IRVINE, Calif. - Cutter Gauthier will––unofficially––make his Honda Center debut tonight against the San Jose Sharks in the Ducks' first home preseason game. Like his NHL debut, Gauthier will flank Leo Carlsson's left side with Alex Killorn taking up the other wing.
"(Getting to know them has) been great," Gauthier said. "Leo has been awesome. Someone younger that you can connect to, played against him in a handful of international tournaments. (He's) super skilled and makes the game pretty easy.
Killorn (is) a vet who knows how to play the game the right way and that's why he's still around. He's been a great influence on the team (and) makes the game so easy for me coming in. They've been two great guys to learn from."
"They have a ton of raw talent," Killorn said of Carlsson and Gauthier. "I'm hoping to help them and give them the ability to make plays. With Cutter, I want him shooting a lot of pucks and with Leo, I want him having the puck a lot on his stick. So, if I can help facilitate that, that would be great."
"(I want to see them) pick it up where they left off in Vegas (in the last game of last season)," head coach Greg Cronin said. "I'm excited to watch them play; all three are talented players. Just get them into some game reps and get them ready for the regular season."
The top two forward lines in tonight's game could be a preview of what's to come for Anaheim once the regular season kicks off. Behind the Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn line is a line of Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Troy Terry.
Oct 30, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish (23) and center Trevor Zegras (right) celebrate after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Anaheim won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports"(McTavish) didn't finish the year, so he's going to get his feet wet again," Cronin said. "(Zegras) and Leo are two of our more talented, creative guys. A lot of this stuff too is trying to figure out chemistry. That line is interesting because they've got a lot of skill. The emphasis for that group is getting to the front of the net and creating shots. They tend to wait for the perfect shots, so (we're) trying to get them a little more focused on shooting the puck."
A dynamic pairing on the backend in Jackson LaCombe and Tristan Luneau sees two players capable of moving the puck with ease in all three zones. This will be just the fourth game of NHL-style action for Luneau since December of last year after he suffered a knee infection while en route to World Juniors with Team Canada.
"They'll be up in the play quite a bit," Cronin said. "It's critical that Tristan gets some games. He hasn't played (since December) outside of the rookie tournament. It's just really about getting Tristan more comfortable with the game, the timing behind it and just trying to build his confidence up."
Sept. 15, 2024; El Segundo, CA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Tristan Luneau at Rookie Faceoff tournament. Mandatory Credit: Andy Glass-Andy Glass PhotographyTonight's lineup will look much different from Sept. 24's reverse fixture with just a few players from that game in the lineup tonight for the Ducks.
"It's a big turnover in personnel," Cronin said. "But I thought after the first period of the last game (that) the team was really committed to doing some of the things we're focusing on as a group, which is controlling the possession game.
"We had the puck a lot in the second period. (We're) trying to get to the other team's net (and) increase our shot volume. I thought we had a lot of shots directed at the net. Just trying to continue to build that identity into each group as they go."
Ducks Projected Lines
Cutter Gauthier - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Trevor Zegras - Mason McTavish - Troy Terry
Pavol Regenda - Ryan Carpenter - Sam Colangelo
Nico Myatovic - Coulson Pitre - Sasha Pastujov
Mark Pysyk - Drew Helleson
Jackson LaCombe - Tristan Luneau
Konnor Smith - Roland McKeown
Lukáš Dostál-Calle Clang
Sharks Projected Lines
William Eklund - Ty Dellandrea - Kasper Halttunen
Quentin Musty - Nico Sturm - Klim Kostin
Nikita Gushchin - Colin White - Ethan Cardwell
Givani Smith - Tristen Robins - Brandon Coe
Jake Furlong - Matt Benning
Sam Dickinson - Henry Thrun
Luca Cagnoni - Ethan Frisch
Georgi Romanov (confirmed)