Check out the latest on the Ducks, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE ANAHEIM DUCKS?

ESPN.COM: Ryan S. Clark looked at the keys for the offseason for the Anaheim Ducks after they were eliminated from the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights.

The biggest challenge facing general manager Pat Verbeek will be signing young stars Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson to new contracts as they emerge from their entry-level deals. Young defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger are also completing their ELCs.

Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson (NHL Images)

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Verbeek has a reputation for playing hardball with players coming off their entry-level deals, as Mason McTavish learned last summer and former Duck Trevor Zegras discovered in 2023. Their negotiations dragged on throughout the summer and into training camp, which adversely affected their performances once they were under contract.

However, Gauthier, 22, and the 21-year-old Carlsson were their leading scorers during this season and in the playoffs, playing significant roles in the rebuilding Ducks ending their seven-year postseason drought. It will be interesting to see how Verbeek handles those two.

Mintuykov surfaced in the rumor mill earlier this season when he started seeing less playing time. However, that changed as the season went on, finishing this season with an average ice time of 18:26.

Clark also noted that veteran defensemen John Carlson, Jacob Trouba, and Radko Gudas are UFA-eligible this summer. He pointed out that the Ducks have plenty of projected salary-cap space, but it could be difficult to re-sign everyone.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Ducks have over $40 million in projected cap space, but that doesn’t mean they’ll spend to the cap ceiling. New deals for Gauthier and Carlsson will take up a significant portion.

They are reportedly in contract talks with Carlson. They could also bring back Trouba. The 35-year-old Gudas could be the odd man out.

THE ATHLETIC: Eric Stephens doesn’t rule out Verbeek making a franchise-altering move for an established star this summer. He pointed out that players such as Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars, Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues, and “even Brady Tkachuk” of the Ottawa Senators could be available in the trade market.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Matthews could be available if he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with new Leafs GM John Chayka’s vision for the club. The Stars intend to re-sign Robertson even if it means shedding salary to free up room.

The Blues set a very high asking price for Thomas, who has a full no-trade clause and isn’t keen to move on. Tkachuk has already shot down the latest spate of trade rumors, so no, he’s going to be available this summer. Speaking of Tkachuk…

THE LATEST ON BRADY TKACHUK

NEW YORK POST: Mollie Walker looked at the obstacles preventing the Rangers from acquiring Ottawa Senators winger Brady Tkachuk. The speculation over his future persists despite his repeatedly reaffirming his commitment to the Senators.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: “This is the song that doesn’t end. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was. And they’ll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that doesn’t end…”

I don’t deny that Tkachuk could decide at some point over the remaining two years of his contract that he won’t win a Stanley Cup in Ottawa and must move on. Or that the Senators could trade him next summer if he won’t commit to a contract extension.

However, we’re not there yet, and Tkachuk and the Senators have made it clear that he’s not going anywhere this summer. If the Rangers want Tkachuk, they’ll have to wait until at least next summer at the earliest to find out, and even then, they might not have sufficient tradeable assets to outbid other clubs on his list of preferred trade destinations.

THE LATEST ON THE MAPLE LEAFS

THE ATHLETIC: James Mirtle looked at what’s next for Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka after firing head coach Craig Berube earlier this week.

Apart from finding a new bench boss, Mirtle believes Chayka has a shopping list “filled with incredibly hard-to-add items.” They include finding a mobile top defenseman to anchor the power play, a top-six forward for Auston Matthews’ line, a “minute-eating center who can play difficult minutes,” and improved depth at nearly every position except perhaps in goal.

Mirtle pointed out that Chayka doesn’t have the luxury of a deep prospect pool or high draft picks to use as trade currency. He also doesn’t have much of value to trade from the roster if the goal is finding immediate help.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Leafs do have the first-overall pick and young power forward Matthew Knies. Either of those could help land a player who can address one of those issues. However, trading that pick sacrifices a big piece of the future, while moving Knies to add, say, a No. 1 defenseman would mean finding two top-six forwards instead of one.

Meanwhile, Mirtle’s colleague Chris Johnston reports league sources claim Matthews is interested in seeing what changes occur during the draft and free-agent period rather than hearing what could theoretically happen.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Chayka has to sell Matthews on his vision for the Maple Leafs. That’s going to be difficult if he can’t sufficiently bolster the roster during that time.