3 Anaheim Ducks Offseason Trade Candidates

The Anaheim Ducks haven’t had the year they were hoping for as they sit near the very bottom of the league and never sniffed playoff contention. They suffered quite a bit of injuries, but it also should have been seen as a season where prospects are meant to develop. They had a poor trade deadline, but have a few players that could fetch some nice returns in the offseason. Those players are going to be discussed below along with why they need to be moved if possible.

John Gibson

I would still consider John Gibson an elite goaltender, but he has gotten no help over the past four years and his confidence has to be shot at this point. With four more years left at $6.5 million AAV, he is wasting the prime of his career on a team at the bottom of the league. Not only is his career being wasted, the Ducks are holding onto an asset and diminishing his value each poor season they have in front of him.

The best time to move him now is this offseason. There are a fair deal of teams in search of a number one goalie and the Ducks have Lukas Dostal pushing for a spot. What would make sense is if the Ducks acquire another younger goalie to compete with Dostal so they can push each other to be better and Anaheim would have a couple options to choose from. It wouldn’t be hard to swing that in a deal to whichever team they can send Gibson to.

Adam Henrique

Adam Henrique once again had a solid season by his standards as he found a permanent spot on the top line of the Ducks when healthy and scored 19 goals in 57 games. He continues to prove he can score goals and be a top-six winger/center in the NHL at age 33. The Ducks were fortunate to be able to showcase him on the top line all season as his trade stock will have risen heading into the final year of his contract.

Henrique has a $5.825 million AAV cap hit, but the Ducks are fully capable of retaining half for the final year. This will make moving the veteran that much easier as he can be a one-year rental for a contender who they know will be able to provide goals and can play on any of the top three lines at any position. It is the best time to trade Henrique as teams gain interest in certain players if they don’t have to have them on the books for multiple seasons. There’s no use hanging on to him and there were even rumours he could have been traded at this past deadline if he weren’t injured.

Frank Vatrano

Frank Vatrano is a player I would clump into the same situation as Henrique except Vatrano is on a cheaper deal, has two years remaining, is younger, and a bit more productive overall. He too was a potential trade candidate at this year’s trade deadline, but nothing came of it. The offseason is a good place to pick back up talks involving moving him.

He has taken over Henrique’s spot on the top line and is up to 19 goals and 39 points in 76 games. The 29-year-old’s contract looks pretty good as he has two years left at $3.65 million AAV with no trade clauses attached. He has provided 16-24 goals each of the past five seasons, so a team would know exactly what they are getting. And like the other players mentioned above, the Ducks would be able to eat a bit of Vatrano’s contract to make a deal even better for both sides. As he’s been skating on the top line and producing, it has been a nice showcase for him as well.