The Anaheim Ducks bolstered their defensive corps for a playoff run on Thursday evening, buying right-shot defenseman John Carlson from the Washington Capitals forward of Friday’s midday Pacific commerce deadline.
The Ducks despatched a conditional first-round decide for the 2026 or 2026 draft and a 2027 third-round decide to the Capitals in trade for the 36-year-old blue-liner.
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The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defenseman is within the remaining 12 months of an eight-year, $64 million contract with the Ducks retaining the total freight of his $8 million cap hit. Carlson had a 10-team no-trade clause, however Anaheim was not on that record.
Anaheim nonetheless has over $43 million in cap house getting into tomorrow’s deadline.
Carlson gained a Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018. He joins Alex Killorn as the one different Stanley Cup champions on the Ducks roster.
“John Carlson brings leadership, character, a high hockey IQ and a presence to our lineup,” Ducks basic supervisor Pat Verbeek mentioned in an announcement. “We are very excited to add a Stanley Cup winner to complement our group and make a big push down the stretch.”
Carlson remains to be a point-producer in his seventeenth NHL season–all with the Capitals–with 10 targets and 36 assists (solely 9 energy play points–all assists) for Washington, which is simply 4 factors exterior of the Eastern Conference playoff image. Carlson additionally holds a plus-11 ranking.
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This season at five-on-five, Carlson was nonetheless first amongst Washington defensemen with a 52.38% anticipated targets share and a 53.38% shot try share. He was second on the Capitals in time-on-ice per sport at 22:51.
Anaheim now boasts a veteran-laden proper aspect of its defensive corps with the 36-year-old Carlson, 35-year-old Radko Gudas and 32-year-old Jacob Trouba. This balances out the left aspect of the Ducks blue line with 25-year-old Jackson LaCombe, 22-year-old Pavel Mintyukov and 22-year-old Olen Zellweger.
Right-handers Drew Helleson and Ian Moore, each 24 years previous, are again right into a roster spot battle for the seventh defensive spot. Moore is waiver exempt, which might imply a easy ship right down to San Diego barring any additional trades earlier than Friday’s deadline.
The circumstances on the first-round decide going to Washington include some distinctive stipulations.
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The decide is at the moment a 2026 first-round decide, and if the Ducks don’t qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it might turn into a 2027 first-round decide.
However, if the Ducks miss the playoffs, they nonetheless retain the choice to decide on whether or not they would switch their 2026 decide or 2027 decide to Washington. Anaheim wouldn’t must make that call till the decide earlier than theirs at this upcoming draft.
Ducks solidify the fitting aspect of their blue line and add a bit spice to draft day choices.