'All I Wanted was to be a Duck': Vatrano, Verbeek on Contract Extension

The Ducks locked up a key piece of their veteran core over the weekend, agreeing to a three-year extension with winger Frank Vatrano.

The deal, which begins next fall and runs through the 2027-28 season, was announced Sunday afternoon, hours before Vatrano scored twice in Anaheim's 4-1 win over Tampa Bay at Honda Center.

Originally signed to a three-year contract as a free agent in July 2022, Vatrano leads all Ducks skaters with 70 goals and 20 power-play goals (PPG), and ranks second with 124 points, over the past three seasons.

The 30-year-old Vatrano enjoyed a career season in 2023-24, pacing Anaheim in points (60), goals (37), power-play goals (13) and game-winning goals (seven), all career-high totals. His 37 goals made him the 11th player in Ducks history to reach 30 in a season and also marked his first time reaching the milestone.

Vatrano represented Anaheim at the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto, his first All-Star appearance.

Vatrano and Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek spoke on the contract Sunday.

Frank Vatrano

On the contract and deferred money

I think you've got to look at the bigger picture. For me it's money that can help set up my family for the future and whatnot, but at the end of the day it also helps the team out. We have a young team and guys are able to be going for big contracts in the future. I understood that and for me, when guys take less money and guys find ways to be cute with the salary cap, I wanted to be a part of it. Whether that's making more money or making the same, I'm fine with what I'm making now. All I wanted the whole time was just to be a Duck. Didn't matter what money I was making or anything, I wanted to play here and I didn't want to play anywhere else. I'm just happy to help these young guys grow and be part of it.

On the team's progress

I think we know we can play with the best of them. I think we've just got to make sure that we're playing the right way every single night. Sometimes, early on in the season, it got away from us. We couldn't really bring ourselves back. But I think now even when we're not playing so well, we can find ways to grind it out and kind of simplify our game to find ways to win. Now we're scoring more goals, and that's huge, but I think we're doing a great job away from the puck and we're limiting other teams' chances.

On the security of the contract

I think always when you have security and you don't have to think about it anymore, you can put it in the past and just focus on hockey alone. You don't have to worry about all the outside stuff. But even as I was going through it, everything went smoothly. Everything was great. So I knew I was eventually going to be a Duck for a few more years. The day finally came.

On the team's chemistry

I always say I wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for these guys in this room. These guys push me every single day to be my very best and we have great relationships, not just on the ice but off the ice too. This is one of the best rooms I've ever been a part of and I'm excited for the change here, the winning culture that we're trying to build. I'm just so thrilled to be a part of it in the future.

GM Pat Verbeek

On the contract negotiations

Well, we've kind of been talking a little bit since the summer time and as this process went along, I think Frankie was looking for a number and we were looking for a number. And so at some point, I can't really tell you when exactly and what date, but we looked at it and said this could be a perfect scenario for us to present this to Frankie and his agent Peter Fish. I'm grateful that they were open to this idea of how we set it up. I think as the talks evolved, it became clearer that this was going to be a scenario that we could satisfy the club and what we were looking for and also satisfy Frankie and what he was looking for. In my experience as a former player, what players don't realize is, when you retire, those checks that you've been getting for the last 10 years suddenly stop. This [contract] allowed Frankie to be able to have a situation where he's going to provide for his family and take care of them for the next 10 years after that scenario. So it became, I think, the more we talked about it and the more Frankie's camp understood it, it became a win-win for all of us.

On Vatrano's value

We're excited to have Frankie in the sense that he wants to be here. We value his goal scoring ability and I think that that's going to be important as we start to become a lot more competitive in the next two years. I think Frankie's intensity and his competitiveness is very important to our group.

On the structure of the deal

I think we were comfortable with it because we had done a lot of background and a lot of research. When we went to the league, we wanted to make sure we had, I hate to use this phrase, but all our ducks in a row that this would lay out. And then when we were talking to Frankie, I think the big thing was just getting his side being comfortable with it because as you know, it's rare. It doesn't happen often.

So this is a whole different thing and being the first one to do it in this scenario, with this CBA, is in some senses it's a little bit scary. I think as we talked along it for probably, I bet you we talked about it for at least a month, and were getting comfortable with it. It's great that Peter Fish and Frankie were open to it and it's exciting. I think it's not only good for us, but it's good for Frankie. Frankie looked at wanting to be here and wanted to be able to provide something for the team. This was his way of helping the team out.