IRVINE –– Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek may not have the commanding presence or steely stare of his former teammate and front-office mentor Steve Yzerman, but the feisty, fiery forward turned first-time GM will certainly be the center of attention this summer, when the Ducks figure to be a major player in the offseason.
They’re bursting with potential over the long haul and an added benefit of having a bundle of scintillating talents younger than 25 is that many of them are on entry-level or otherwise cost-controlled contracts, leaving the Ducks with loads of cap room and flexibility.
That’s key as what they boast in promise they may lack in patience after six postseasons on the outside looking in as the winners of Lord Stanley’s Cup quaffed bubbly from the coveted chalice.
“We want to win now, we don’t want to go through this again,” said Frank Vatrano, who is coming off a career season with 37 goals at age 30.
For 2024-25, there’s no doubt reinforcements will be needed. The Ducks entered the year a bit thin and became downright emaciated by injuries and departures via trade, most notably the versatility, value and veteran leadership of Adam Henrique (who is among the likely free agents this summer, by the way).
Between entering the year with significant cap space, the forthcoming first significant bump in the upper salary limit since 2019, swaps that shipped out four rostered players for futures and the retirement of Jakob Silfverberg, the Ducks have both roster slots to fill and nearly $35 million in cap space to fill them.
Verbeek said he’d like to pursue a top-six winger and a top-four defensemen, both of whom would be right-handed shots ideally, as well as improve the speed, grit, scoring touch and overall quality of the bottom-six forward group.
He also said, after two years since the retirement of franchise icon Ryan Getzlaf, the team would be naming a captain imminently.
“We don’t have a captain. We have some A’s, they rotate through,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “I think we need to have a captain (next season). We need to find a leadership group that can hold teammates accountable.”
A desire for the appointment of a designated leader was far from the only thing Verbeek and Cronin shared. Cronin said Verbeek, along with legends Paul Kariya and Scott Niedermayer, was a like-minded individual who provided him with perspective, balance and confidence in the 60-year-old’s first year as an NHL head coach.
Verbeek said he was pleased with Cronin’s maiden voyage and, more importantly, his impact on the crew.
“He’s a very competitive, very passionate guy. I love his approach to life, his approach to our hockey team and I’m very happy with the job that he did this year,” Verbeek said of Cronin. “A lot of things were positive, guys had career years, we certainly improved our competitiveness and our work ethic. The overall culture has taken big strides.”
“Do we still have work to do? Yes, we do, but overall I’m very happy from that aspect.”
In addition to more seasoned versions of Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Pavel Mintyukov, among others, the Ducks also seemed likely to enjoy full campaigns from Cutter Gauthier, Tristan Luneau and Olen Zellweger, who played one, seven and 26 games, respectively, this season.
“Going into the summer, all the young guys are looking to push their game to another level,” Zellweger said.
Late-season departures hit the Ducks hard in the faceoff circle and on the penalty kill, where Carlsson finished the year and Verbeek expects Gauthier to also log minutes next season.
“One of the things that puts power plays on edge is knowing that the players they’ve playing against have the ability to knock pucks down, take them the other way and score short-handed,” Verbeek said.
While on-ice personnel will be dictated by opportunity and desire – the Ducks should have little problem re-signing any expiring players, almost all of whom are restricted free agents – the positions behind the bench seemed less clear. Cronin arrived last summer and brought in assistant Brent Thompson. Newell Brown and Craig Johnson were both retained from the staff of Cronin’s predecessor, Dallas Eakins, and Verbeek said he and Cronin had not yet discussed personnel behind the bench for next season.
In goal, Lukáš Dostál emerged as a potential No. 1 as he made 38 starts and 44 appearances. John Gibson, long the subject of trade speculation, did not give an exit interview, although Verbeek seemed to imply that they’d enter next season with the same goalie tandem.
“I’ve got no issues with Gibbie and his compete, his professionalism as a player,” Verbeek said.
There were few questions about the professionalism, beyond-his-years maturity and preternatural hockey sense of Carlsson. Alex Killorn, a two-time champion and four-time finalist with Tampa Bay, said he deferred to Carlsson as a linemate, trying to get him the puck so Carlsson could be the distributor and decision-maker.
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“Huge difference from the first game against Dallas to the last game against Vegas. I was more confident, it was easier to carry the puck and stuff like that,” offered Carlsson as a self-assessment.
Carlsson shared the enthusiasm of other aspiring stars like Gauthier and McTavish at the prospect of this fledgling flock maturing together.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys here and we’re all kind of growing up together, which is awesome, and becoming really close friends,” McTavish said. “We really want to play for each other and we want to win. That’s the biggest thing for us, winning hockey games, getting in the playoffs and, hopefully, winning some Stanley Cups.”
