Report: Ducks, Kreider agree to waivers for contract termination
Zach Cavanagh
Host · Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. – With restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier still unsigned and the 22-year-old’s contract asks seemingly rising above the Anaheim Ducks’ remaining salary cap space, the first bit of roster surgery will reportedly open up in the next 48 hours.
The Ducks are expected to place veteran forward Chris Kreider on waivers for the purposes of contract termination through a mutual agreement, per a report from SportsNet insider Elliotte Friedman on Wednesday.
According to Friedman’s sources, the 35-year-old reportedly wishes to return back east, where he played the first 13 seasons of his career with the New York Rangers before last summer’s trade to Orange County. Friedman said those sources also indicated Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek fielded trade offers, but none hit the mark, particularly due to the “sweeteners” the Ducks would have to take back in the salary dump trade.
With the anticipated move going through with Kreider's joint approval, his one remaining season with a $6.5 million cap hit would completely come off Anaheim’s books to add to its current $10.17 million in cap space, per PuckPedia.
(Reporter’s Note: PuckPedia lists the Ducks at $9.07 million in cap space, but that is including three goaltenders. For the purposes of cap calculation, I am not including Laurent Brossoit’s $1.1 million, as he is expected to be in AHL San Diego.)
Following the NHL-record offer sheet and five-year deal of Leo Carlsson in July making him the league’s highest-paid player this season at $18 million per year and a five-year, $7.2 million deal for Pavel Mintyukov that came in above expectations, Anaheim was and is in tight cap straights going into negotiations with Gauthier.
The 22-year-old 40-goal scorer was anticipated to come in around the $10-12 million range, but after Carlsson’s deal and the subsequent rising salaries across the league, Gauthier is reportedly in the $15-16 million range. Kreider’s termination would give Anaheim space for Gauthier’s number, but it would still be a tight fit.
“Wherever Cutter comes in, I'm gonna have some work to do to make sure that we can fit everyone in,” Verbeek said on July 9. “I've got two and a half months to figure that out, and we'll go through that process for the rest of the summer.”
Summer is quickly dwindling for the Ducks with their rookie camp on Friday and full training camp opening next week.
Kreider’s potential termination also means that with Troy Terry still recovering from hip surgery through November Anaheim will start the season without both of Carlsson’s top-line wingers from last season, which makes Gauthier’s signing all the more imperative.
Kreider made an impact in his one season in Anaheim, particularly instilling work habits in the young players and showcasing his netfront abilities on the power play, but his diminished speed became a weight at times alongside Carlsson late in the season and in the playoffs.
Kreider jumped out to a blazing start with four goals in his first three games as a Duck and nine goals in his first nine games, including five power play tallies stemming from his work around the crease and deft deflections.
That hot start was belayed by cold streaks, including a 15-game stretch in December without a goal and just three assists and just one goal over the final 19 games of the regular season with 10 assists.
Kreider finished the regular season with 22 goals in a 50-point campaign–a solid bounceback from a tough final season in New York the year prior–and he posted two goals and five assists in 12 playoff games.
