The Washington Capitals have traded defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional first-round pick in either 2026 or 2027 and a third-round pick in 2027.

If the Ducks make the playoffs this season, they will send their 2026 first-round pick to Washington. If Anaheim fails to qualify for the postseason, it will have the option to retain its first this year and send the Capitals the pick in 2027.

Carlson, 36, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and has an $8 million cap hit. He has spent his entire 17-year NHL career with the Capitals, winning the Stanley Cup with them in 2018. He has 10 goals and 46 points in 55 games this season.

Carlson has been one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL throughout his career. His 771 points are the fourth-most by a defenseman since he entered the league in 2009. He topped out at 75 points in 2019-20, when he finished second in voting for the Norris Trophy. Even as his production has dipped over the past few seasons, Carlson still ranks just outside the top 10 in scoring.

The veteran defenseman is still a workhorse in terms of ice time. Even in his 17th season, he leads all Washington skaters with an average of more than 23 minutes of ice time per game. That’s two full minutes above the Capitals’ next-closest player, Jakob Chychrun.

Carlson is also a proven playoff performer. He has 78 points in 137 postseason appearances, and put up five goals and 20 points for the Capitals during their Stanley Cup championship run in 2018.

Why the Ducks wanted Carlson

The youthful and exciting Ducks can score, but know they need to tighten up defensively and were looking to add a blueliner, particularly on the right side. In a stunning late-night massive acquisition, they reeled in a big fish with Carlson as they eye their first playoff berth since 2018.

This is the position that GM Pat Verbeek has wanted to put Anaheim in since he took the job in February 2022 — to have the Ducks move into an arc of contention and become a buyer at the deadline after years of rebuilding and reshaping the roster. While it might seem like they’re a year ahead of schedule, Verbeek also sees an opportunity here with the Pacific Division up for grabs and maybe a path to advancing on that side of the playoff bracket.

Carlson still has the goods at his age as an elite puck distributor and gives Anaheim a top-notch puck mover on the right side. Jacob Trouba has had a terrific bounce-back season, but he doesn’t have Carlson’s overall offensive capabilities. But they’ll now have a group of veterans on the right with Radko Gudas to complement the young puck movers in Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov on the left side.

Carlson has been dealing with a lower-body injury, and he hasn’t played in a game since Feb. 5. He was practicing with the Capitals, though, and was considered day to day. The move is shocking in that Carlson spent his 17 seasons with the franchise and is the all-time leader in assists, points and games by a defenseman. He’ll go down in Caps lore and could have his No. 74 retired one day. But he’s on the move after being unable to reach an agreement on an extension.

However, Carlson is joining a Ducks team on the upswing and figures to play often with their group of talented forwards — Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke and Mason McTavish. We’ll see if Joel Quenneville (and assistant Ryan McGill) puts Carlson on the top pair with LaCombe or keeps Trouba there and has Carlson play in five-on-five situations with Zellweger.

Carlson can still be an unrestricted free agent, and this could be a rental situation or a trial to see how the fit goes and whether he could remain in Anaheim beyond this season, especially with Trouba and Gudas also set to become UFAs. But this remains a blockbuster for the Ducks. — Eric Stephens