John Carlson may be sticking with the Anaheim Ducks for more than just a few months.
Carlson, who the Capitals dealt to the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline, is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July. However, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, the Ducks and Carlson have already had conversations about extending his stay out west.
“The Anaheim Ducks have had exploratory talks on an extension with Carlson since acquiring him from the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline,” Johnston wrote on Friday.
Since joining the Ducks at the deadline, Carlson has played 24 total games for Anaheim across the regular season and playoffs combined, recording 20 points (4g, 16a). During that span, Carlson has the fifth-most points on the team and the second-most points among Ducks defensemen, trailing only Jackson LaCombe (3g, 19a, 22pts).
Less than a month after the trade, Carlson was also named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week for the week ending in March 29 after recording a staggering seven assists in three games. In the playoffs, he’s averaging 24:34 per game, third most on the Ducks.
The March 6 deal ended Carlson’s 17-year career with the Washington Capitals, where he was the second-longest-tenured player on the team. Losing Carlson proved a major emotional blow to the Capitals, with Alex Ovechkin calling it the “the toughest day (of) my career” in the hours after the news.
Capitals general manager Chris Patrick declined to comment when asked after the deadline if he’d consider bringing Carlson back as a free agent this summer, noting that the NHL’s tampering rules prevented him from speaking on Carlson’s status.
“As weird as it is to say this and hear this coming out of my mouth, I actually can’t comment on John because he’s a property of another team, and that would be tampering,” Patrick said. “So it’s kind of bizarre to even say that.”
Carlson and the Ducks are currently battling the Vegas Golden Knights — including fellow former Capitals player Nic Dowd — in a second-round series, with the Ducks evening the series 1-1 with a win in Game 2 on Wednesday. The two teams will face off for Game 3 on Friday in Anaheim at 9:30 pm Eastern.
