Tristan Luneau is outperforming his $43.2M contract with the Ducks

Tristan Luneau is logging top-pair minutes for the Anaheim Ducks, and the contract that split the fan base already looks like sharp business.

Remember the reaction? Pat Verbeek handed a six-year, $43.2 million deal to a defenseman with 14 NHL games on his résumé.

Some praised the foresight, while the louder crowd wondered what Anaheim had actually seen. Heading into Tuesday night's rematch with Calgary, that crowd has gone quiet.

There was no soft landing. Luneau opened the season beside Jackson LaCombe and logged 26:58 and 26:36 in his first two games.

Through four games, his average ice time sat at 22:38. Only LaCombe was getting more on the Anaheim blue line.

The flash showed up against Florida on October 4. The 22-year-old took a Panthers defender outside-in with a slick dangle and rang a shot off the crossbar and out.

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Joel Quenneville isn't sheltering Luneau on the penalty kill

Quenneville has the young blueliner killing penalties too, with 11:33 of shorthanded work already. Anaheim has given up just one power-play goal with him on the ice.

He's on the second power-play unit as well, paired with Pavel Mintyukov. His hardest shot grades in the 78th percentile, per NHL EDGE.

The 5-on-5 work is what sells it. With Luneau out there, the Ducks own a 53.86 expected goals percentage against an opening slate of Vegas, Florida and Edmonton.

The scoresheet hasn't caught up. One assist in five games won't move many jerseys, and LaCombe has 5 points on the other side of the pairing.

And the Ducks are winning anyway. Anaheim is 4-1-0, fifth in the league overall, and perfect on the road.

Here's the detail that should make Verbeek grin. Luneau still carries an $865,000 cap hit, and the new deal averages $7.2 million a season, identical to Mintyukov's current number.

Verbeek got this one right. Locking up a young defenseman early is like buying the lake lot before the town paves the road, because the price only climbs once everyone can see it.

Five games is still a tiny sample. His ice time dropped to 14:22 in the 5-1 win at Winnipeg, and that number deserves a second look.

Calgary arrives Tuesday night with no points and a seven-game skid. Anaheim already handled the Flames 4-2 on Saturday night.

Beating a winless club proves little. The real exam comes later this month on the road, including a back-to-back against the Rangers and Islanders, when the minutes get heavier and nobody grades on a curve.

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