John Carlson had gone to bed, but his phone kept buzzing while he tried to sleep Thursday night. Eventually, he figured he’d better look at it.
Awaiting him was a phone message from Washington Capitals general manager Chris Patrick, but among the many others was one from Carlson’s cousin, who was out in the middle of the night plowing snow in Massachusetts. Even he had heard the news before Carlson that the Capitals had traded the 36-year-old defenseman to the Anaheim Ducks.
“In the middle of the night is not the best way to find out some very altering news like that,” Carlson said Friday before heading to the airport to join the Ducks in Anaheim. “But it’s just been a crazy day, I would say; a crazy day with my family, a crazy day, packing, getting ready, saying goodbyes.”
Being traded after 17 seasons with the Capitals was a gut punch for Carlson, who, until recently, had envisioned playing his entire career for the team that selected him in the first round (No. 27) of the 2008 NHL Draft. It was not a complete surprise, though, with the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline approaching at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
“Obviously, in the days leading up, I became more aware of the potential for something like this to happen, and that’s where I stood,” Carlson said. “So, it wasn’t a total blindside or anything like that. Maybe the timing of the whole situation was a little wacky, but I guess that’s just part of it and whatnot. But I’m excited, thrilled to be with the Ducks.”
In the final season of an eight-year, $64 million contract he signed in the days after he helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2018, Carlson can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. Carlson’s agent, Rick Curran, had been in talks with Washington about a new contract, but Patrick said he informed them about two weeks ago that he wanted to pause discussions with the team’s hopes of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs fading.
“At the time, we were four points out of the playoffs,” Patrick said. “I said, ‘Teams are calling. I don’t know if something’s going to happen. I don’t necessarily want something to happen, but I also have to do my job. And if there’s an offer there that I think makes sense, then we’ll have to pursue it.’ So, I think he knew. He’s not naive to where he is in his contract status.”
In exchange for Carlson, the Capitals received a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. If the Ducks do not qualify for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they will have the option to retain their first-round selection in the 2026 draft and instead send the Capitals their first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
“For us, that first-round pick is potentially a really good pick,” Patrick said. “We can use it to try to add something, or we can use it to get a good player. I mean, we weren’t going to do it for just anything, for sure.”
The Ducks (35-24-3), who are first in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights, are attempting to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season and valued Carlson’s experience and puck-moving skill. Carlson has 46 points (10 goals, 36 assists) in 55 games this season and is Washington’s all-time leader among defensemen in goals (166), assists (605), points (771), power-play points (273) and games played (1,143).
He jumps into the Ducks’ playoff push from the Capitals (31-25-7), who are fifth in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
“I think I can add a lot of value, both in my play and what I can do out there, but also what I think I can impart on them mentally, or through talking and chatting,” Carlson said. “I think there’s so much talent there, there’s so much fun to be had, that it’s an exciting proposition.”
Carlson sees a good mix in Anaheim of young players and veterans. The Ducks have players looking to get their first taste of the playoffs such as forwards Leo Carlsson, 21, Cutter Gauthier, 22, Mason McTavish, 23, and Beckett Sennecke, 20, and defensemen Jackson LaCombe, 25, Pavel Mintyukov, 22, and Olen Zellweger, 22, and those, like him, who have been through the postseason grind before such as forwards Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund, and Alex Killorn and defensemen Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas.
“They’ve got all the makings of a team that’s more than capable of (going deep in the playoffs),” Carlson said. “So, that’s obviously very attractive to me and very advantageous and I’m grateful to land in a spot like this, really truly.”
Heading to Anaheim means leaving behind, at least temporarily, his wife Gina, and sons Lucca, 10; Rudy, 7; and Sawyer, 5; and daughter Isabella, 2. That was among the tough conversations Carlson had after an emotional phone call with Patrick around 6 a.m.
“He was upset and so was I,” Patrick said. “But he’s a pro. I was expecting him to be angry, and he wasn’t angry. He understood, and I think he was just sad that it ended this way.”
Carlson also had emotional conversations with longtime Capitals teammates Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, as well as former teammates T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom. But he didn’t take long to start wrapping his mind around the opportunity ahead of him with the Ducks.
“I’ve had a very long run here, a lot of great friendships on and off the ice, in the community and not, that I’m going to miss,” Carlson said. “And to have a family and to be away and have to move them maybe across the country, those are all big things in life. [But] it’s an exciting time. It’s a great team to come to. I think they are loaded with talent, loaded with some character guys that I’m really looking forward to playing with after seeing them on TV, seeing the games against them.
“So, I’m excited to take on this new challenge.”
