Anaheim Ducks

Possible $75M Deal Raises Questions About Future of Ducks’ Troy Terry

If the Anaheim Ducks pay Cutter Gauthier $75 million, what does that mean for a player like Troy Terry? What’s next for him?

by
NHL Trade Talk
August 10, 2026

The Anaheim Ducks locked up Leon Carlsson when the Philadelphia Flyers threw a wrench into their summer plans. Forced to pay more for the soon-to-be star center, Pat Verbeek bit the bullet and paid $18 million per season over five years to keep Carlsson a Duck. Of course, that opened the door to Cutter Gauthier becoming a much more expensive player than anticipated.

The Ducks now need to find a way to get Gauthier under contract. The belief is that the RFA will come in somewhere around $15 million per season over five years. With $75 million potentially going out the door, Verbeek needs to find a way to make that deal work. Given that Anaheim has only a little more than $9 million in projected cap space, that won’t be easy.

The likelihood is that the Ducks will have to make additional moves. What moves remain unclear. It might have a lot to do with the status of Troy Terry.

One possible short-term solution would be to place Terry on long-term injured reserve. Terry underwent successful surgery on June 9, 2026 to address hip impingement and a labral tear. As per a report by the Ducks, he has begun the rehabilitation process and is expected to make a full recovery in approximately 5-6 months. Obviously, that means he won’t be ready for the start of the 2026-27 season.

That solves Anaheim’s problem for now. However, when Terry is ready to return, the Ducks will need to make room.

That could mean trading Alex Killorn, Chris Kreider, Frank Vatrano, or Terry himself. All have a modified no-trade clause as part of their contract. Terry would easily be the most attractive piece the Ducks could move. Locked into a better deal than the other three, he has consistently produced. He’s a legitimate 20-plus goal scorer and only 28 years old. If teams are going to be wanting to talk trade, it’s more likely on Terry than a rental like Kreider or Killorn.

Is this a trade the Ducks would entertain in a few months? It seems unlikely they would want to move Terry if at all avoidable. But, if they intend to keep their youngest stars and money is a concern, nothing is off the table.

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