The Anaheim Ducks took a proactive step, eliminating the threat of another offer sheet by signing defenseman Pavel Mintyukov on Sunday.
Rumors swirled around the grapevine, suggesting that another team was lurking in the weeds, looking to extend an offer sheet to the 22-year-old blueliner. The five-year, $36 million contract effectively put the kibosh on that prospect.
But as much as the Ducks averted another crisis, they’re hardly out of the woods.
The Ducks remain on the clock regarding Leo Carlsson and his offer sheet. Anaheim still has a few days to figure out its next move. But even if GM Pat Verbeek bit the bullet and matched the offer, the organization would be in a bit of a pickle.
That pickle is called Cutter Gauthier.
Gauthier remains an RFA and needs a new contract. The issue here is that the Ducks don’t have much cap space left. In a bit of an interesting turn of events, PuckPedia showed on Sunday that Anaheim had just under $10 million in space following the Mintyukov signing.
The most interesting bit is that Leo Carlsson’s $18 million cap hit shows up on Anaheim’s books, not the Philadelphia Flyers’.
If that’s indeed the case, it signals the Ducks matched the Carlsson offer sheet. And it also means that Verbeek is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He’ll need to figure out how to get Gauthier under contract for next season.
That may be easier said than done.
Gauthier Won’t Come Cheap for Ducks
The issue for the Ducks regarding Gauthier is that he won’t come cheap. The 22-year-old could be making around $10 million a year. That’s right on the cusp of what Anaheim has in cap space. As such, it would leave little room for any other additions.
Plus, regardless of how the Leo Carlsson situation plays out, the Ducks may find it hard to re-sign Gauthier without paying up. The situation here is the comparable contracts. If Carlsson gets $18 million, how much is a player like Gauthier worth?
That’s a question that could pretty much hamstring the Ducks into paying up for the RFA forward. While Gauthier is not eligible for an offer sheet, there will still be questions about what Anaheim can do to avoid an unpleasant situation like the one it faced with Mason McTavish.
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Anaheim Will Need to Make Other Moves
Even if the Ducks managed to keep Carlsson and Gauthier, there will be other moves to come. They will be of the cap-dump variety, leading to unnecessary tension within the club’s salary cap structure.
Fortunately, the moves won’t likely affect any of the team’s core players. But fans will wonder what the loss of a Chris Kreider or Alex Killorn could mean for the club’s depth.
The Ducks are certainly not out of the woods. Delaying the decision to sign Leo Carlsson has come back to haunt the organization. But that’s in the past, and there’s only the path forward. Unfortunately, that path is hardly a pleasant one.
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