What will Carlsson and Gauthier’s next contracts look like?
The Anaheim Ducks have proven to be the biggest surprise in the Western Conference this season. The leaders of the Pacific Division, albeit a weak division, look poised to make their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2018.
The team’s success is in large part due to the massive growth from center Leo Carlsson and winger Cutter Gauthier, who have established themselves as some of the top young forwards the NHL has to offer.
This summer, it will be time for general manager Pat Verbeek to pay them like it, as both players are in the final years of their respective entry-level contracts.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Felix Sicard of the Crash the Pond Podcast to discuss the importance of getting these crucial contracts for Carlsson and Gauthier right.
Carter Hutton: I had a chance to interview Leo Carlsson yesterday, you know, and we’re trying to pick his brain a little bit He was on serious radio and so his number him and cutter go to are interesting to me, right? Because they’re both contracts are coming up. So we’re trying to nail him to a number, like, what does the number look like for a guy like Gauthier and for Carlsson? Because these are two big pieces that this team is going to lock up. It changes the whole future of this Anaheim Ducks team.
Felix Sicard: Yeah, I think that the last projections that I saw which were a couple months ago had them in that nine-to-ten range for both of them, and eight years, $9 million to $10 million, assuming that they sign when eight years is still gonna be allowed. But it’s gonna be a hefty contract, and especially if Gauthier hits 40 goals, which he has plenty of time to do at 36 goals. There’s something about that round number that seems to increase the guy’s value. So I think that they’re both gonna get into that $9 to $10 million range. I think Carlsson’s probably gonna exceed ten million, and Gauthier might be right around it. So yeah, these are gonna be big contracts, and at that point, that’s gonna become not more difficult for Pat Verbeek, but now you’re building a real NHL team. You can’t just have your star players be on rookie deals. You’ve got to find a way to to maneuver around that
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…