One team that had oodles of cap space – over $35M according to PuckPedia – was the Anaheim Ducks. It seemed a lock that they would go make a big signing at some point in free agency and while the available names have run thin, they did go get one of the best playmakers available by signing Mikael Granlund to a three-year deal carrying an average annual value of $7M:

Granlund is coming off back-to-back seasons with at least 60 points, capping his 2024-25 season with 22 goals and 44 assists. He is going into his age-33 season with nearly 1000 career NHL games between the regular season and playoffs.

From a fantasy perspective, this is a signing that could be more important to the other Ducks forwards than to Granlund himself. His two seasons with San Jose saw him skate 20:58 and 20:51, and that level of ice time is going to boost a forward's raw production numbers no matter the quality of the team around him. He averaged 0.87 points per game with the Sharks, or 71 points every 82 games. But then he was traded to Dallas, which is a much better team, but also saw him lose 3:46 per game in ice time. Frozen Tools also had him going from 68.4% of the power-play time this past season with the Sharks to 42.5% with the Stars. Quality of line mates matters a lot, but so does volume.

The reason this might be a more important signing for the Ducks skaters than Granlund himself is it's hard to imagine Granlund being much more productive than he was last season. Whether as a centre or as a winger, he is going to be in a 1A/1B situation with either Leo Carlsson or Troy Terry. That is not dissimilar from his situation with San Jose and that 71-point pace. Anaheim also did not have a single forward crack 19 minutes a game last season, and Terry was the only one to crack 18 minutes. Even if Granlund becomes their most-used forward, he's not getting the near-21 minutes he was with the Sharks.

On the flipside, Anaheim is a team that had some trouble finishing last season. At 5-on-5, Cutter Gauthier shot under 10% and both Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome shot under 9%. Carlsson led the way at 13.8% (per Natural Stat Trick), which was outside the top-70 regular forwards in the league. Adding a genuine playmaker can help alleviate this problem, and Granlund is a good one as AllThreeZones has him in the 92^nd percentile of forwards by rate of high-danger assists at 5-on-5 over the last two years (passes across the slot or from behind the net) and comparable to some high-end forwards:

Granlund can help elevate the scoring rates of the players around him, and that's great news for shooters like Vatrano, Gauthier, and even Terry.

As far as roster slotting goes, Granlund is very likely in for top-6 and top power-play minutes. The question is if Anaheim has a heavily-used top PP unit or splits time. Either way, he is going to a team on the rise with a lot of young talent and he'll have a featured role. That puts 20 goals and 60 points on the table.

Defensively? Well… uh… hey look a squirrel!

Assuming the Ducks re-sign Mason McTavish, it seems very likely their top-9 is already set. These are far from a guarantee to be their lines, but it could look something like this:

Cutter Gauthier – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn

Mikael Granlund – Mason McTavish – Troy Terry

Chris Kreider – Ryan Strome – Frank Vatrano

That means just about anyone else – depth NHL forward or prospect – is going to be relegated to the fourth line or the AHL unless/until injuries hit. It gives another year of maturation to younger guys like Beckett Sennecke and Yegor Sidorov.

Who This Helps

Mason McTavish

Troy Terry

Cutter Gauthier

Who This Hurts

Yegor Sidorov

Nikita Nesterenko

Sasha Pastujov

Beckett Sennecke