How much will Cutter Gauthier’s contract be?
It’s been a wild summer in Orange County.
After a 2025-26 campaign that saw the Anaheim Ducks clinch a Stanley Cup Playoff berth for the first time in eight seasons, the team was faced with a difficult decision right at the beginning of the offseason. The Philadelphia Flyers signed Ducks’ center Leo Carlsson to a five-year offer sheet with an average annual value (AAV) of $18 million.
While Anaheim matched the deal and locked up Carlsson through the 2030-31 campaign, the signing put the Ducks in a difficult position, as a number of their talented young players are due for a new contract. One of those players is restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier, who at just 22 is coming off a 41-goal, 69-point season that put him among the highest-scoring forwards in the game.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Ducks’ cap situation and what moves they would need to pull off in order to sign Gauthier for this upcoming season and beyond.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I’m sure the Ducks, who lost Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas in the offseason, have had to give out some uncomfortable contracts this summer. Pavel Mintyukov cost them more than $7 million through 2030-31, and Leo Carlsson now comes in at $18 million. They would have loved to add another veteran defenseman, but they only have $9 million in cap space, and they need to sign Cutter Gauthier.
Again, they could move a player down to the minors once they sign Gauthier, so maybe let’s call it $9.8 million in cap space, but Hutts, that’s not going to be enough to get a contract done for a guy who scored 41 goals last season.
Fill in the blank: Cutter Gauthier’s next contract will be __ million for __ years.
Carter Hutton: Oh man, this is a tough right. He turned down four years at $13 million per year, which is a crazy amount of money. So then you start to think about a max-term contract, and if that’s something if he wants. I land on an eight-year, $14-million AAV deal. This is just a shot in the dark, trying to come up with some numbers. I know they’re going to have more space next year with Chris Kreider and Alex Killorn’s deals being up.
But right now, this is what you expected, right? The next in line is Beckett Sennecke who is going to get a payday. This has really changed the market. We’re looking at a team who was potentially the next up-and-comers, right? Now they’re in a world of hurt and this market has been set by Flyers’ GM Daniel Briere with that offer sheet for Carlsson.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The 4×13 rejection is insane. One thing that’s important to remember here: Gauthier is not eligible for an offer sheet. I mean, another team probably would have signed him to one by now if he was. Plus, he doesn’t have arbitration rights. Gauthier’s options are to sign what the Ducks put in front of him, or sit out and hold out.
We’ve seen this. Remember when Jeremy Swayman held out with the Boston Bruins and he never got his season back on track. But he held out and got a massive contract, so I guess you could say it was worth it. But for the Ducks to give Gauthier anything north of $10 million, they’re going to have to trade a piece off their roster, and like I said earlier, they’ve already lost a lost of pieces.
I’m honestly perplexed at where this situation is going to go. I could see a world where they dump Frank Vatrano’s contract and then you’re up to $13.5 million, and maybe it’s only a two- or three-year deal at a $13-million AAV, so Gauthier can get to his next contract even sooner. But there’s no world where if he’s out there and his camp is going to hold firm on $15, $16 million, there’s no way the Ducks are going to get there.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…