On July 13, 2022 (the first day of free agency that summer), the Anaheim Ducks signed center Ryan Strome to a five-year contract that carries an AAV of $5 million. Strome was the second unrestricted free agent signed by then-new Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, with the first being Frank Vatrano a few hours earlier.
Since that date, and in the three seasons that followed, Strome (32) has been an automatic 41-point center for the organization, reaching that exact total in each of his three seasons in a Ducks sweater. Only Troy Terry, who scored 61 points (23-38=61) in 2022-23, 54 points (20-34=54) in 2023-24, and 55 points (21-34=55) in 2024-25, could challenge Strome and make an argument as the team’s most-consistent player.
Until this preseason, Strome had been among the healthiest Ducks, playing in 243 regular season games of a possible 246.
Takeaways from the Ducks 5-2 Loss to the Islanders
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 Shootout Win over the Penguins
Strome missed the Ducks' first 16 games of the 2025-26 season due to an upper-body injury sustained in a preseason practice, which was later revealed to be an oblique injury. Without him in the lineup to start the season, the Ducks got off to their best start to a season in over a decade, with an 11-4-1 record.
“I think it was good for me to challenge myself and try to be a good teammate to support the boys,” Strome said after his return from injury. “I try to act the same every day, no matter how it’s going. It’s a little harder when you’re hurt, but I was really proud of how the guys played. It’s been a great start to the season, just excited to contribute in any role I’m given and try to help the team here.”
Since he’s been a member of the Ducks’ organization, Strome has been a stabilizing veteran presence in the locker room and a vocal leader to a young, talented group.
With those combined factors in mind, it was strange and eyebrow-raising to see Strome’s name pop up in a column from premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on Thursday evening.
Friedman wrote, “Those looking for a middleman are keeping a closer watch on Anaheim’s Ryan Strome. Delayed start to the season, in-and-out of the lineup. Ducks surging, is there a spot for him? If not, there will be interest.”
Strome managed three points (1-2=3) in his first nine games upon his return to the lineup and to start his 2025-26 season, playing relatively well despite the lack of production in a third-line center role.
To kick off December, Strome served as a surprise healthy scratch for the Ducks’ 4-1 road win over the St. Louis Blues and 7-0 home loss to the Utah Mammoth on Dec. 1 and Dec. 3, respectively.
Strome returned to the lineup when the Ducks hosted the Washington Capitals on Dec. 5, a 4-3 shootout win. He met the adversity with a positive, team-first attitude when discussing his situation with the media after morning skate on the day of their game against Washington.
“Anyone that’s competitive wants to play. I think you’ll never find a guy that gets a healthy scratch that’s happy about it,” Strome said. “So, you know, luckily, I have a wealth of experience to draw on, some highs and lows in my career. So, you know, you just roll with the punches and work hard (over) the last couple days and get back at it.
“At the end of the day, it’s a team game, and our team’s had a really good year, and I think the attention should be on that, not any individual. I also think the opportunity for myself to, you know, lead by example in the situation, because obviously it sucks, but I can’t bring the team down, right? It’s all about the team. I think we’ve had a really good mindset with that this year. Unfortunately, I was kind of the example of that.”
In the modern NHL, strong center depth is needed to win Stanley Cups. Strome can play both center and wing, but the trade market indicates several teams are in need of a reliable middle-six center. On Friday, Friedman reiterated his written note on Strome when he took to his “32 Thoughts” podcast to expand.
“Strome, I think that one’s obvious. He was hurt, he was late to play. Anaheim got off to a really good start. Players took roles,” Friedman said. “I don’t think this is so much an indictment of Strome as it is that the team got hot when he was still hurt and everybody kind of lined up their spot, right? So when he came back, it was harder to find his way back into it. So I don’t think anybody would look at this, with the healthy scratches and things like that, and say they’d be hugely surprised.
Los Angeles Kings center Philip Danault’s name popped up earlier this month in potential trade reports, but Friedman relayed that a source of his somewhat dismissed that notion, highlighting the Kings’ potential lack of center depth without him.
The Ducks, however, are deep at the center position. On their current roster, they have Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Strome, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Poehling, and Jansen Harkins, who can all play naturally down the middle, along with Tim Washe, who’s having an excellent rookie year for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, with 18 points (10-8=18) in 22 games.
“So I had someone who said to me, ‘Unless there's a team out there that makes it worth the Kings while, they're not going to do it because they've had trouble with their fourth line,” Friedman said of Danault’s situation. “But the same people said to me, ‘He’s not the same player as Danault, but if you’re looking for a center, (Ryan) Strome could be out there.’ We’ll see what happens. That’s a guy they’re watching.”
The Ducks overhauled their coaching staff in the 2025 offseason, adding Joel Quenneville as the team’s new head coach, Jay Woodcroft as the power play and forwards coach, and Ryan McGill as the penalty kill and defensive coach. By missing the first 16 games of the season and the team’s record being so impressive without him, Strome has struggled to carve out a role under the new staff and in their new system.
Interestingly and surprisingly, considering the NHL player contract landscape, Ryan Strome’s contract does not carry any trade protection, a rarity among eligible unrestricted free agency signings. In theory, the Ducks could move him to any team without requiring approval from Strome.
Since returning from his healthy scratches, Strome has played three of four games firmly in a fourth-line role, registering 8:00, 11:44, 8:31, and 8:06 TOI in those games. He’s tallied five points (1-4=5) through 13 games this season despite excellent underlying numbers. At 5v5, the Ducks hold 57.34 % of the shot attempts share, 58.78% of the shots on goal share, and 59.55% of the expected goals share when Strome is on the ice, but in those minutes, they’ve been outscored 7-4.
Strome’s production dipped when he signed in Anaheim, as he’s now on his third head coach in four years, and the roster has been in a significant period of transition for his entire tenure with the Ducks. However, in the four seasons leading up to his signing with Anaheim in 2022, Strome had his best statistical years of his career as a member of the New York Rangers, where he scored 195 points (71-124=195) in 263 games, averaging 0.74 points per game.
Ducks’ Husso Impressing In Extended Opportunity
The "Trouba Train" Appeared over the Weekend, Causing Injury and Sparking Discussion
Takeaways from the Ducks 7-1 Victory over the Blackhawks
