The Anaheim Ducks have signed forward Alex Killorn to a four-year contract with an AAV of $6.25 million.

Killorn was projected to receive $4.16 million in Alex MacLean's recent salary projections. Between that and the fact that Killorn is 33 years old and been on some long playoff runs for the Lightning in recent seasons, this seems like quite an overpay on the Ducks' part. Still, the Ducks are a team that need to reach the cap floor. As well, Killorn has been as durable as any player in recent seasons, having played 265 consecutive games as well as a full 82 games in each of the last four non-COVID-interrupted seasons.

Killorn was also able to deliver in a contract season, scoring a career-high 28 goals and 65 points for the Lightning in 2022-23. Although this contract might not look good when it expires in his age-37 season, it could still pay dividends for Anaheim early on. The Ducks featured only two players that scored over 60 points last season (Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry), but they have some young talent developing in Zegras, Terry, Mason McTavish, and now Leo Carlsson.

The knee-jerk reaction might be that Killorn's fantasy value will take a huge hit in moving from Tampa Bay to Anaheim. After all, he was a regular linemate of Steven Stamkos last season, and he was sometimes used on a power play that featured Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point. Killorn is now (currently) the highest-paid Anaheim forward, so expect him to receive top-line minutes and first-unit power-play time – something that wasn't always guaranteed in Tampa Bay. This might be a good situation for Killorn, and he may even be able to surprise if the likes of Zegras can improve on their point totals.

That being said, bet the under on Killorn reaching 65 points again. This is still an Anaheim team that struggled to score (2.51 GF/GP, 31^st in NHL). Age could also come into play, so Killorn's production will likely decline over the duration of this contract.

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Players this helps, in order:

Zegras

Terry

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Players this hurts, in order:

Adam Henrique

Frank Vatrano

Killorn

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Discuss the signing on this thread in the Forum.