The Anaheim Ducks may have a much bigger Cutter Gauthier problem than simply getting their 41-goal scorer signed.
According to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, Connor Bedard’s new five-year, $75 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks could be influencing negotiations between the Ducks and Gauthier. Bedard’s deal carries a $15 million average annual value, and Friedman believes Gauthier could view his own value somewhere in the $15 million to $16 million range.
That number changes everything for Anaheim.
Gauthier isn’t Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson or Macklin Celebrini, but a 22-year-old winger coming off a 41-goal season has significant negotiating leverage. Gauthier finished 2025-26 with 41 goals, 28 assists and 69 points in 76 games while leading Anaheim in goals, points, power-play goals and shots. Only three other players in Ducks history have produced a 40-goal season.
And this is where Anaheim’s salary-cap situation becomes extremely interesting.
Cutter Gauthier’s Contract Could Force the Anaheim Ducks to Make a Trade
The market for elite young NHL players has exploded.
The Ducks already matched the Philadelphia Flyers‘ five-year offer sheet for Leo Carlsson, giving their young centre an $18 million AAV through 2030-31. Macklin Celebrini then pushed the market even higher by signing a five-year, $94 million extension with San Jose carrying an NHL-high $18.8 million AAV. Bedard’s five-year deal came in lower at $15 million annually.
For Gauthier’s camp, Bedard may now represent the more relevant comparable.
My read is that Anaheim would love to keep Gauthier noticeably below $15 million. The problem is that his production gives his representatives a straightforward argument: How much of a discount should a 22-year-old 41-goal scorer actually take?
Gauthier didn’t merely have a promising season. He scored 41 times in 76 games, produced 69 points and generated 285 shots. That’s a 44-goal pace over 82 games and an average of 3.75 shots per game. Those are legitimate first-line scoring numbers.
Cutter Gauthier Career NHL Stats
| Type | GP | G | A | P | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | 159 | 61 | 53 | 114 | 7 |
| Playoffs | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 | -3 |
My Anaheim Ducks Cap Calculation Shows the Real Problem
PuckPedia currently projects the Anaheim Ducks to have $9,073,395 in cap space under the NHL’s $104 million ceiling, with Gauthier still unsigned.
Here’s what the cap math looks like using that figure:
| Projected Gauthier AAV | Current Ducks Cap Space | Estimated Additional Space Needed |
|---|---|---|
| $15.0 million | $9.073 million | $5.927 million |
| $15.5 million | $9.073 million | $6.427 million |
| $16.0 million | $9.073 million | $6.927 million |
Those are my calculations based on PuckPedia’s current projected cap space.
At $15 million, Gauthier would consume approximately 14.4 percent of the $104 million salary cap. At $16 million, that jumps to approximately 15.4 percent.
Anaheim can potentially manage the beginning of the season through Troy Terry’s LTIR situation. Terry carries a $7 million cap hit and is currently listed with an expected November return. LTIR, however, isn’t simply permanent cap space. Once Terry is healthy enough to return, Anaheim must once again become cap compliant.
That’s why the possibility of a Ducks trade becomes so intriguing.
A Cutter Gauthier Deal Could Create a Second Anaheim Ducks Domino
If Gauthier receives somewhere around $15 million to $16 million annually, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek could eventually need to clear roughly $6 million to $7 million from the roster, depending on the final contract, roster configuration and LTIR calculation.
Anaheim has several veteran contracts that could become relevant in that discussion. PuckPedia lists Mikael Granlund at $7 million, Chris Kreider at $6.5 million, Alex Killorn at $6.25 million and Frank Vatrano at approximately $4.57 million for 2026-27.
That does not mean any of those players is currently being shopped.
But mathematically, it shows why one significant salary-moving trade could potentially solve most of the problem, while moving a smaller contract such as Vatrano’s could require Anaheim to make an additional transaction.
This is where I believe the Gauthier negotiation could become one of the most important NHL contract stories of the offseason.
The Ducks aren’t deciding whether Gauthier is worth keeping. That’s the easy part. A 22-year-old who just scored 41 goals should be a central piece of Anaheim’s future.
The difficult question is how much of the Ducks’ future cap structure should be committed to Gauthier after Carlsson’s $18 million deal completely altered Anaheim’s internal salary hierarchy?
Bedard taking $15 million may actually have helped the Ducks by establishing a number below Carlsson and Celebrini. At the same time, it might have given Gauthier exactly the comparable his camp needed.
If the final number begins with a 15, Anaheim’s next move may not be another signing.
It could be a trade.
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