Cutter Gauthier: “It’s not his job to manage the Ducks’ payroll.”

Marc-Olivier Cook
Cutter Gauthier: “It’s not his job to manage the Ducks’ payroll.”
Credit: Capture d'écran / X

The Ducks find themselves with quite a problem on their hands.

They're just over $9 million under the salary cap… and as of this writing, Cutter Gauthier still has no contract in sight for next season.

According to the latest reports, the young player reportedly turned down a $13 million-per-season offer from Anaheim. He's asking for a lot… but that's to be expected.

Leo Carlsson's situation has complicated matters for the Ducks, who need to find a solution to keep everyone happy. Gauthier wants to get paid, and he certainly wants to secure as much money as possible coming off a 41-goal season…

And Colby Cohen (Daily Faceoff) is right when he says it's not Gauthier's job to manage the Ducks' payroll. 

Some say Gauthier should tone down his demands and be more open to signing a contract that's a little less lucrative than he'd like.

But I'll say it again: you can't really blame a 22-year-old who just wants to be paid what he's worth—especially given the big contracts signed this summer in the NHL and Carlsson's deal.

You can't blame a young player for wanting to secure as much money as possible to safeguard his financial future, given that you never know what might happen on the ice. #Injuries

That said, do Ducks fans have a right to be disappointed?

Of course the answer is yes. But the Ducks should have handled things better: if Pat Verbeek hadn't waited so long before the Flyers put a massive offer on the table for Carlsson's camp, we might not even be in this situation today.

And we need to talk about that side of the coin.


In a nutshell

– Wow!

– Oh, really?

– Meh.

– I like it.

– Okay.

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