- Multiple teams have approached Pavel Mintyukov’s camp about an offer sheet
- Signing him to a $4.78M deal would cost the acquiring team just a second-round pick
- Read below for why Anaheim is suddenly squeezed on Mintyukov and Cutter Gauthier
The Leo Carlsson offer sheet cracked something open in Anaheim.
Right after the Flyers tendered Carlsson a record-setting offer sheet, teams started circling another Ducks restricted free agent. Multiple clubs have approached defenseman Pavel Mintyukov about an offer sheet, and at least one is expected to formally put paper in front of him before the end of the day, per PuckPedia.
Whether one actually gets signed is up to Mintyukov. A team can table an offer, but the 22-year-old has to decide he wants to leave.
What makes him such an easy target is the math. Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff pointed out that an offer sheet at a $4,775,666 cap hit would only cost the signing team a second-round pick if Anaheim declines to match.
That’s cheap. Mintyukov is projected to land closer to $3.4 million on a short-term bridge deal, per CapWages and AFP Analytics, so a rival could dangle something in the $3.5M to $4M range and still keep the compensation down to a second.
Mintyukov put up 22 points in 73 games last season, a bounce back after he slid from 28 points as a rookie to 19 in year two. He also set a career high with 112 blocked shots. The 2022 10th-overall pick is still scratching the surface of what he can be.
The problem for Anaheim is the cap crunch. If the Ducks match Philadelphia’s offer on Carlsson, they would have around $17.9 million left to sign both Mintyukov and reigning team scoring leader Cutter Gauthier, who isn’t eligible for an offer sheet. GM Pat Verbeek let his RFA business drag past July 1, and now rival clubs are trying to make him pay for it.
San Jose, Nashville, and Calgary all carry the cap room to make a run, and all three have already been busy reshaping their blue lines this summer. Anaheim can match whatever comes in. The question is how many of their draft picks they’ll have to burn doing it.
