Anaheim Ducks Sign LW Frank Vatrano to 3-year, $10.95M Contract

Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek signed his first free agent on Wednesday, inking LW Frank Vatrano to a 3-year, $10.95 million contract ($3.65 million AAV). The 28-year-old winger provides a significant upgrade over the Ducks’ middle-six forward group from last season.

Vatrano played for the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers last season, tallying 18 goals and 14 assists over 71 games. His 2021-2022 tracking data (shown below and provided by Corey Sznajder as part of the All Three Zones Project) indicates that Vatrano is highly talented at retrieving the puck in the defensive zone, along with exiting the defensive zone successfully with the puck on his stick. He complements this strength in his defensive game with a penchant for sniping the puck into the back of the net, as evidenced by his relatively high Goals/60 numbers.

Vatrano’s 3-year RAPM charts from 2019-2022 (shown below courtesy of Evolving Hockey) suggest that Vatrano is also very good at generating shots while being slightly below average at both offensive chance generation and shot suppression in the defensive zone.

Evolving-Hockey had Frank Vatrano projected to receive a 4-year contract worth $3.921 million AAV, with the following projection plot.

Verbeek’s signing of Vatrano is consistent with public statements he has made since joining Anaheim about his aversion to long-term free agent contracts, which is especially important given the significant pending contracts that the Ducks will likely offer Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Troy Terry. Vatrano’s cap hit will be $3.65 million this season, meaning that Anaheim still has to spend approximately $14.2 million before the start of the season to meet the NHL salary cap floor.