John Carlson — ‘a horse’ in his debut— makes Anaheim Ducks feel great about their trade

It had been 38 days since John Carlson last played a game and, in that time, there was seismic change for him and his family.

A career, and a life, were uprooted. After 17 record-setting years with one team, he moved to the other conference and the other side of the country. He left teammates — some bonded forever by a Stanley Cup championship — for another set that, for the most part, used to be foes.

There’s little wonder that when Carlson took the ice at Bell Centre for his debut with the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night, he finally felt at home, 11 days after his trade from the Washington Capitals. He had spent a long time trying to get familiar with the unfamiliar.

“I felt good,” Carlson said after the Ducks’ 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. “I was very pleased with how I felt, and I think getting through the injury is one thing, but there’s definitely a freshness to it when you do have that layoff, too. Working both sides of it, it was a good first day.”

When the Ducks traded what could end up being their 2026 first-round draft pick and a 2027 third-round selection for the 36-year-old defenseman, they knew he was recovering from a lower-body injury and wouldn’t immediately jump into their lineup.

What the Ducks got in their first game with Carlson is the top-pair type of defenseman they sought in their pursuit of a potential surprise Pacific Division title. Carlson didn’t get a point in Anaheim’s victory, but he was a contributor. His 22 minutes, 59 seconds, of ice time only trailed Jacob Trouba on the Ducks. Carlson was the on the ice for two Anaheim even-strength goals, including the winner from Cutter Gauthier with 2:30 remaining.

And he looked no different from his Washington days. He moved the puck smartly and popped up into open space within the offensive zone for looks. Composed and steady. All of it has become more necessary for the Ducks with Radko Gudas serving a five-game suspension.

“He was a horse,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Wow, what a game. That was impressive. Just coming into our team systematically, he looked like he played here his whole career. Always patient. Play recognition. There’s a lot of kids back there that he’s helping every shift. I can’t speak highly enough of what we just saw in one game.”

This is an accomplished player. Carlson holds Capitals records for most games, goals, assists and points by a defenseman. That’s noteworthy because they have had some good ones in their history. Rod Langway. Sergei Gonchar. Scott Stevens. Calle Johansson. Kevin Hatcher. Mike Green.

Carlson is on the back end of a fine career, but he’s also not a shadow of his prime self. He had 46 points in 55 games with Washington this season. While some of his usage was usurped by Jakob Chychrun, Carlson still led the Capitals in ice time and was a top contributor until his injury just before the Olympic break.

The impact that Anaheim hoped to get from Carlson was felt in the first period. As he carried the puck and surveyed the ice when he hit his own blue line, Carlson identified Troy Terry as an outlet and got the puck to him in stride. Terry kept moving and everyone else was in sync. Chris Kreider took it from Terry on the other side of the ice and found Leo Carlsson as he drove to the net. An easy tap-in completed the tic-tac-toe goal.

Alas, the NHL doesn’t hand out third assists. But while Carlson’s first point with the Ducks must wait, the play fit right in his wheelhouse, in terms of starting an attack and creating transition offense. “I think we’ve got some real elite guys that can get it up the ice,” Carlson said. “That’s always my goal, to get it in those guys’ hands. Certainly, that was part of what I like to do.”

“You can just feel it when you’re on the ice with him,” Terry said. “No matter if the crowd’s going nuts or they’re making a push, if he gets it, he just has so much poise. It feels like he can kind of just control the ice with just a look or an open of the stick. He just has that ability. I know if I get speed – especially with me and Leo playing together, if we can get speed – he’s able kind of manipulate the neutral zone and hit one of us with speed. And you saw it on that goal.”

That’s what has Carlson most intrigued about his new situation. He sees what he called a level of “high, high-end talent” that echoes what he left in D.C. There is no one on Anaheim like the game’s greatest goal-scorer, Alex Ovechkin, but the Ducks’ collection of youngsters jars memories of the Capitals’ nucleus that won the Stanley Cup in 2018. “These guys are ready for takeoff,” Carlson said of his new teammates.

“How important they are already in their careers and stuff, it just shows you that the sky’s the limit,” he said. “To be able to adapt at that age, and to control the game play, control the puck like they do, it’s incredible to watch. It’s fun to see in practice even. And also, it’s good for me. I always try to learn from everyone I play with too. That’s going to be a great experience for me to play with another set of amazing players. And I think that’s a two-way street.”

The Ducks weren’t cautious about Carlson’s return. Without Gudas available for penalty-killing, Carlson was summoned for regular turns and the Ducks killed all four Canadiens power plays. Carlson wasn’t counted on as much as Trouba or Pavel Mintyukov, but it was still notable that he could relieve Jackson LaCombe of short-handed duty.

As far as the power play, Anaheim only had one so Carlson didn’t get an extended look. But he was out there with Trouba in an old-school two-defenseman, three-forward setup with Terry, Carlsson and Kreider. Carlson was playing in all situations. Just what he is accustomed to doing.

“I think I’m used to anything,” he said. “All this stuff is just a moving target. I think I’ve got to get more comfortable. The more games I get in, as much as you talk about it, live action means more. We’ll see where that goes.”

The Ducks wanted to boost their defense through the trade market, and a right-handed shot was a logical addition, given how they often had youngsters Ian Moore and Drew Helleson alternating to go with veterans Trouba and Gudas on the right side. Even with a seemingly set group, Anaheim was still near the bottom in most goals allowed per game.

Adding a staunch righty with size to be a defense-oriented shutdown piece seemed necessary. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Carlson has size but his strengths have always leaned more toward offense. But in Quenneville’s system, the Ducks value possession. Defending isn’t as much of a chore when they’re holding onto the puck in the offensive end.

Perhaps that will work. Carlson took Gudas’s spot alongside Olen Zellweger on the second pairing and, in his first game, had an impressive 60.61 Corsi-for rating with distinct edges in scoring chances (15-4) and high-danger chances (7-1). Trouba has had a strong offensive season, but the Ducks now have a true distributor on the right.

“It’s hard to forecheck some of the D in this league, and it’s because they have that ability to – you know, they don’t telegraph where they’re going,” Terry said. “They look one way, get you to move, and then pass it. There’s a reason he has almost 800 points in the league. That’s what he does. It’s really fun to be out there with him.”

After years of trading roster players for future assets, the Ducks stepped forward as trade-deadline buyers. It was just one game, but they feel Carlson is the kind of addition that will push them farther in their evolution into a future Stanley Cup contender.

“Trading deadline, you’re getting a guy like that, we’re excited,” Quenneville said. “And now I know we’re excited for good reason.”