Despite Game 6 loss, Ducks' overachieving season is a big victory for GM Pat Verbeek

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Instead of a Game 7 to see if their surprise playoff ride could turn into something magical, the Ducks will lick their wounds, savor this return to the postseason — after a lengthy, often painful rebuilding process — and turn their eyes toward a bigger future, as the Golden Knights try to take down the mighty Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final. The Ducks, considered long shots to even make the playoffs this season, made a 21-point improvement in the regular season and made it deep into the second round, but the hyper-focused Verbeek won’t be raising a glass after this venture into the middle of May, following seven springs without playoff hockey. “There’s no victory lap until you’re allowed to raise that silver cup,” he said this week. “That’s the victory lap.” Contrary to what he says, this is a victory for the process Verbeek embarked on weeks into his GM tenure in 2022, when he traded pending unrestricted free agents Hampus Lindholm, Rickard Rakell, Josh Manson and Nic Deslauriers, mainly for assets that would only help the Ducks in the future. It’s still debatable as to whether any of those assets will have a significant impact. The only one doing anything for the Ducks now is Drew Helleson, a Colorado second-round pick in 2019 who came over in the Manson trade and who has been a sometimes-scratched third-pairing defenseman. Otherwise, the results have mostly provided organizational depth help. But it is possible for the Ducks to see some fruits if Tristan Luneau (a 2022 second-round pick from the Rakell trade) graduates to the Anaheim blue line if and raw goalie prospect Damian Clara (2023 second-round pick from the Lindholm trade) ever becomes something. The biggest and best development to come from that 2022 deadline purge was Verbeek’s willingess to plunge them into the depths of the NHL standings for the chance at huge future rewards. A last-place finish in 2022-23 didn’t land Anaheim the No. 1 pick in the draft, but it did result in top-line center Leo Carlsson coming to the Ducks at No. 2. Finishing near the bottom of the standings again the next season during Greg Cronin’s firm-handed debut as an NHL head coach got them Beckett Sennecke with the No. 3 pick. Those two are foundational building blocks. As is Cutter Gauthier, the sniper who was the 2022 No. 5 pick for Philadelphia, whom Verbeek jumped on when the 22-year-old essentially forced the Flyers to trade him. This season, Gauthier became the Ducks’ first 40-goal scorer since Corey Perry. And they’ve got their No. 1 defenseman in Jackson LaCombe, a second-round Martin Madden draft special under the Bob Murray regime in 2019. LaCombe has been worth the wait for his development, and he took a star turn in this postseason and got national recognition. That is a teardown done properly. The Ducks have high-ceiling youngsters blossoming into stars who should be the nucleus of future playoff teams. In his first season behind the Ducks’ bench, Joel Quenneville took notice of what Verbeek was trying to construct. “I’m happy for him,” said Quenneville, whom Verbeek hired last May after ending Cronin’s two-year stint. “He’s done a heck of a job here. He built from the ground up. Brought some young kids along, brought some veteran guys to guide them and lead them.” High draft picks alone don’t build a winning team. As he turned the roster over in the post-Ryan Getzlaf era, Verbeek’s dips into free agency have helped the Ducks at different stages. Until young forwards pushed them out of the lineup, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano were useful on the ice and in the dressing room. Alex Killorn and Radko Gudas became veteran leaders. Last summer’s signing of Mikael Granlund added more quality depth to the lineup. Verbeek has hit on trades. Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider were cast aside by the New York Rangers. The veterans were essentially reclamation projects. A fourth-round pick and spare-part defenseman Urho Vaakanainen brought Trouba to Anaheim. Kreider followed six months later, after he also waived his no-trade clause. One of the assets in the Manson trade — 2023 second-round pick Carey Terrance — brought back Kreider, a winger with 348 career goals. The biggest addition, though, has been Quenneville. In February, he joined Scotty Bowman as the only coaches in NHL history to record 1,000 regular-season victories. The Ducks took criticism for hiring Quenneville, who had been out of the league for three years for his role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ “inadequate response” to allegations of sexual assault by a team video