Ducks New Kid Line Will be on Display in Edmonton
Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)The Anaheim Ducks are on the road to play two of their most critical games of the season on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, the latter being one of the very team they’re chasing in the playoff picture.
The Ducks have a .500 record to this point in the season (26-26-7) with their playoff hopes dwindling as they’re six points from the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Returning to the forward group after serving a three-game suspension for a late and high hit to Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen on Feb. 23 will be talented forward Trevor Zegras. Robby Fabbri remains on IR with an upper-body injury, retroactive to Feb. 25.
Coinciding with the placement of Fabbri on IR, the Ducks recalled AHL All-Star Sam Colangelo from the San Diego Gulls. In 14 games this season, Colangelo has tallied just one goal, but has 35 points (19-16=35) in 38 games for the Gulls in 2024-25.
Based on line combinations at Ducks practice on Monday, Colangelo (23) will skate on a line with Cutter Gauthier (21) and Mason McTavish (22), making up the Ducks first usage of a “kid line” this season with all three forwards under 24 years old.
Gauthier has been playing fairly regularly on McTavish’s wing of late to relatively decent success. They’d been typically sharing the ice with Fabbri on the Ducks' second-most consistent line. The Gauthier-McTavish-Fabbri line has played 278 minutes together this season at 5v5, holding 52.2% of the goals share (12 goals for and 11 goals against), but only hold 42.7% of the shot attempts share (276-371), and 41.8% of the expected goals share.
On paper, the “kid line” is an interesting blend of skillsets, seemingly perfect for the style head coach Greg Cronin and general manager Pat Verbeek are striving to get their team to resemble. Cronin has praised McTavish’s tenacity and physicality, stating he should play not dissimilarly to Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators. Gauthier has one of the more powerful strides on the roster and leverages it to drive defenders deep into their zone at full speed. Colangelo has thrived in tight areas of the ice, specifically in San Diego, connecting plays and winning battles in corners and at the net-front.
All three players have plus-shots and can score from distance or in tight. They’re all physically imposing, each standing at no less than 6-foot-1 and all weighing over 200 pounds. Despite their size, they can all skate surprisingly well, making their presence felt on the forecheck and getting up ice on the rush.
The “kid line” will be the listed third line for the Ducks as they take on the Oilers on Tuesday evening, but the Oilers will have last change, so Cronin won’t get the benefit of matching them up against his desired opposing line.
It will be worth monitoring their shifts in this game, who Edmonton matches them up with, and how they fare to determine if this could be a long-term look for the team moving forward. The potential for a potent middle-six scoring line is present and enticing.