IRVINE — The Ducks catapulted themselves from the cellar to the middle of the pack two seasons ago and then made the leap from perennial struggle to second-round playoff success last year, all with a rosy salary-cap outlook and loads of young talent.
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Then came the summer of 2026.
Mason McTavish joined chums and fellow lottery picks Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras in exile, getting shipped to the St. Louis Blues for two first-round draft picks. The Ducks didn’t previously have a first-rounder because they had dealt theirs for John Carlson, who underwhelmed as the postseason wore on and then bounced in free agency. The departure of their highest-paid forward last season and two highest-paid players overall after Jacob Trouba also left in free agency (as did captain Radko Gudas) seemed to position them to retain as well as add.
But instead the Ducks saw the cost of their three most prominent restricted free agents – Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov – soar past projections, handcuffing their ability to add and even forcing them to terminate the contract of Chris Kreider just to limbo under the cap ceiling.
Just when the Ducks appeared poised to refine and balance their roster, they’re facing a reset year with more youth in their lineup than any other team in the league. Here are three burning questions that could determine whether their progress is linear, static or nonexistent in 2026-27.
Are the kids all right?
With a purge of veterans – Carlson, Trouba, Gudas, Kreider, Jansen Harkins, Ross Johnston, and Jeffrey Viel all left town – and the trade of established younger players McTavish and Olen Zellweger, the Ducks will be counting on callups.
Tristan Luneau, who has been the San Diego Gulls’ top defenseman the past two seasons, is foremost among them. He’s played big minutes in all situations during the preseason and all three defense spots on the right side were up for grabs. Lefty Tyson Hinds got some run late last season and should also see his role expand with Zellweger heading to Buffalo.
In addition to those aspiring blue-liners – the whole corps is 25 or younger except 35-year-old Nick Jensen, who has 151 more games of experience than the rest of the group combined – the Ducks got younger up front. First-round pick Nikita Klepov went from being fast-tracked to arrive next season to decommitting from Michigan State and joining the Ducks right away, playing top-six minutes during the preseason.
The Ducks have had good fortune with entrants like Carlsson in 2023-24 and Calder Trophy finalist Beckett Sennecke last season. They’ll need more of that to make up for the exodus of seasoned players that took place over the summer.
“We want to build off of last year,” Gauthier said. “It’s a bit of a different team, but we were counted out last year, not making the playoffs, and we did it. We want to have that same mindset going into this year.”
Will big money mean big numbers?
Although General Manager Pat Verbeek cautioned against Carlsson, Gauthier and other young players elevating expectations or rushing their development as a result of their newfound wealth, there’s no question that they will have to do even more on the ice.
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That pair of forwards along with top defenseman Jackson LaCombe will earn nearly 40% of the team’s total salary this season, placing their performance and production under a powerful microscope.
Gauthier was already the team’s leading scorer while Carlsson was its most productive attacker on a per-game basis and LaCombe spearheaded the ‘D’ in all three zones. But they will all need to be more consistent and even more prolific this season.
Though they’ll still be earning entry-level money, the standards for 20-year-old Sennecke and 18-year-old Klepov have also been raised. A solid contribution from Klepov and progress from Sennecke would go a long way toward softening the blow of a hectic offseason.
“I like responsibility, it means you play more,” Sennecke said. “We’re all gonna have opportunities on this team. There’s a lot of high-octane offensive guys and defensive guys, and we all have equal opportunity to show what we can do.”
He added: “We’ve got a young team, and young teams are exciting.”
Will the real Lukáš Dostál please stand up?
Two years ago, Dostál emerged as a strong enough option in goal for the Ducks to finally resolve a long-festering situation by trading longtime goalie John Gibson to the Detroit Red Wings.
Yet last season, the first of a $6.5 million per annum extension for the 26-year-old Czech, early goals became commonplace and his overall performance declined precipitously with Ville Husso rather than Gibson behind him.
Verbeek opted not to upgrade the Ducks’ backup goalie, instead adding Laurent Brossoit as an experienced No. 3 to start the year in San Diego. That was after Dostál appeared to show fatigue after playing the most total minutes of any goalie last season accounting for the regular season, playoffs and Olympics.
He has also frequently faced immense pressure behind a defensive group that has at times resembled a quintet of bullfighters, and might again this season. Despite all that, few players are more meticulous in their preparation, more thorough in their process and more confident in their results than Dostál.
“That was a big step for him last year with franchise great Gibson going to Detroit,” former NHL netminder turned analyst Kevin Weekes said via text message. “He had to play a ton of games, which I like, to be the backbone of the team and to help lead them into the playoffs. All of that experience should help his progression under the watchful eyes of Director Of Goaltending Sudsy Maharaj and Goalie Coach Peter Budaj.”
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