John Carlson sees Ducks as ‘an exciting proposition’

ANAHEIM –– Buying at the trade deadline and sitting in first place may feel foreign to Ducks fans that have come along in the past few years.

But they’re quite familiar concepts to the newest member of the flock.

Since defenseman John Carlson entered the NHL in 2009-10, his Washington Capitals had the second most wins and second most points of any franchise behind the Boston Bruins. They also placed fifth in playoff games played and won their division nine times in 16 seasons.

“I just think this is a great move by Anaheim. John has a lot of hockey left in him. It’s a perfect fit for the Ducks, and they will love him,” said former Ducks bench boss Bruce Boudreau, who coached Carlson in Washington.

Boudreau said Carlson, 36, will join fellow right defenseman Radko Gudas, the Ducks’ captain, and Jacob Trouba, the former New York Rangers captain now sporting orange, as mentors on a team overflowing with young talent. Carlson played with Gudas in Washington and has been part of USA hockey like Trouba and his closest chum, winger Chris Kreider.

When Carlson arrived in Washington, he was part of a young core that also included all-time leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin, who said Carlson’s departure was the saddest day of his career, and savvy playmaker Nicklas Bäckström. They would go on to amass tremendous success, reaching the summit in 2018 when they won the Caps’ only Stanley Cup in more than five decades of existence.

Now, it’ll be the seasoned Carlson joining a roster that boasts brilliant center Leo Carlsson, gunslinging winger Cutter Gauthier, audacious attacker Beckett Sennecke and another star American defenseman in the making in Jackson LaCombe.

“That’s a very interesting and cool angle from this whole thing, too, is that I can add a lot of value both in my play and what I can do out there, but also what I can impart on them mentally,” Carlson said. “There’s so much talent there and so much fun to be had that it’s an exciting proposition. These guys, how skilled they are, they’re top, top elite players that I’m coming to play with. I’m going to be learning from them just like I hope that they’ll be learning from me.”

Carlson said that “mentally, I’m better than ever,” that despite a recent lower-body injury his body felt its best in several seasons and that “coming into the year, I was as hungry as ever; I’m not near done.”

The Caps experienced a resurgence last year as Ovechkin was chasing Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, but lost to Carolina in the second round. Injuries and thick competition in the East transformed them into soft sellers at the deadline, including Carlson, who is in the final year of his eight-year, $64 million pact.

Carlson, who had limited trade protection and didn’t have the Ducks on his no-trade list, said the reputation around the league for the Ducks had become “very positive” saying they were described as “the real deal” with “amazing pieces.”

“They’ve got all the makings of a team that’s more than capable of (a deep playoff run). That’s very attractive to me and very advantageous,” he said. “I’m grateful to land in a spot like this, really, truly, everything from how I’ve been treated so far to the quality of players that I’ll be playing with and the community, everything sounds great.”

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek lauded Carlson’s hockey IQ, saying he was “a very intelligent player” who joined “the rush in a real cerebral way.” He also pointed to Carlson’s value beyond the power play, where he’d help balance the two units, saying his strong five-on-five numbers’ importance would magnify in the playoffs.

Verbeek and coach Joel Quenneville’s defense corps now features three veterans on the right side and a younger mix, with LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger, on the left.

“That’s kind of the way it works out, man,” an upbeat Verbeek said with a chuckle. “At some point, here in the next few years, the left side’s going to be the veteran side and the right side’s going to be the younger side. So we’re going to take turns.”

While Verbeek said he’d put any serious contract talks off until the summer for the most part – perhaps with the exception of center Ryan Poehling’s extension on Thursday – he hoped to be able to re-sign Carlson. He, Gudas and Trouba are all pending unrestricted free agents.

Though Verbeek added at less conventional points in the season – a January trade for Gauthier as a prospect and a December one for Trouba in 2024 preceded the pickups of Kreider and Mikael Granlund over the summer – this is his first addition at the trade deadline itself, yet another of many indicators that the dark days are over on Katella Avenue.

“What we’ve been doing the last (four) years is adding assets. This was a time where I looked at giving this group another extra push, another little aid in helping us make this push to where we want to go,” Verbeek said. “If we get into the playoffs and we can have a nice run, I looked at it like this: It’s worth it. It’s worth it to give this group experience, give them a chance to make the playoffs and to do well in the playoffs.”