ANAHEIM, Calif. – A day after acquiring his rights from the Florida Panthers in exchange for the rights to now-former Ducks captain Radko Gudas, Anaheim reportedly signed pending free agent forward AJ Greer to a four-year, $4.25 million per season contract on Tuesday.
NHL salary cap and tracking site PuckPedia was first to report, with near simultaneous posting from NHL insiders Pierre LeBrun (TSN, The Athletic), Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet) and Frank Seravalli (Hockey247, Victory+).
The deal, which includes a 10-team no-trade clause for all four years, was signed the day before NHL free agency begins in full on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Pacific Time.
Gudas, who previously played for the Panthers from 2020-23, has yet to sign with Florida, as of Tuesday evening. Gudas played three seasons with the Ducks, including the last two as captain. The 36-year-old Czech Olympic blueliner battled lower-body injuries down the stretch this season with just 56 regular season games played and one playoff game–the opener in Edmonton.
“Wearing this jersey and serving as captain was a privilege that I’ll always be proud of,” Gudas wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. “Thank you for the support, the memories and for making my family and me feel at home from day one. Anaheim will always mean a lot to us.”
In exchange for Gudas’ expiring rights, the Ducks earned the ability to exclusively negotiate with Greer ahead of the full free agency period.
Greer, who won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers two seasons ago, is a gritty bottom-six type forward who set career highs in goals (17) and points (32) last season in Florida. His previous highs were six goals twice and 17 points two seasons ago. The bump in stats for the 29-year-old can partially be attributed to a nearly three-minute increase in ice time per game for the injury-riddled Panthers.
Greer fits right into Ducks coach Joel Quenneville’s mold of a bottom-six player with a tone-setting checking game. He also had strong analytic numbers at five-on-five each of the last two seasons in Florida–53.78% and 55.01% shot-attempt share and 56.22% and 53.52% expected goals share–and a small penalty killing role that is likely to grow.
Anaheim has three pending unrestricted free agents among those with bottom-six roles on last season's roster with Ross Johnston, Jeff Viel and Jansen Harkins all coming to the end of their deals. It’s likely that Greer’s signing pushes all three out of the Ducks ranks next season, particularly with Viel due a pay raise after a breakout stint in Anaheim.
Centers Ryan Poehling and Tim Washe still command the spine of the bottom six, and there will be competition for those wing spots from the likes of Nikita Nesterenko, Sam Colangelo and Nathan Gaucher. It’s also possible that 2025 first-round pick Roger McQueen earns his way into the line-up and likely that Anaheim signs some scoring talent in the wake of Troy Terry’s hip surgery that, again, would squeeze out those pending free agents.
Ducks extend qualifying offers to RFAs Carlsson, Gauthier, Mintyukov
Another bit of business for the Ducks on Monday was the clerical work of qualifying offers to the restricted free agents whose rights they wish to hold onto.
Forwards Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Sasha Pastujov, defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Tyson Hinds and goalies Calle Clang and Vyacheslav Buteyets were all extended qualifying offers.
Forwards Jan Mysak and Jaxsen Wiebe and defensemen Jeremie Biakabutuka and Kyle Masters were not and will be unrestricted free agents on Wednesday. Masters’ rights were acquired from Carolina as part of a deal for John Carlson’s expiring rights at the draft on Saturday, but the now expiring rights to Masters were sent back to Carolina for the expiring rights to forward Noah Philp on Tuesday.
While the qualifying offers will expire if not signed by July 15, it is mostly just a bit of paperwork for teams to maintain the rights of their restricted free agents.
Anaheim is expected to negotiate long-term deals for stars Carlsson and Gauthier, along with keeping Mintyukov and Hinds in tow as well. With a crowded goalie pipeline–including Buteyets–Clang has already signed a deal to play in Sweden, but the Ducks will hold his NHL rights with the offer.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said last week that talks were still ongoing with Carlsson and Gauthier.
Ducks host draft picks, prospects at development camp
Anaheim brought in its latest crop of nine draft picks to join their top young prospects for a three-day orientation at Great Park Ice this week.
There were no traditional practices or scrimmages with on-ice work limited to baseline skating tests. Most of the exercises were off-ice work and getting players familiar with the organization.
The Sporting Tribune spoke with top Ducks prospects Roger McQueen and Tarin Smith along with eight of the Anaheim’s 2026 draft picks. Full videos of those interviews are found below or on The Sporting Tribune YouTube channel.