Projecting the Anaheim Ducks’ lineup for the 2026-27 NHL season

The Leo Carlsson offer sheet has been one of the defining stories of this NHL offseason. It has gone well beyond the impact it leaves on the Anaheim Ducks. We’ve already seen how it has affected high-end restricted free agents and their exploding earning power as the salary cap marches upward. But make no mistake: After the Ducks matched the five-year, $90 million contract Carlsson initially signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, that transaction promises to have a significant impact on the team that selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Carlsson now must be the franchise center Anaheim originally viewed him as, and the Ducks’ business before opening night remains unfinished. Still without a new contract is another prime RFA: Cutter Gauthier. The 22-year-old scored 41 goals last season — the most by a Ducks player since Corey Perry in 2013-14 — and has positioned himself for a big-money second deal. Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek took a lot of heat for the way the Carlsson situation played out. Though Carlsson’s agents, Matt and Ryan Keator, turned down some of that heat with how they detailed negotiations that went back to last fall, Verbeek must sign Gauthier and manage the salary cap without chopping deeply into a roster that’s already compromised. Per PuckPedia, the Ducks have only a hair over $9 million available. Given the numbers that are already being tossed around for Gauthier, they’ll be forced to shed a salaried player or two. Further losses could find Anaheim dipping into the San Diego Gulls, their American Hockey League club, for cost-effective (i.e., cheap) reinforcements, but that also comes with the possibility that they can’t fill the holes created. All this and the Ducks won’t have one of their steadiest players, Troy Terry, for the opening quarter or third of the season as he recovers from hip surgery. For a team that broke through last season in making the playoffs and winning a round, this has been a worrisome summer. And while we surmise what the Ducks’ lineup could be for their Oct. 2 season opener at the Vegas Golden Knights, this exercise is the very definition of “subject to change.” To start processing what the lineup could look like, we’ll assume Gauthier will be signed and Terry won’t be available. When last season ended with a second-round loss to the Golden Knights, Anaheim’s top line had Carlsson centering Terry and Chris Kreider. Joel Quenneville spread out his top offensive talent across different lines, so Beckett Sennecke was on the second line with Mikael Granlund and Alex Killorn, and Gauthier played with Ryan Poehling and Jeffrey Viel on the third line in five-on-five play. But the Ducks switched in Gauthier for Kreider occasionally when the latter was ineffective, and with the way Kreider struggled offensively after a robust start to his Anaheim career (no goals over a 15-game stretch; one goal over the final 19 regular-season games), it’s easy to wonder whether keeping their best goal scorer down in the lineup is a sound strategy. To put their three best offensive players as laid out here is tantalizing. The thought of Carlsson centering Gauthier and Sennecke to open the season as big-bodied playmakers and potent finishers looks great on paper. It also highlights how top-heavy Anaheim could be — and the holes that are presented as you go down the lineup. Terry’s absence is big in that he’s one of Anaheim’s most effective two-way forwards. The above example shows a young core line followed by its most veteran grouping. But with the Ducks needing to clear salary, there is the possibility that Killorn ($6.25 million cap hit) or Kreider ($6.5 million) could be moved out. That’s another potential hole. There is also the case of Vatrano. The veteran goal scorer had a nightmarish 2025-26 season. After scoring 80 goals for Anaheim in his first three seasons with the Ducks, the 32-year-old winger played in only 50 games and had just five goals last season. He was scratched for the entire postseason. Finding a taker for his $4.57 million cap number feels like a high priority for the Ducks, but he has two more seasons remaining on his contract. If Verbeek is forced to move others, rebuilding Vatrano’s value and filling a hole might be the operative play. At this stage, the Ducks’ free-agent signings of A.J. Greer and Jeff Malott could be lineup regulars. Especially Greer, as he should be an upgrade from Viel, who performed well for Anaheim. The Ducks might need to find out if Greer’s career season with the Florida Panthers was an outlier or something he can duplicate in a heightened role. It still leaves two potential spots to fill, and this is where their system may be relied upon. Nikita Klepov, the Ducks’ top selection in this year’s draft, is expected to play at Michigan State, so he isn’t an option. The likely plan for 2025 first-rounder Roger McQueen is for the natural center to start in San Diego. Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko are among those with the Gulls who have experience playing in Anaheim. Either or both could be tabbed for more duty. “We believe we got Sam Colangelo in the wings,” Verbeek said. “He’s going to get a good opportunity to get into the lineup. The part that I think that everybody’s nervous about: We have players underneath that are pushing to get in to get a chance.” Among Jacob Trouba, Radko Gudas and John Carlson, Anaheim had 2,950 games of experience (and another 292 in the playoffs) on its blue line that will play elsewhere next season. The defenseman who has been around the longest in the NHL will now be Nick Jensen, the 35-year-old Minnesotan who signed a two-year, $2.25 million AAV deal after spending the last two seasons with the Ottawa Senators. Jackson LaCombe and Pavel Mintyukov, who have 434 games played combined, will shoulder a heavy load for this defense corps. The two are Anaheim’s highest-paid blueliners. LaCombe’s game went to another level in a season capped by an eye-opening playoff performance against the Edmonton Oilers. Mintyukov should get the space to grow his game. The Ducks are now paying him to be a top-four backbone. New defense pairs will need to be forged. Ian Moore split his time between the defense and right wing in his rookie season, but the 24-year-old should be a full-time defender. It might make sense to have Jensen play with LaCombe, as he mostly partnered with Thomas Chabot last season. But in limited time together, Moore and LaCombe had impressive possession and scoring chance differentiation numbers. The other notable move here is the promotion of Tristan Luneau, to whom Verbeek has virtually guaranteed a spot. It might be out of pure necessity and merit. The 22-year-old has appeared in 14 NHL games over three seasons while playing two full years in the AHL. He impressed the Ducks with his game at the end of last season, scoring a key goal against the Nashville Predators and playing well in limited time as Anaheim locked down its playoff spot. With the rangy Tyson Hinds also leaving a positive impression, Quenneville and assistant coach Ryan McGill could look to have Luneau matched with his Gulls partner to start and potentially work his way up the right side if he plays well. Helleson, who has played 56 and 60 games, respectively, over the last two seasons, is back and can jump in if Luneau struggles. “I feel very confident with our defense,” Verbeek said. “They’ve got enough pro experience that I feel comfortable with them moving forward and also with our coaching staff being able to exponentially improve over the course of the season.” The Ducks are fairly situated at this all-important position. Without question, Lukáš Dostál is their main guy in net, but an uneven season followed by a bumpy playoff showing raised some concerns as to whether the 26-year-old has the goods to be a high-end No. 1. Perhaps a backup who can be a strong 1B would allow a more rested Dostál to stay sharper for longer stretches. The issue is that veteran Ville Husso isn’t a strong 1B option. He’s signed for this season and showed he can win some games, but the underlying numbers don’t show well as a bankable backup. He also has had a lot of volatility in his career. Credit is deserved for unseating Petr Mrazek, who struggled and then was lost to injury, but Husso could be pushed by Laurent Brossoit. The Ducks signed Brossoit for 2026-27, and the 33-year-old continues to battle back from hip and knee issues. Much of last season was spent in the AHL between the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks organizations, but Brossoit has had spells of terrific hockey with the Winnipeg Jets and Golden Knights. Injuries have often derailed him, but he can be a quality backup and play at a 1B level when healthy.