'It was Vital': Verbeek Discusses Adding Veterans Killorn, Gudas

The Ducks added two key pieces to their roster on the first day of NHL Free Agency, agreeing to multi-year contracts with rugged defenseman Radko Gudas and two-time Stanley Cup champion winger Alex Killorn.

Gudas, who just helped Florida to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, has been known as one of the NHL's toughest defenders over the last decade, with 2,565 hits in that span. The right-shot blueliner inked a three-year deal with Anaheim, offering the Ducks an immediate physical veteran presence at even strength and on the penalty kill. His +62 rating over the past four seasons, and +41 mark in the last two campaigns, each rank in the top-20 across the NHL.

Killorn will bring a similar veteran presence to the forward group. A two-time champion with Tampa Bay, Killorn was an alternate captain and durable swiss-army knife for the Bolts, a high hockey-IQ player who contributed on both special teams units and set career-highs in scoring each of the last two years. Since entering the NHL in 2012-13, Killorn ranks seventh among all players in playoff games played (140).

Killorn and Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek met with the media after the signings were announced Saturday to give their thoughts on how the deals came together and the future in Anaheim.

\Note some answers have been lightly edited for style and clarity*

Verbeek

On Signing Gudas and Killorn

We're really excited to get both of these players. They were at the top of our list when we began this process. We held our meetings a couple weeks ago and these were two guys we really wanted to target.

Alex Killorn brings an incredible repertoire of Stanley Cups, finals, semi-finals, leadership and competitiveness. Radko Gudas, well if you've watched the playoffs, you saw how hard he is to play against, very physical and tough. So we are looking to add that element to our blue line and we're excited for these players.

On Killorn and Gudas' leadership abilities

It's important for our young guys to understand what compete is all about, what paying the price is all about - in the weight room and [being] a complete professional, doing things the right way every minute of the day when they're at the rink. So it was vital.

On the example the two veterans can set

Certainly they have an understanding of what winning's all about, not accepting losing. So that standard of compete, that standard of work ethic every day that comes to practice will be shown to all our young guys. I think there's instant credibility with these guys walking inside that locker room. It's a leadership that our team certainly needed and they're awesome people to go with it.

On the potential for further additions

There's probably more to come, we're searching other opportunities out, so we'll see how it goes. Sometimes it's good to take a breath a little bit and see how things unfold. As this day goes on, we're certainly ecstatic with the two guys that were really targeted hard and now we'll just kind of see how the rest of today and tomorrow plays out.

On making the Ducks tougher to play against

I think we're being more assertive, being more physical and harder to play against. Making sure that you answer the bell in every situation, it's physically pushing back when a team is trying to exert their will on you. Certainly the two guys that we acquired here with these signings understand that they've been through the experiences of what it takes to win and what's required from play and pushback in order to win.

Killorn

On joining the Ducks

You obviously want to be part of a successful team. Anaheim hasn't been successful the past year, but looking at their depth, their prospects they have, and knowing Pat, he's was with us in Tampa when we turned our team around, I have no doubts he'll do the same thing. I think he has the right vision going forward, talking to him today. I'm really excited for the future of this team.

On being a veteran leader for a young team

I've been on a lot of winning teams in the past. I'm definitely hoping to bring a veteran leadership to this group. I know it's probably a younger team than I've been on before, but I look forward to that. There's so much talent when you look at the guys that are on this team and guys that are about to be on this team, whether it's this year or the next year. These are things that I've thought about when I made this decision. So I'm hoping to bring kind of a veteran leadership, a guy that can help out offensively and defensively. That's what I did in Tampa and I'm hoping to do the same here.

On signing a four-year contract

Yeah, to be honest, that that was probably the decision maker that made me choose Anaheim when I knew how much Pat and Greg Cronin believed in me. That for me was, was what made the decision. Cause you know, it was obviously a great contract that they offered me, but their belief in me and their hope that I can help make this team a better team was what really drove me over the top.