The Anaheim Ducks‘ cap-clearing effort now has a sweetener attached. A week after Anaheim reportedly called Vancouver about moving Frank Vatrano, the Ducks are willing to include a draft pick — presumably one of their three 2027 second-rounders — to move a veteran contract in full, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said this week on the Hello Hockey podcast (transcribed Wednesday by NHLRumors.com). Alex Killorn and Chris Kreider are now in the conversation alongside Vatrano.
The math hasn’t changed since Anaheim matched Leo Carlsson‘s offer sheet on July 9; the options have. Per Pagnotta, the Ducks sit just over $9 million in cap space, with roughly another $1 million available if goaltender Laurent Brossoit is assigned to the minors. Killorn ($6.25 million) and Kreider ($6.5 million) are both entering the final year of their contracts, while Vatrano carries a hit a little over $4.5 million for two more seasons, with deferred money in the deal that adds a wrinkle to any trade. Move one of the expiring veterans and demote Brossoit, and Anaheim is suddenly working with $15 million to $16 million.
That is the neighborhood Cutter Gauthier‘s camp is reportedly aiming for. Pagnotta said the number “being tossed around out there is 15,” and that the objective appears to be a long-term deal at that figure rather than a short bridge — though he allowed that a two-year contract keeping Gauthier under team control as a restricted free agent remains possible. Anaheim’s original plan reportedly had Carlsson extending in the $11-12 million range with Gauthier slotting in underneath. Carlsson’s $18 million average annual value reset that ladder entirely.
The cleanest exit is one of the expiring contracts. Killorn and Kreider come off the books next summer regardless, so spending a second-round pick to move that money a year early preserves the 2027-28 flexibility Anaheim will want when Beckett Sennecke becomes extension-eligible. For a front office that spent three years collecting picks, paying one back to keep the young core’s timeline intact is the version of this mess that still looks like a plan.
On the fantasy side, Gauthier’s dynasty stock rides through this untouched — every reported path ends with him paid and playing top-line minutes alongside Carlsson. The more actionable watch is the veteran who moves: Killorn or Kreider would gain short-term value landing in a contender’s middle six, and each departure frees top-nine wing minutes for Anaheim’s younger forwards.
