The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Pavel Mintyukov to a five-year contract worth $36 million for an average annual value of $7.2 million, the team announced Sunday.

The Ducks selected Mintyukov with the No. 10 pick in 2022, and the 22-year-old Russian is one of their young talents who bypassed the American Hockey League on the way to the NHL. But his development hasn’t been nearly as smooth as that of Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke or even Jackson LaCombe.

Mintyukov showed promise as a rookie with 28 points in 63 games on a 59-point Ducks team in 2023-24. He didn’t build on that in 2024-25 as the effects of a crowded blue line often had the Ducks alternating him with Olen Zellweger, making both healthy scratches on occasion.

Some scratches early in this past season led to reports of Mintyukov requesting a trade, but the smooth-skating blueliner improved his play and settled in on Anaheim’s second defense pairing. He averaged 18 minutes, 26 seconds and had a personal-best 112 blocked shots as he finished the season partnered with John Carlson. Carlson opted to test free agency and signed a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning after the Ducks dealt his rights to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The massive offer sheet that Carlsson signed with the Philadelphia Flyers has created a ripple effect, with teams seeing how difficult it may be for Anaheim to match, given the contracts that are also due to Mintyukov and Gauthier. All three finished their entry-level contracts, but Gauthier is ineligible to receive an offer sheet.

What does it mean for the Ducks?

This is a bit of saving face by Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, given the events of Friday, with the industry-shaking $90 million offer sheet Carlsson signed with the Flyers. With reports of a looming offer sheet prepared for Mintyukov, Verbeek had to decide on locking up his young defenseman, considering trading him or taking the compensation in not matching the number Mintyukov would have signed at. (Compensation for an offer sheet worth $7,163,498 to $9,551,332 AAV would have been first-, second- and third-round picks in the 2027 draft.)

The Ducks may have had acres of cap space under the $103 million threshold for 2026-27, but the triple whammy of having Carlsson, Mintyukov and 41-goal scorer Gauthier all necessitating pricey new contracts as prime restricted free agents is proving to be damaging at the very minimum from a financial standpoint. All three could have been extended a year out from expiration last July, but the Ducks had their reasons for shifting the focus on those deals to this summer. But that is proving costly.

Is Mintyukov worth $7.2 million AAV? Not now. Is it possible he will be in the future? It is if Anaheim gets the same kind of defenseman that, for instance, Noah Hanifin is for the Vegas Golden Knights. Mintyukov figures to be behind LaCombe on the left side of the Ducks’ defense over these next five years, so there may not be much power-play time that comes his way. Hanifin is a key minutes-munching performer for Vegas and Mintyukov took some strides toward all-situations responsibility on Anaheim’s second pairing.

The prices for young players who have key roles on NHL teams are rising with the cap. The Ducks have been successful in identifying that kind of talent, but other than the LaCombe extension before last season, they have been slow to lock up those whom they’ve deemed essential. While they won’t lose a big part of a defense that’s taken a major hit in free agency, the impact of the Carlsson offer sheet will still be felt now and into the future.

PuckPedia estimates the Ducks will have $9.97 million of cap space available when factoring in Mintyukov’s $7.2 million and the $18 million for Carlsson if they match the offer sheet. They’ll need to dump salary just to get into any position to re-sign Gauthier, whose price for an extension will no doubt rise. An eight-figure annual salary — with signing bonus money as part of the contract structure — appears certain for Gauthier, who could be a perennial 30-goal candidate or better.