The Anaheim Ducks head into the 2025 offseason with $38.69 million in cap space and need to spend $13.79 million to reach the cap floor. Ownership has given general manager Pat Verbeek a mandate to push for the playoffs in 2025-26 and has given him the green light to spend to the cap ceiling, if it’s deemed necessary to achieve that goal.
Barring extensions signed before July 1, the 2025 free agent class will consist of one franchise-altering superstar and a long list of quality players just beneath at every position who could provide varying degrees of their personal brand and impact to a team’s depth chart.
The Ducks currently have 16 players under contract for the 2025-26 season, with five restricted free agents under team control.
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They were a team near the bottom of the league in most traditional and underlying statistical categories in 2024-25 and could use upgrades at several positions within their lineup. Verbeek has stated his priority to add goal scoring, and recently hired head coach Joel Quenneville has traditionally valued puck possession.
Three spots in the lineup the Ducks could look to address in free agency are a top-of-the-lineup producing forward, a two-way middle-six center, and a mobile defensive defenseman.
With how the Ducks roster is constructed and the brand of hockey they’re hoping to ice on a nightly basis, who are the best fits on the free agent market?
Top of the Lineup Producer
Verbeek stated during his end-of-the-year media availability that the area the Ducks need to improve the most is goal scoring. In the 2024-25 season, the Ducks ranked 30th in the NHL in terms of goals scored per game (2.65), 21st in shots on goal per game (27.7), and 32nd in power play percentage (11.8%).
“Well, I think when you look at the roster on a whole, I think we need to score more goals,” Verbeek said. “Ultimately, we didn’t score enough goals, and certainly that became a contributing factor. What was interesting (was) when we scored three or more goals, we virtually won all the games. We were almost undefeated when scoring three or more goals. That is going to be a goal that we’re looking to hit by being more offensive.”
The Ducks have a blend of supremely talented young players and insulating veterans, but one more offensive driver could be the key to unlock the full potential of the forward group.
All contract projections provided by AFP Analytics
Mitch Marner
Contract Projection: 7 years, $12,952,528 AAV
Marner (28) is the ultimate prize in the 2025 free agency class, should he hit market. He is the type of franchise-changing forward that can typically only be acquired via the NHL Draft or by parting with significant assets via trade.
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He is a consistent driver of offense who produces at a 100-point pace year in and year out and has been brilliant defensively. He had been the most commonly deployed penalty killing forward on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ roster over the past half-decade, even earning a spot as a Selke Trophy finalist in 2023.
He is potentially the most scrutinized player in the NHL and could benefit from playing in a lower-profile market such as Anaheim. The possibility of slotting Marner into a top line next to Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier is as tantalizing an option as any, and the trio could become a dominant line for the foreseeable future, on both sides of the puck and in all three zones.
A $13 million AAV would make Marner the highest-paid winger in the NHL, but he’s the kind of player who rarely becomes available. With the amount of cap space the Ducks have, and if they are interested in adding him, he’s the kind of player a team wouldn’t regret offering what it took to get him to put pen to paper.
Nikolaj Ehlers
Contract Projection: 6 years, $8,106,756 AAV
Despite inconsistent deployment and a lack of top power play minutes, Ehlers (29) has consistently produced at a 65-point pace during his career with the Winnipeg Jets. He’s a speedy winger who oozes game-breaking skill and can create his own instant offense.
Ehlers has had his bouts with the injury bug in the past. He missed 13 games in 2024-25, 37 games in 2022-23, and 20 games in 2021-22. When healthy, his impact is undeniable and could represent the brand of puck-possession, speed-driven hockey that Quenneville helped usher in over 15 years ago with the Blackhawks as they built their dynasty.
Ehlers could seamlessly fit anywhere within the Ducks’ top six, but slotting him on the wing of a player like Mason McTavish could accentuate the best in both of their games. Ehlers could create and operate freely in the open space provided by McTavish’s small area battling ability, and McTavish could bury opportunities Ehlers creates by pushing defenders toward their goal line with his speed.
Brock Boeser
Contract Projection: 6 years, $8,459,390 AAV
It is often said that for a player in the NHL, there’s one component that’s the most difficult above all others: scoring goals. Boeser (28) is exceptional at exactly one thing: scoring goals. When healthy, he has the capability to change the complexion of an individual game in the blink of an eye with a tremendous release.
He can score from distance, and he can score in tight. He can change the angle of his shot on the rush, and he has a knack for finding soft ice away from the puck.
Throughout his career with the Vancouver Canucks, he has averaged 30 goals and 64 points per 82 games, including 11 goals on the power play. Production in Boeser’s career has yo-yoed on a year-to-year basis, with 2024-25 being a relative down year, as he only tallied 50 points (25-25=50) in 75 games. However, he is a year removed from a career year in 2023-24 that saw him produce 73 points (40-33=73) in 81 games and add 12 points (7-5=12) in 12 playoff games.
It’s safe to say that aside from pure goal scoring, Boeser displays several traits that can be considered NHL-average: skating, puck handling, vision, etc. The biggest knock on his game is that when the pucks aren’t finding the backs of nets, he doesn’t impact play with a meaningful “B Game” and can disappear on the ice.
Cutter Gauthier is the only player on the Ducks roster who can match Boeser’s potential for racking up goals. Boeser also provides that dynamic from a coveted right-handed perspective. The Ducks have plenty of potential play drivers and connectors in their pipeline and on the roster that can potentially fill the gaps in Boeser’s game, so if Verbeek truly thinks the one thing they need is the exact one thing Boeser can provide at an elite level, he may deem it worth the projected hefty price tag.
Other potential fits on the free agent market: Matt Duchene, John Tavares, Brock Nelson, Patrick Kane, Ryan Donato
The Ducks could benefit from adding a proven point-producer at the top of their depth chart. The issue is that those players will always be the most expensive to acquire, and free agency often inherently proves to be an inefficient way to spend valuable cap space.
Though the Ducks have been starved for an offensive star for as long as recent memory will serve, it may not be the biggest area in need of filling this offseason. However, if Verbeek figures the juice is worth the squeeze, several potential adds would complement his current roster nicely.
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Dec 23, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (16) pursues the play against the Winnipeg Jets in the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
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