Published for Ducks fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 21, 2026
🏒 Ducks Fans — Your Orange and Gold Is Waiting!
Eight years of waiting ended with a playoff run in Anaheim — now Carlsson, Granlund and Gauthier lead a young core that’s just getting started, so grab a fan-inspired Ducks jersey and join the flock.
The Club
The Anaheim Ducks play at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, in orange, gold, black and white — a look as bold as the young team wearing it. After years near the bottom of the Pacific, Anaheim has rebuilt around a wave of homegrown talent, and the building has its buzz back: this is a fan base that waited eight long years between playoff appearances and finally got its spring hockey back in 2026. Head coach Joel Quenneville is in his second season behind the bench, and the mix of his veteran standard and this group’s youthful fearlessness is exactly what makes this version of the Ducks so much fun to follow. Searching for an Anaheim Ducks jersey, the latest Ducks schedule or Ducks tickets? Start with the question every fan asks each fall: when do the Ducks play — because in Anaheim, game night suddenly matters again.
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Last Season (2025-26): The Drought Is Over
Anaheim’s 2025-26 season was the year the rebuild turned the corner: a 43-33-6 record for 92 points, third place in the Pacific Division, and a playoff berth for the first time in eight seasons. For a franchise that had spent years collecting draft picks and moral victories, just getting back to the dance was a statement — and the Ducks did not show up merely to participate.
The run ended in the Western Conference Second Round against the Vegas Golden Knights, the eventual Cup finalists, but the message had been sent. Anaheim was no longer a rebuilding curiosity; it was a problem. Then came a summer that underlined the ambition. When the Philadelphia Flyers tried to poach Leo Carlsson with an offer sheet, the Ducks matched it on July 9 — five years, $90 million, an $18 million average annual value that was, at the moment of signing, the richest AAV in NHL history. Cutter Gauthier signed a six-year extension of his own. There were farewells too: captain Radko Gudas was traded to Florida and Mason McTavish moved to St. Louis, handing the room to the next generation — with veteran Mikael Granlund taking the captain’s C.
Best Players Right Now (2026-27 Roster)
Leo Carlsson, Center (#91) — The franchise player, full stop. Carlsson put up 29 goals and 67 points in 70 games last season, wears an A as an alternate captain, and was deemed so untouchable that Anaheim matched the richest offer sheet in history rather than lose him.
Cutter Gauthier, Left Wing (#61) — The sniper. Gauthier led the Ducks with 41 goals in 2025-26 and cashed in with a six-year, $81 million extension. His release is one of the most dangerous weapons in the Pacific, and at his age the ceiling keeps rising.
Mikael Granlund, Center (#64) — The captain. Granlund is the veteran compass of a young room: smart, versatile and trusted in every situation, he sets the standard that Carlsson and Gauthier are growing into.
Jackson LaCombe, Defense (#2) — An alternate captain on the blue line, LaCombe has grown into Anaheim’s all-situations defenseman — the kind of minute-eating, puck-moving presence every playoff team needs behind its star forwards.
Pavel Mintyukov, Defense (#98) — The other pillar of the young defense corps. Mintyukov plays with an edge and an offensive instinct that fits Quenneville’s system, and his battles with the Pacific’s top lines are appointment viewing.
Lukas Dostal, Goaltender (#1) — The man in net for the breakthrough. Dostal backstopped Anaheim’s return to the playoffs and gives the Ducks the calm, athletic goaltending a young team needs while it learns how to win in the spring.
Beckett Sennecke, Right Wing (#45) — The next wave. Sennecke is one of the most exciting young forwards in the organization, and every shift he takes in the top nine feels like a preview of where this core is heading.
Frank Vatrano, Right Wing (#77) — The veteran gunner. Vatrano provides the secondary scoring and the edge that keeps opponents honest while the kids run the show — every contender needs a finisher who has been around the block.
One honest note: Troy Terry started the season on the injured non-roster list after hip surgery. When he returns, an already deep forward group gets one of its most skilled playmakers back — Anaheim’s attack should get better as the season goes on, not worse.
