The Ducks have named forward Mikael Granlund as the 10th captain in franchise history, the team announced on Tuesday.
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Their captain for the past two seasons, defenseman Radko Gudas, returned to the Florida Panthers this summer in free agency. He had been their first captain since Ryan Getzlaf’s 2022 retirement as well as the sixth Czech player to captain an NHL team and the fourth to do so on a full-time basis.
Granlund, 34, hails from Finland, and he captained the bronze-medal-winning Finnish national team at this year’s Olympics in the absence of the injured Aleksander Barkov. Barkov is Florida’s captain, the only other active Finnish captain and the only one in NHL history to lead his team to a Stanley Cup. Granlund previously captained Finland at two World Championships.
The Ducks are also the first team in NHL lore to have two Finns serve as captain. Teemu Selänne wore the “C” in the 1997-98 season, during which co-captain Paul Kariya was sidelined for 60 games. Granlund is the ninth Finnish captain in league history and the seventh to serve on an exclusive, full-time basis.
“This is an incredible honor to be the captain of the Anaheim Ducks and join the many other great captains in the organization’s history,” Granlund said in a statement. “I am grateful to Pat [Verbeek], the coaching staff and the other players in this locker room to trust me with this responsibility. We have many quality leaders already on this team and great teammates to help this entire group represent the Ducks on the ice and in our community.”
Granlund, who has 651 points in 960 career games, joined the Ducks as a free agent in the 2025 offseason. He signed a three-year deal worth $21 million that tied him for the highest-paid forward on the team. This year, that $7 million figure will be blown past by center Leo Carlsson ($18 million AAV) and winger Cutter Gauthier ($13.5 million AAV).
That duo along with top defenseman Jackson LaCombe, the injured Troy Terry and seasoned winger Alex Killorn, likely also received consideration for the role. Carlsson, Killorn, LaCombe and Terry will serve as alternate captains this season.
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Yet it will be the understated veteran Granlund –– he observed captains like Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, Roman Josi in Nashville and fellow Finn Mikko Koivu in Minnesota during previous stops –– who will be designated as the team leader.
“Mikael has been a strong leader in our locker room and with his national team over the years, and he is a natural fit with where we are as a hockey club,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said in a statement. “Both our management group and coaching staff have seen how he leads by example and exemplifies how a captain carries themselves on and off the ice. He personifies the professionalism, humility, mentorship and quiet intensity that will lead the various personalities of our group.”
Washe re-signs
Adorning a jersey with a freshly-sewn “C” wasn’t the Ducks’ only order of business, as on Saturday they re-signed center Tim Washe to a four-year extension worth $9 million ($2.25 million AAV).
Washe, 25, emerged as a strong option in the faceoff circle and an all-around, detail-oriented player in his first full pro season last year, which he split between the Ducks and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.
With Washe and Ryan Poehling both signed to multi-year pacts in recent months, the Ducks now have their bottom-six center roles cemented. Washe’s signing was also significant because he is a pending restricted free agent, meaning Verbeek followed through on his promise to attend to RFA extensions more promptly than he has to date.
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