We just passed the second anniversary of the Anaheim Ducks appointing Pat Verbeek as their General Manager. Let's take a look at the contracts he signed in year two.
Saturday marked the second anniversary (Feb 3, 2022) of the Anaheim Ducks hiring Pat Verbeek as their General Manager. He was brought into the organization on the precipice of an inflection point. The team had seemingly attempted to stave off a rebuild for as long as they could but were trending toward missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season at the halfway mark of the 2021-22 season.
Verbeek’s first trade deadline saw him move on from a trio of former core players in their late 20s/early 30s (Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Rickard Rakell). His first offseason saw him sign a trio of late 20s/early 30s players (Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, John Klingberg) more in the mold of the identity he wanted instilled in his team and to insulate what was set to be a young roster trying to take the next step toward contention.
2022-23 did not go according to his vision. Following the worst season in team history (23-47-12), more young players were added to the pipeline and in need of insulation and a trio of high-profile RFAs required new contracts.
ELCs
Nikita Nesterenko - 2 years - $925K (AAV)
Nesterenko was acquired as the key piece coming Anaheim’s way in a deal that sent John Klingberg to the Minnesota Wild. As an incentive to sign his ELC, Nesterenko was given the opportunity to finish out the 2022-23 season in Anaheim playing NHL hockey. He notched a goal in nine games. In 41 games played for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, Nesterenko has tallied 10 goals and 15 assists.
Jackson LaCombe - 2 years - $925K (AAV)
LaCombe was drafted by Anaheim at the top of the second round (39th overall) in 2019 as a project LHD who had the raw tools and hockey IQ to one day make an impact on an NHL blueline. He improved in each of his four seasons at the University of Minnesota and was nominated for the Hobey Baker Award in 2023. Like Nesterenko, once his NCAA season was over, his incentive to sign in Anaheim was to burn a year of his ELC and get his first taste of NHL hockey. LaCombe has cracked the Ducks lineup in 46 games thus far in 2023-24 scoring a goal and adding eight assists while seemingly improving every game.
Had Nesterenko and LaCombe not signed their ELCs at the end of the 2022-23 season, they would have become unrestricted free agents on Aug. 15, 2023, and had the ability to sign with the team of their choosing (provided a contract offer).
UFAs
Radko Gudas - 3 years - $4 million (AAV)
Fresh off a trip to the Stanley Cup Final with the Florida Panthers, Gudas traded in South Florida for Southern California. His brand of meat-and-potatoes hockey coupled with his defensive tenacity makes him an extremely difficult opponent to match up against. The Ducks have a multitude of young and talented LHDs, and Gudas was brought in to be a perfect partner for one or several of them. So far, the early returns in that regard are positive.
Alex Killorn - 4 years - $6.25 million (AAV)
Similar to Gudas, Killorn was brought in to play alongside and elevate many young forwards on the roster. So far he’s missed 16 games due to injuries; he missed the first few weeks of the season with a fractured finger and has been out for the last two and a half weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Though he took some time to catch up to speed, when he’s been in the lineup, he’s provided exactly what was advertised. His contract carries a full NTC that ends after 2024-25 and becomes a M-NTC for the final two years where he will submit a 15-team no-trade list.
One could glance at these two deals and it would be understandable to come to the conclusion the Ducks overpaid and/or gave too much term to these players in their early/mid-thirties. However, the Ducks couldn’t have been a desirable destination following five straight seasons without playoff hockey. Couple that with the effect of the California state income tax situation and that was the price that likely needed to be paid to offset those factors.
RFAs
Troy Terry - 7 years - $7 million (AAV)
Troy Terry and the Ducks went down to the wire on the day of Terry’s arbitration hearing before getting this deal done. Terry had been one of the lone bright spots for the Ducks over the previous two seasons scoring over 60 points in each; one of only two Ducks players to do so (Trevor Zegras was the other). Terry is now a significant member of the team’s core for the foreseeable future. His contract has a M-NTC that activates after the 2024-25 season in which he will submit a 10-team no-trade list.
Trevor Zegras - 3 years - $5.75 million (AAV)
Anaheim Ducks training camp began on Sep. 21 and Trevor Zegras was noticeably absent along with Jamie Drysdale. Zegras didn’t have arbitration rights, so there was no deadline to get a deal done like with Terry. After back-to-back 60-plus point seasons in his rookie and sophomore years, Zegras and his camp found themselves in a standoff with Verbeek and the Ducks. A week and a half into training camp, on Oct 2, the two sides met and inked a three-year deal. Zegras will remain an RFA when this contract expires.
Jamie Drysdale - 3 years - $3.2 million (AAV)
Three days after the team locked up Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale signed his own three-year deal. Drysdale had even less leverage in his negotiation with Pat Verbeek and the Ducks than Zegras did in his. Not only did he not have arbitration rights, but Drysdale missed all but eight games in 2022-23 with a torn labrum in his shoulder. A decent 2021-22 rookie season that saw Drysdale score 32 points in 81 games was too far in the rearview mirror to use as leverage and Verbeek took every advantage he could. On Jan. 8, Verbeek saw an opportunity to acquire a piece he’d coveted in Cutter Gauthier from the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Jamie Drysdale was the key piece that was sent Philadelphia’s way in return.
On the surface, these contracts are all perfectly fair market value given each player’s situation when they entered the offseason. These negotiations have earned Verbeek and the Ducks camp a new reputation as extremely tough negotiators
In the next few years, the Anaheim Ducks will find themselves in several more RFA negotiations with future core players (Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov, etc.). It will be curious to see if they attack those negotiations with the same “hardball” tactics they used in the summer of 2023.
Quibbles will come about after any contract negotiation process. With the contracts Pat Verbeek signed players to in 2023, it’s probably fair to say the results were fair for each player and their situation. There weren’t any bonafide steals, nor were there potentially crippling overpayments. Having a mountain of cap space only helps those conclusions to be reached. When the Ducks are finally in contention and nearing the salary cap ceiling, the contracts Verbeek offers will likely be under far more scrutiny.