Is there pressure on Pat Verbeek heading into Next Season?
Anaheim Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek has come under scrutiny after allowing Leo Carlsson to be offered sheeted by the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Ducks ultimately matched the five-year, $90 million contract with an $18 million AAV, the feeling was that it should have never gotten to this point.
However, in a statement released by Henry and Susan Samueli following the offer sheet, they praised Pat Verbeek for putting the Ducks in a good position to keep Carlsson, even though Pavel Mintyukov had just signed a five-year, $7.2 million-per-season deal.
The Anaheim Ducks Potential Cap Crunch Was Avoidable
But did Verbeek really do that, given that Cutter Gauthier was still out there? Not to mention, Verbeek had traded Mason McTavish to the St. Louis Blues, giving Leo Carlsson all the leverage. In addition, Olen Zellweger was in Buffalo with John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, and Radko Gudas, all of whom were going to free agency.
Not the ideal way to follow a second-round playoff appearance. The pressure is on for Verbeek to win and get back to the playoffs with this roster. Anaheim can’t take steps backward.
Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com, Full Press Hockey, and RG Media was on TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about the job security of Pat Verbeek as General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Do the Anaheim Ducks Have a Plan Under GM Pat Verbeek?
Host: “Listen, I guess I was one of the few who thought that there’s a chance that they don’t get it done here, and they take their four first-round picks, build with a new young core, and go forward. But look, they got themselves a great player. We’ll see how the mathematics works with them going forward. Again, I’ll just ask you the same question I asked Dennis Bernstein, and I had this conversation off the top of the show.
I’m surprised that this is done, and I’m surprised that Pat Verbeek is still employed. Dennis Bernstein just believes that he’ll be under an incredible amount of scrutiny, and if there is a change to be made with the Ducks, it’ll happen, let’s say, in 10 months from now, rather than prior to this season. So you think that Pat Verbeek gets the entire season to figure this out.”
Jim Biringer: “Yeah, I think he gets the entire season to figure this out. I also think ownership is going to go to him, and I’ve been pretty consistent on this, writing about it. I think ownership is going to go to him now and say, ‘Hey, we had issues with Mason McTavish, we’ve had issues with Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, who are in Philadelphia. We just had issues with Leo Carlsson. How come those guys contracts didn’t get done right away?’
Especially Carlsson, when you had an entire offseason, last offseason, get it done. When you heard him in a fan interview Q and A say, “I’ll be all right with eight years times $9.5 million.
Look, you put yourself in a great salary cap space with $36 million under the cap because you knew you had to sign Pavel Mintyukov, Cutter Gauthier, and Leo Carlsson. But you also opened yourself up to an offer sheet, and when it got to July 1st, the offer sheet came. It was signed on July 3rd, and even Pat Verbeek was, said he was shocked at the sticker price of $18 million per. I think a lot of people were, but that’s the only way Philadelphia was going to make Carlsson sign it.
Now, I think ownership’s going to go to him and say, you got to fix this mess. Yeah, they have till next year. You’re going to pay out a lot of money, $39 million in the first 12 months. But now you have to figure out Cutter Gauthier. What’s he going to get? Is it $12 million? Is it $13 million? There’s some reports $15 million.
They have to work this out, but they have to figure out a better way to negotiate and get things done earlier, so players are not eligible for offer sheets or these contract negotiations do not drag into the season, into training camp.
Cutter Gauthier’s number has gone up, and the Anaheim Ducks will need to move money
Because, as I’ve mentioned before, Zegras, McTavish, and Drysdale all missed training camp. You can’t have that moving forward, so I think that’s something they’re going to look at in Anaheim.”
Recently, Matt and Ryan Keator, the agents for Leo Carlsson, stated on a special edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas that they dragged their feet with the extension talks, given the marketplace. The Ducks offered an eight-year, $10.5 million-per-season deal, but Carlsson’s agent held off on it.
It was like that all season for the Ducks and Pat Verbeek, dealing with his agency. So they agreed to shelve talks until after the season and maybe when Connor Bedard set the market. However, when seven to eight teams inquired, there were four offer sheets, two serious ones, and one he couldn’t refuse; he had no choice but to sign it.
However, there are two sides to every story, and you have to wonder why there weren’t bigger offers presented along the way before the offer sheet came in. Again, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. But ownership had to approve the contract, which they did. But failing to contribute to the team and taking steps backward could cost Pat Verbeek his job.
NHL Rumors: Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken and Anaheim Ducks
Pat Verbeek is in a jam, salary cap-wise, given the Anaheim Ducks need to move a player like Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, or Frank Vatrano, as the team has around $9 million to sign Cutter Gauthier. That dollar amount won’t cut it. Making the team worse should never have been on the agenda.
There’s going to be a reckoning for him. It will not be this summer; it could be next season, especially if the Anaheim Ducks fail to make the playoffs.
We had to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
If you love our reporting, choose NHLrumors.com as a preferred source on Google.