coach. But in hiring the three-time Stanley Cup winner, the Ducks earned credibility in terms of coaching acumen and became an attraction for players. At 67, Quenneville doesn’t seem ready to stop any time soon. “I’m fortunate to be here myself, to be around it,” he said. “There’s a lot of upcoming prospects in the organization as well. There’s a lot of positives coming out of this year. I think the patience that he had in the first three years paid some dividends here. Happy to be a part of it.” What transpired this season — and in these playoffs — was memorable. Behind their fast-paced play and Quenneville’s openness to maximizing the speed and skill of his young stars, the Ducks got their fanbase excited again. Sellouts became more frequent. Honda Center became a noisy barn and not just because of the sound system or prompting from the in-house DJ. The seats being full for the national anthem at each of their home playoff games is a sight not often seen at Southern California sporting events. The fans who stayed until the end of Thursday’s loudly saluted the Ducks for the roller-coaster ride this club took them on this season. That was a victory for Verbeek even if he insists this season isn’t a vindication for his method of running the franchise. “The team has taken a big step from last year,” he said. “Overall, there’s been a lot of growth. You’re seeing some of that stuff. You try to anticipate it. You just never know when it’s going to happen. Like I said, everyone’s done their job and done a good job and so now we’ve gotten recognized for that.” Now begins the most important part of Verbeek’s tenure: turning a playoff team into a Stanley Cup contender — and perhaps a champion. With a clear preference not to negotiate extensions for his key restricted free agents during the season, Verbeek needs to follow the route he took in quickly locking up LaCombe on an eight-year, max-term contract last October as he deals with the upcoming contracts for Carlsson and Gauthier. Those do not need to drag on into training camp, as the talks did with Mason McTavish last fall or with since-traded Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale before that. More than $40 million is available under the salary-cap ceiling for 2026-27, as estimated by CapWages. Of course, that space can’t be burned up on just two players, and Verbeek must also consider RFA defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger. Decisions must be made about retaining potential UFA blueliners Trouba, Gudas and John Carlson. Gudas, their banged-up captain who didn’t play after Game 1 in the first round against Edmonton, might already be a cap casualty. What shouldn’t be ruled out is a move like the the Ducks made 20 years ago, when they added Chris Pronger as the massive final piece to their Stanley Cup-winning team in 2007 following a run to the Western Conference final. This summer could see franchise-altering players such as Auston Matthews, Jason Robertson, Robert Thomas and even Brady Tkachuk being part of the offseason trade market. What this can’t be for the Ducks is a one-off. It’s not lined up that way, and any step back would have the opposite effect on a fan base that had its faith and hope rewarded this season. This run needs to be the liftoff. The starting point. “Yeah, I think we’ve done that,” said Troy Terry, the longest-serving member of the team. “This year we had stretches where I thought we were playing as good as anyone in the league. We had stretches where we would lose nine games in a row. It was just kind of one of those years. But I think we proved to our group in the regular season, we’re a team that can play at the top of this league. And I think that we’ve proven that in the playoffs already. “So, it definitely does feel like the start of consistently, hopefully finding ourselves in these positions and looking to make runs and all that stuff. But as you guys know, I’ve learned in my career that you can’t take being in the playoffs for granted when this is my first time and it’s my ninth year. … Coming from me, you never know when you’ll be back, you know?” Everything will change now. Expectations have risen. The feel-good story of this 2025-26 season for Ducks should be remembered fondly — and then promptly put behind them. Verbeek referred to his GM of the year finalist nod as an organizational award, and spread credit to his staff, his coaches in Anaheim and AHL San Diego, and the scouts in the pro and amateur realms. It’s now time for them all to make the Ducks a true power. “I view myself as a cog in the machine, and the machine can’t run unless all the cogs are all working together and doing a job,” Verbeek said. “You can’t do one without the other.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms