Adam Proteau explains three top questions about the Anaheim Ducks that could affect other teams across the NHL, including Pacific Division rebuilding rivals and the Flyers.

Welcome to the first edition of THN.com’s new series featuring the top questions facing each NHL team. 

To kick off this series, we’re asking three important questions for the Anaheim Ducks.

1. Will the Ducks beat out their Pacific Division rivals in Calgary and San Jose for the No. 1 overall pick? Do they want to be at the very bottom?

When looking at the Ducks' macro picture, they have a number of terrific youngsters. But despite also adding Brian Dumoulin and Robby Fabbri this summer, the Ducks still look to be a non-playoff team once again this season. 

That’s a good thing in some regards, as it means they’ll get another high draft pick – and maybe, the first-overall pick for the first time in franchise history. 

GM Pat Verbeek should be well aware his group isn’t elite right now, so he and the Ducks' management shouldn’t be upset if they are in the basement of the NHL standings.

Anaheim will likely be challenged for the top pick by the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks, divisional rivals also aiming to bring in a new wave of young talent. The Ducks will need some good luck from the hockey gods to win the lottery, but absent some miraculous step forward as a team, they’re going to be a have-not organization once again. They’ll have to grin and bear it until their young talents mature into top-level NHLers.

2. Could Cutter Gauthier beat out Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov and other top rookies to win the Calder Trophy?

One of Anaheim’s youngsters to watch is the 20-year-old Gauthier, who engineered his way out of Philadelphia in a trade that sent defenseman Jamie Drysdale to the Flyers. Gauthier got his wish, burning the first year of his entry-level contract after playing just one game with the Ducks last season. 

He’ll be on the radar of many observers, as his time with Boston College was a great success, with 38 goals and 65 points in 41 games last season. He’ll have every opportunity to win the Calder as the NHL’s top rookie in 2024-25.

Gauthier will get a lot of competition for the Calder from Michkov, who has a ton of hype surrounding him as he plays his first professional year in North America. Both the Flyers and Ducks are developing squads that need their young talents to step up if they even hope to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, but Gauthier and Michkov are likely to be Calder front-runners regardless of how their teams perform. They’re the real deal, and it could come down to the wire to decide which one edges out the other for top rookie honors. 

So, to answer the question, yes, Gauthier could win the Calder in a close race with Michkov. But he'll also have to beat out Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Logan Stankoven, among others.

3. Can Trevor Zegras quash the trade speculation with a breakout season?

Zegras was on the rise heading into the 2023-24 campaign, coming off two 60-plus-point seasons. But an ankle injury and an earlier lower-body injury limited him to just six goals and 15 points in 31 games last season.

Compounding matters is the lucrative contract Zegras signed, paying him an average annual value of $5.75 million last season and in each of the next two seasons. The Ducks need Zegras to return to the 2022-23 form that saw him post 23 goals and 65 points in 81 games. That’s the minimum he needs to do to justify his pay grade.

Zegras has the pure skill to do that, but if he struggles again, you’d best believe trade rumors will continue to swirl around him, considering the Ducks had no problem trading his former roommate, Drysdale. Having Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish may also raise questions about the best fit for Zegras. 

There will be no shortage of teams that believe a change of scenery could elevate Zegras’ game to new heights, but Verbeek won't just give him away after one bad season at 23 years old. And if Zegras does get back to playing the way the team had hoped when it drafted him ninth overall in 2019, the Ducks will be more than happy to keep him in an Anaheim uniform. 

Zegras does have to deliver above-average results to stay a Duck, but we can see him putting an end to trade rumors with a strong 2024-25.

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