ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2013 The soap opera summer for the Anaheim Ducks is finally nearing a close, as their last outstanding business and leading goal-scorer were wrapped up on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Ducks signed their last remaining restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier to a 6-year, $13.5 million per season contract to avoid another training camp holdout with a franchise cornerstone.<\/p>\n
Gauthier scored a team-high 41 goals and 69 points last season with another four goals and 12 points in 12 playoff games last spring. The 22-year-old is signed through the 2031-32 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased to get Cutter signed to a long-term deal and have him in camp on time,\u201d Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said in a statement. \u201cHe\u2019s a major part of our young core, a pure goal-scoring talent that will continue progressing into an elite NHL player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday was the last day of the previous NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, which meant it was the last day for many teams to lock up young talent for a maximum of eight years or for that talent to collect a payday under prior salary structures.<\/p>\n
Per PuckPedia<\/a>, Gauthier will receive about $69.5 million of the contract\u2019s total $81 million in signing bonuses, which is nearly 86% of the contract. There is a $18.65 million signing bonus in the first year of the deal and a 10-team no-trade clause in the sixth year of the contract.<\/p>\n Anaheim gets its value in the years and cap hit, and Gauthier gets his value in the salary structure. The Ducks now have $3.17 million in salary cap space with another nearly $4 million in relief on the way when Troy Terry is likely put on injured reserve to open the season.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very exciting day for my family and I,\u201d Gauthier said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m so pleased to be able to sign long term with the Ducks and be part of what I believe is a great future.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a dramatic summer to secure that future for Anaheim.<\/p>\n After trading Mason McTavish\u2013who held out his own RFA negotiation into training camp last season\u2013and pending RFA defenseman Olen Zellweger, the Ducks looked ahead to five RFA negotiations. Defensemen Ian Moore and Tyson Hinds were easy, but the other three came with pressure.<\/p>\n First was the offer sheet heard around the hockey world, as the Philadelphia Flyers tendered a deal to Carlsson on July 3<\/a> that made the Swede the highest-paid player in the NHL next season at $18 million per year. (San Jose\u2019s Macklin Celebrini at $18.8 million and Colorado\u2019s Cale Makar at $20.4 million will surpass Carlsson in 2027-28.)<\/p>\n