Pavel Mintyukov's stay in Anaheim might not be his choice to make, and the Ducks may not get a say either.
Word broke Saturday that the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes are among the teams eyeing an offer sheet for the young Ducks defenseman.
The report came from The Fourth Period, with insider David Calabretta naming both clubs as serious suitors this summer.
Mintyukov, 22, posted 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points in 73 games this season, playing top-four minutes on the Anaheim blue line.
He finished the year at a minus-3 rating, with two power-play assists and a shorthanded helper mixed into his usage.
An offer sheet is hockey's version of a bank raid.
It only works if the target team can't match, and Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek has never been shy about paying to keep his young core.
The Ducks finished 43-33-6 under Joel Quenneville, good for 17th overall, and Mintyukov was part of a defense corps built on cheap, controllable talent.
Why Montreal and Carolina both make sense as suitors
Montreal already has Noah Dobson locked up at 9,500,000 on the back end, and Martin St-Louis has shown he wants mobile, puck-moving defensemen who can push pace.
Carolina, at 53-22-7 under Rod Brind'Amour, has built its whole identity around exactly the kind of transition defense Mintyukov offers when he's rolling.
Would either team actually pull the trigger on offer sheet money for a defenseman who went cold down the stretch? That's the real question here.
Mintyukov managed zero points across his final 10 games, going minus-4 over that stretch, and was held off the scoresheet in his last five as well.
Anaheim has already seen both of these teams this season, beating Montreal twice, including a 6-5 shootout win in March.
Carolina, on the other hand, has owned the Ducks, winning both meetings between the clubs this year, 4-1 and 5-2.
An offer sheet for a defenseman coming off a scoreless finish is a gamble.
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If Carolina or Montreal actually files paper, it says more about their own blue line needs than it does about Mintyukov's current form.
Anaheim would still have the right to match, and given how Verbeek has operated, betting against him keeping his own player feels premature.
But offer sheets exist because someone eventually calls the bluff, and this summer might be the one where it finally happens.
Should the Canadiens use an offer sheet to pry Pavel Mintyukov away from the Ducks?
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