There’s belief that his immediate production after joining Anaheim, scoring 14 points (4-10=14) in 16 regular season games before adding six (0-6=6) in 12 playoff games, will lead to the AAV on his next contract to remain at his previous $8 million number or even eclipse it.
Building for Continued Success
With young right-shot talent (Moore, Helleson, Luneau) approaching or entering their prime NHL years on the blueline and more on the way in the form of Noah Warren, the Ducks front office is at a point where they have to decide how they want ice time divvied up between them next season, who they’ll want to attempt to bring back, the cost of doing so, and potentially adding via free agency or trade.
Gazing around the league, the majority of top defensemen have a complementary “running mate” opposite them on their team’s respective top pair. Identifying that player for blossoming star Jackson LaCombe could unlock his true potential and afford the Ducks an elite pair on their backend, an aspect necessary for winning Stanley Cups.
Finding LaCombe the Brock Faber to his Quinn Hughes, the Devon Toews to his Cale Makar, Brayden McNabb to his Shea Theodore, etc., may be a priority for the Ducks this offseason.
With the internal options mentioned, the potential of bringing back any number of their three current players on expiring deals, names projected on the UFA market like Rasmus Andersson and Connor Murphy, and names on various speculative “trade boards” like Dougie Hamilton and Colton Parayko, Verbeek has an abundance of puzzle pieces, options, and routes to take in an effort to build a contending blueline for the 2026-27 season.
For a team that struggled greatly to defend in all areas throughout the course of the regular season and playoffs, how Verbeek decides to build the right side of their blueline will be vital towards rounding out the Ducks’ overall game.