- The Fourth Period pegged Frank Vatrano as the Ducks’ most likely trade candidate this offseason
- Anaheim’s cap crunch worsened after Philadelphia’s offer sheet on Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov’s new $7.2M deal
- Read below for Vatrano’s contract, his rough 2025-26, and why his trade value has cratered
Frank Vatrano could be the odd man out in Anaheim.
The Fourth Period tagged the veteran winger as the Ducks’ most likely trade candidate this offseason, with David Pagnotta reporting the front office has zeroed in on Vatrano as the piece it can afford to move.
The math turned ugly fast. Philadelphia dropped an offer sheet on Leo Carlsson last Friday, and matching it means making the young center one of the highest-paid players in the league.
Anaheim also rushed to lock up Pavel Mintyukov before another offer sheet landed on Pat Verbeek’s desk, agreeing to a five-year deal worth $7.2 million per season. Two entry-level contracts ballooning into a combined $25 million-plus changes the whole picture.
There’s more to sort out, too. Cutter Gauthier, the team’s leading scorer, is still a restricted free agent. The blue line lost John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, Olen Zellweger, and captain Radko Gudas this summer.
That leaves Vatrano’s $4.57 million cap hit as the easiest number to trim. He has two years left on the deal and a seven-team no-trade list, so Verbeek has some limits to work around.
His value has never been lower, which makes any deal a tough sell. Two years ago Vatrano broke out with 37 goals and 60 points, led the Ducks in scoring, and earned his first All-Star nod in Toronto.
Here’s the moment Anaheim surprised him with the news:
He followed it up with a 21-goal season in 2024-25, which earned him a three-year extension that January. Watch every goal from that year:
Then the bottom fell out. Vatrano scored just five goals in 50 games in 2025-26, shooting 6.3 percent and averaging 11:49 a night under Joel Quenneville. He sat as a healthy scratch for all 12 of Anaheim’s playoff games.
Moving that contract now likely means eating salary or attaching a pick to get a rebuilding team to take on the full two years. Verbeek may not have much of a choice.
