- Cutter Gauthier is still unsigned with Ducks camp about six weeks out
- Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Yaremchuk is not sure the two sides get it done in time
- Read below for what Pat Verbeek said about getting the deal done
Anaheim has one loose end left this summer, and it scored 41 goals.
Cutter Gauthier remains an unsigned restricted free agent with training camp roughly six weeks away, and Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Yaremchuk floated the idea that this one drags into October. Yaremchuk was running through the Ducks’ outlook on Daily Faceoff LIVE when he got to the Gauthier file.
“The fact that it’s Gauthier negotiating against this Pat Verbeek front office leads me to wonder; are they just going to sit there and butt heads, and is he going to miss the first month of the season over this? I don’t know.”
Catch the full episode:
Gauthier is one of three things he told the fan base to sweat.
“Ducks fans. For a handful of reasons, the blueline, the cap situation, Gauthier being unsigned, you should be a little bit on edge.”
Verbeek addressed the negotiation on July 9, the day Anaheim matched Philadelphia’s five-year, $90 million offer sheet for Leo Carlsson. He told NHL.com the plan has not changed.
“The intention is to get Cutter signed. I think that obviously, wherever Cutter comes in (salary-wise), I’m going to have some work to do to make sure that we can fit everyone in. I’ve got two-and-a-half months to figure that out, and we’ll go through that process for the rest of the summer.”
Carlsson’s $18 million cap hit is the number hanging over all of it. Keith Yandle said on Spittin’ Chiclets last month that he had heard Gauthier will not go a dollar under it.
The 22-year-old has the production to argue for a big raise. He led the Ducks in goals and points last season and stayed a point per game in the playoffs, where Anaheim knocked off Edmonton in six before falling to Vegas in six.
| Cutter Gauthier | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 82 | 20 | 24 | 44 |
| 2025-26 | 76 | 41 | 28 | 69 |
| 2026 Playoffs | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
His leverage is thinner than the asking price would imply, though. Gauthier has no arbitration rights and cannot be offer sheeted until next summer, so sitting out is close to the only card he holds.
Either way, the GM has bigger holes to patch. Anaheim lost four regular defensemen this offseason after moving Radko Gudas, John Carlson and Olen Zellweger, then watching Jacob Trouba sign in San Jose on July 1.
The glass-half-full version Yaremchuk laid out has Gauthier taking $9.5 million on a one-year deal and Anaheim punting the problem to 2027. That still leaves a blue line built around Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and prospects like Tristan Luneau and Tyson Hinds, who have 20 NHL games between them.
Camp opens in September. Verbeek’s two-and-a-half-month clock is down to about six weeks.
