Right winger Patrick Eaves signed a three-year, $9.45 million contract with the Anaheim Ducks. He will carry a cap hit of $3.15 million until 2020. Eaves has spent the first 10 years of his career with six different clubs, four and a half of them with the Detroit Red Wings.
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Patrick Eaves Re-Signs with the Anaheim Ducks
Eaves’ season was cut short in the middle of the second round with a lower-body injury that limited him to just seven postseason games. The Ducks could have used him in the Western Conference Finals against the Nashville Predators, a series they dropped in six games. Though he suffered an injury at an inopportune time, it was the first year he’s played in more than 70 games in a full season since 2008-09. That will be a key going forward with his new club.
Eaves started his career coming out of the draft as the 29th overall pick in 2003 with a bang, scoring 20 goals in 58 games in his rookie campaign with the Ottawa Senators. He’d be shipped out in the middle of his third year, however, in a trade to the Carolina Hurricanes for Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore.
In Carolina, he didn’t find his niche either, playing 84 total games scoring seven goals and 19 points, getting bought out in the second year of a three-year contract. In Detroit, he lasted the longest he’s ever lasted with one organization, but was never able to score 15-plus goals and played 44 games total from 2011-13. He’d be shipped to the Predators for a five-game spin at the 2014 Trade Deadline in a deal that sent Calle Jarnkrok to Nashville and David Legwand to Detroit.
Eaves finally found some impressive success this season at age 33, scoring 32 goals and 51 points in 2016-17, shattering career highs in goals, points, power-play goals (13), power-play points (18) and shots (209) in 79 combined games with the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks acquired him for a conditional second round pick that became a first with their run to the Conference Finals.
In terms of contract history, Eaves has been a cheap commodity and was due for a payday after a career season. The highest cap hit he’s ever had has been $1.4 million and he’s coming off of a one-year $1 million deal. The last three contracts with Dallas have been one-year pacts and his last multi-year deal was a three-year, $3.6 million deal.
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