The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone. Several significant prices were paid to acquire players league-wide, and other prices weren’t met, leaving many players rumored to be on the move to stay put with their current teams. What was rumored to be a “buyer’s market” quickly became a “seller’s market,” and now the NHL landscape is more solidified for the stretch run of the regular season, with playoffs on the ever-nearing horizon.
The Anaheim Ducks have been one of the busiest “sellers” since Pat Verbeek took over as general manager just before the 2022 trade deadline. They’ve stocked up on high-end young talent via the draft and trades, added some seasoned veterans, hired the second-winningest coach in franchise history, and are now on the precipice of their first playoff appearance since 2018, which would end the NHL’s third-longest such streak.
Advertisement
Takeaways from the Ducks 6-5 Shootout Win over the Canadiens
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek on 2026 Trade Deadline Moves
The Ducks made two trades in the 24 hours before Friday’s noon PST deadline, so here are reviews of those deals:
Derek Lee-The Hockey News
Ducks Acquire John Carlson from Capitals
Embracing the “buyer” label, Verbeek actively attempted to put his team into the “contender” category when he pulled off perhaps the deadline’s biggest blockbuster trade. Carlson is in the final year of his eight-year contract, which carries an AAV of $8 million. No contract extension talks have been had or will be had during the season. Carlson is a pure rental.
Advertisement
The conditions on the pick rely solely on the Ducks making the 2026 playoffs. If they make the playoffs, they’ll transfer their 2026 first-round pick to the Caps. If they don’t qualify, they’ll have the option to send their 2026 or 2027 first-round pick.
Carlson (36), in his 17th NHL season, has scored 46 points (10-36=46) in 55 games and leaves the Capitals franchise as their defensive leader in all categories for defensemen and a Stanley Cup champion in 2018.
This is an interesting move for the Ducks from two angles. 1) Trading a first-round pick isn’t a move non-cup-contending teams make in exchange for rental players. 2) Carlson doesn’t fit the expected archetype for a defenseman the Ducks would have been looking to add at this year’s deadline.
The Cost
“I think when you have an opportunity to better your team, I think that’s your responsibility and your duty to do that,” Verbeek told the media following the deadline. “I think we have enough draft picks. We have enough prospects coming. Is it worth it to give up a conditional first-rounder? In my opinion, yes, it is. And so to get the quality of a player with John Carlson, then it made sense not only to us, but to our organization. So that’s how I viewed it.”
Advertisement
The Ducks are projected to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years, since 2018. They’ve stockpiled talented current young players and prospects at every position during their extended playoff absence, and the potential path to the Western Conference Final is the easiest (on paper) in the Pacific Division, widely regarded as the weakest division in the NHL.
Does adding a 36-year-old defenseman for 20 games line up with the assumed “contending window” for the Ducks? If the Ducks win one or two playoff rounds this spring, then the window is open now.
If the fit is undeniable and Carlson is a big part of whatever run the Ducks make during their projected playoff appearance, Verbeek has stated he hopes to re-sign Carlson following the season.
“It’s worth it to give this group experience, give them a chance to make the playoffs, and to do well in the playoffs,” Verbeek said. “That’s kind of how I looked at it, with the hope that we’ll be able to re-sign him when this season’s over.”
Advertisement
Parting with a first and third round pick for a player who plays 20 regular season games and a potentially short playoff run can understandably give some pause. However, if that player re-signs with the club on a reasonable contract extension, the deal becomes a lot easier to swallow and could even be received more glowingly.
The Fit
The other area of intrigue with Carlson’s addition to the Ducks’ roster is his fit along the blueline. Looking at the left side of their defense corps, it’s full of dynamic and offensively gifted young players: Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger.
If one had speculated an add to the blueline for Anaheim at the 2026 deadline, one would likely have assumed they’d have added a traditional “shutdown/stay-at-home” defender. Frequent names on trade lists fitting that archetype were players like Colton Parayko, Tyler Myers, Brandon Carlo, etc.
Advertisement
However, Verbeek zigged when a zag was expected. Carlson has been one of the most consistent and productive offensive-oriented defensemen in the NHL for nearly the last two decades.
The Ducks are one of the poorest defensive teams in the NHL in 2025-26 and have gotten where they are off the backs of their high-octane offense and spectacular starting goaltender, Lukas Dostal. So in a surprising and refreshing move, Verbeek seemingly leaned into his team’s strength and acquired an offensive play-driving puck-mover from the backend in Carlson.
Carlson’s offensive output shouldn’t dismiss his defensive impact, however. Even at age 36, Carlson, before the trade, played in all situations for the Caps, including ranking second among Washington blueliners in shorthanded TOI/G (2:28) and power play TOI/G (2:33).
Though his defensive metrics haven’t been spectacular, he’s a quality skater, cerebral positionally, and fundamentally sound. It’s possible that switching from the Caps’ man-coverage in the defensive zone to the Ducks’ pressure-zone coverage system could benefit Carlson, as he won’t be exerting as much energy in his end during elongated sequences and should give a boost to the Ducks’ exit numbers.
Advertisement
In theory, the Ducks’ system could enhance what he does well and allow him to translate that ability to the defensive side of the puck.
Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ducks Trade Ryan Strome to Flames
Strome was one of two signings Verbeek made on his first day of unrestricted free agency in his first summer as an NHL general manager in July 2022, with Frank Vatrano representing the other. Strome was signed to a five-year contract that carried a $5 million AAV and had no trade protection attached.
Strome was an eerily consistent producer for Anaheim, scoring 41 points in each of his first three seasons with the Ducks. He was projected to start the 2025-26 season in the middle-six for new coach, Joel Quenneville, but missed the first 16 games of the season with an oblique injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Beckett Sennecke, who grabbed hold of that spot and refused to relinquish it, as he currently leads all rookies in scoring.
Advertisement
Strome struggled to carve out a role for himself outside the top six and even served as a healthy scratch for 12 games this season. He’d been a positive locker room presence for the Ducks during three of their leanest years in franchise history, and he’s too skilled to be continuously kept out of the lineup.
Moving him to Calgary, even though his value was at its lowest, will allow him to play meaningful minutes again for the remainder of this season and next. Calgary will absorb Strome’s full cap hit, clearing $5 million off Anaheim’s books for the summer of 2026, where they’re expected to sign star RFAs Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson to sizable contract extensions, as well as RFAs Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and Ian Moore. In addition, if Verbeek plans on re-signing any number of pending UFAs like Jacob Trouba, John Carlson, or Radko Gudas, he’ll need all the cap space he can get.
The Ducks are in a transitional period in their franchise’s history, on the cusp of returning to the playoffs and now even looking to make a deeper run than anticipated. Though the roster remains imperfect, and they’re playing a firewagon brand of hockey, Verbeek has made a statement to his roster and to the league that the Ducks view themselves as true contenders.
Ducks Sign Ryan Poehling to Four-Year Extension
Takeaways from the Ducks 5-1 Win over the Islanders
Read the full article here