Understanding Frank Vatrano’s bizarre deferred money contract with the Ducks

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One of the most unique contracts in NHL history has left more fans confused than informed.

On Sunday, the Anaheim Ducks signed forward Frank Vatrano to a three-year, $18 million contract extension. However, rather than the deal having the typical $6 million AAV, the terms of the contract will see $9 million of Vatrano’s contract deferred. The 31-year-old will receive an annual payment of $900,000 over a 10-year span, beginning in 2035. The deal will kick in at the beginning of the 2025-26 campaign.

This deal is obviously structured to work around the state of California’s strange tax system, which was sort of portrayed when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed superstar Shohei Ohtani to his one-of-a-kind contract in Dec. 2023. It will give the Ducks some more wiggle room, cap-wise, as Vatrano’s deal will only count toward $4.57 million per year.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk explain the finer details of this strange contract and what it could mean moving forward.

Frank Seravalli: I think it’s incredibly one-sided to Anaheim’s direction…this is so totally different. For one, the time period involved in which Frank Vatrano won’t be seeing any of this money, it’s basically 20 years from when this contract begins before he sees the last dollars of it. Second, it’s an important thing to point out, with the deferred money, that there is no interest recouping.

You take the $900,000 per year that he’s going to get 10 years from now, in 2035, and start running the counter on 5.414% interest, which is what was calculated in this deal. No. He’s taking it as the end result of $900,000 per year. I don’t love this from the player’s perspective. The other factor is, because he’s doing it in a state where Shohei Ohtani just made such a bold statement with hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred money, my guess is that the California tax code is going to change.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…