The Anaheim Ducks finally got the Cutter Gauthier deal done.
Cutter Gauthier signed a six-year, $81 million contract with the Ducks on Tuesday, giving Anaheim one of the most important pieces of its young core through the 2031-32 season. The $13.5 million annual cap hit is certainly a massive number, but it came in below the rumored $15 million asking price that had circulated throughout the summer.
So the Ducks got what they wanted.
They kept Gauthier.
But it is difficult to look at the entire situation and conclude that Anaheim got everything it could have.
The obvious cost was Chris Kreider. The Ducks terminated the veteran forward’s contract last week, clearing his $6.5 million cap hit so they could create room for Gauthier. Kreider had scored 22 goals and 50 points in 75 games for Anaheim last season.
That is a legitimate top-six forward walking out the door for nothing.
And then there is the term.
The Ducks could have signed Gauthier to eight years if they had gotten the deal done before the Sept. 16 CBA deadline. Instead, they settled for six.
That doesn’t make the contract bad.
But it does make the price of getting Gauthier signed more complicated.
Ducks Got Gauthier Under $15 Million, But There Was a Catch
Getting the AAV down to $13.5 million was an important win for Anaheim.
Gauthier just finished a 41-goal, 69-point season and led the Ducks in both regular-season and playoff scoring. At only 22 years old, he had plenty of leverage heading into negotiations.
Anaheim could have ended up paying something much closer to the $15 million figure that had been discussed.
Instead, the Ducks got the number down by giving Gauthier six years.
That is a meaningful distinction.
A $13.5 million cap hit for six years is considerably easier to swallow than $15 million for eight, particularly if Anaheim believes Gauthier can eventually become one of the league’s elite goal scorers.
But there was another reason the deadline mattered.
The contract was signed on the final day before the NHL’s new CBA took effect, allowing Anaheim and Gauthier to use a signing-bonus structure that will no longer be available in the same way. The deal reportedly contains roughly $69 million in signing bonuses, including an $18.65 million bonus in the first season.
Beginning Sept. 16, signing bonuses are capped at 60% of the total contract value, while contract variability rules also become more restrictive.
So getting the deal done Tuesday was extremely important.
The Ducks and Gauthier squeezed through the door just before it closed.
They got their star forward signed.
But they could have gotten eight years.
They didn’t.
Cutter Gauthier’s Contract Gives Anaheim an Escape Valve
There is one particularly interesting detail in the contract that could eventually work in Anaheim’s favor.
Gauthier does not receive trade protection until the final year of the deal.
According to PuckPedia, he has a 10-team no-trade list in 2031-32, but there is no trade protection in the first five seasons.
That gives the Ducks something they don’t usually get with a contract of this magnitude: flexibility.
If Gauthier becomes exactly what Anaheim believes he can become, there is no reason to worry about it.
But NHL rosters change.
Cap situations change.
Teams that look like contenders today can look completely different three years from now.
If the Ducks eventually need to move Gauthier, they have considerably more freedom to do so than they would have had if they had given him a full no-move clause or an extensive no-trade provision.
That matters because $13.5 million is still a massive commitment.
Anaheim is betting heavily on Cutter Gauthier becoming one of the faces of its franchise. The six-year term gives the Ducks a chance to capture his prime years without locking themselves into an eight-year commitment.
And perhaps that was the compromise that finally got the deal done.
The Ducks wanted the AAV below $15 million.
Gauthier wanted to maximize his value.
Anaheim gave him a huge signing-bonus package and significant money up front, while Gauthier accepted six years instead of eight.
The Ducks won the battle.
But it cost them Kreider, two years of potential term and a significant chunk of their financial flexibility.
They got their young star under contract.
They just didn’t get him under the most favorable circumstances possible.
Ducks Won the Cutter Gauthier Battle, But It Cost Them