Chris Kreider goes from prized free-agent addition to trade bait as the Ducks deal with fallout from Leo Carlsson's offer sheet situation.
Elliotte Friedman dropped it Monday night. Pat Verbeek has lost control of his own roster structure, and it's not a small problem.
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Three veterans carry some form of no-trade protection right now: Kreider, Alexander Killorn and Frank Vatrano.
Verbeek might have to move one of them. Maybe two. Maybe all three.
Losing that kind of protected depth all at once is like pulling three load-bearing walls out of the same house.
Kreider carries a $6,500,000 cap hit and still produced 22 goals and 28 assists across 75 games this season for Anaheim.
But the tank's run dry lately. Just six points in his last 10 games, and only two across his last five.
Kreider, Killorn and Vatrano now trade bait in Anaheim
Killorn's $6,250,000 hit looks shakier by the week. He's sitting at minus-8 over his last 10 games, dragging the middle six with him.
Vatrano might be the easiest one to move. Five goals, four assists, a minus-15 rating through just 50 games this year.
Is that the kind of contract Verbeek wants to defend when he's already fighting to keep his structure intact? Doesn't look like it.
The Ducks sit 43-33-6 with 92 points, ranked 17th overall and third in their division.
Their recent form hasn't helped the case either. Anaheim is 2-6-2 over its last 10 games, even with a one-game win streak going.
Joel Quenneville took over behind the bench in May 2025. Verbeek has run the front office since February 2022, and this offer sheet mess now sits squarely on him.
None of this happens in a vacuum. Carlsson's situation forced Verbeek's hand, and now three veteran salaries are exposed because of it.
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Nobody in that locker room knows yet which name gets moved first. That's the part that should worry Ducks fans the most.
Should Pat Verbeek be forced to move a core Ducks veteran because of the Leo Carlsson offer sheet fallout?
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