Star Spotlight: Stories You Should Know
The summer’s defining story was the offer sheet. Offer sheets are hockey’s rarest drama — and Philadelphia swung for the fences, signing Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million tender on July 3. Anaheim had seven days to decide whether its 21-year-old franchise center was worth the richest annual salary the league had ever seen, or whether to take four first-round picks and walk away. The Ducks matched on July 9 and never really blinked. That is what belief looks like: when your young star gets priced like a generational player, you pay it, because players like Carlsson do not come around twice.
And then there is the changing of the guard. Radko Gudas captained this team for two seasons and Mason McTavish was supposed to be a cornerstone; both were traded in the summer. Instead of chaos, Anaheim got clarity. Mikael Granlund — a pro’s pro who has seen everything in this league — wears the C now, flanked by Carlsson and LaCombe as alternates. Joel Quenneville, in his second season in Anaheim, runs the bench. The kids provide the electricity; the veterans make sure it gets wired to something that wins.
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This Season (2026-27): No More Surprise Act
Last spring Anaheim was a feel-good story. This season, nobody is surprised anymore — and the early returns show a team in the messy middle of its next step. The Ducks opened 4-5-0 through October 20, looking brilliant in stretches and young in others, exactly what you would expect from a core still learning how to carry expectations. The 84-game schedule will test this group’s depth like nothing before it.
The storylines are clear. Terry’s return from hip surgery will reshape the top six. Sennecke’s growth gives Quenneville a third scoring wave most teams cannot match. And the Pacific’s old guard — Vegas above all — now has to take Anaheim seriously in every single meeting, starting with the December rematch at the Honda Center. Last season the Ducks crashed the playoff party. This season they are trying to prove they own a seat at the table — and the talent on this roster says the proof is coming.
Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming Games to Watch
Check the Ducks schedule and grab Ducks tickets early — these are the nights that will define the young core’s second act:
- November 27 — vs Los Angeles Kings: The Freeway Face-Off at the Honda Center. The rivalry game Anaheim fans circle first, against the neighbors up the freeway who would love to remind the Ducks of their place.
- November 28 — at Los Angeles Kings: The home-and-home flips north the very next night. Back-to-back rivalry games in two buildings, 48 hours of bragging rights on the line.
- December 22 — vs Vegas Golden Knights: The rematch. Vegas ended Anaheim’s dream spring in the second round last May; the Honda Center gets its shot at a little pre-Christmas payback.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Los Angeles Kings — the Freeway Face-Off. It does not get more personal than the team down the road. Kings fans ruled Southern California for a decade while the Ducks rebuilt; now the balance of power is up for grabs again, and the home-and-home on November 27-28 will feel like playoff hockey in November.
2. Vegas Golden Knights — the spring grudge. Vegas is the team that ended Anaheim’s drought-busting run in the second round of the 2026 playoffs. Every meeting now carries that scar tissue, and December 22 at the Honda Center is circled in red throughout Orange Country.
3. San Jose Sharks — the California cold war. The third leg of the California triangle has been simmering through both teams’ rebuilds. Two young cores growing up at the same time, in the same state, means the next decade of this rivalry could be its best yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do the Anaheim Ducks play next?
The next circled dates on the Ducks’ calendar are the Freeway Face-Off home-and-home with the Los Angeles Kings on November 27 and 28, 2026, followed by the playoff rematch with the Vegas Golden Knights at the Honda Center on December 22, 2026.
Where do the Anaheim Ducks play their home games?
At the Honda Center in Anaheim, California — where the orange is out in force every night the young Ducks take the ice.
How long was the Ducks’ playoff drought?
Eight seasons. The Ducks went eight seasons without a playoff appearance before finally breaking through in 2025-26, finishing third in the Pacific and reaching the Western Conference Second Round on their return.
Where can I buy Anaheim Ducks fan gear?
Toxlay Sports offers fan-inspired apparel for Ducks supporters — fan-designed gear made for real fans. Note that fan-inspired apparel is not official NHL licensed merchandise.
Sources: NHL.com, ESPN, The Hockey News — team schedules, rosters and records checked October 2026.
The drought is over and the future is orange — let’s go, Ducks!
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Sources & official links: Anaheim Ducks official site · Anaheim Ducks tickets
The drought is over and the future is orange — let’s go, Ducks!
