NHL Awards Preview: Chances a Ducks Rookie Wins the Calder Trophy
What are the chances for the Anaheim Ducks to walk away from the 2025 NHL Awards with hardware?
The NHL season technically begins on Friday when the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres will face off for two games in Czechia as part of the 2024 NHL Global Series.
The Anaheim Ducks are in the midst of the NHL's fourth-longest playoff drought (Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators), having missed the playoffs and been among the bottom ten teams of the NHL standings for six straight seasons.
Like many teams at the bottom of the NHL standings in 2023-24, their goal for 2024-25 is to make significant strides toward contention and play more meaningful hockey later in the season.
To achieve that goal, several roster players, young and veteran, along with the coaching staff, will have to raise some eyebrows, turn some heads, and possibly even emerge as NHL Awards candidates.
Calder Memorial Trophy
The Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League."
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the current favorites to win the Calder are Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov (+250), San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini (+450), and Dallas Stars forward Logan Stankoven (+550).
Anaheim Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier (+550) sits tied with Stankoven with the third-best odds to bring home the Ducks' first Calder in franchise history.
Gauthier is currently the only Ducks player eligible for wagers and is the only rookie in the organization who's as close to a sure thing as possible to play the entire season in the NHL.
"I just want to make an impact on this team and do whatever I can to help us win games," Gauthier said. "(The coaches and management) just want me to come in here and to my thing. They don't want me doing anything more than what got me here: shoot the puck, hopefully score some goals, and bring a great attitude off the ice."
Other players in the Ducks organization with the best chances to play their rookie seasons in the NHL in 2024-25 are defenseman Tristan Luneau, forward Sam Colangelo, and forward Nathan Gaucher.
Cutter Gauthier
In 2023-24, Gauthier was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist for his sophomore season performance at Boston College in the NCAA.
He scored the most goals in a single NCAA season (38) in nearly 20 years and added 27 assists for a total of 65 points in 41 games.
Gauthier and Carolina Hurricanes forward prospect Jackson Blake were beaten out in Hobey Baker voting by 2024 San Jose Sharks first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini.
Gauthier will enter the 2024-25 season with one NHL game under his belt, the 2023-24 Ducks season finale, in which he notched his first career assist on Jackson LaCombe's game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
In his first career game, Gauthier found himself on a line with 2023 second-overall pick Leo Carlsson and two-time Stanley Cup champion Alex Killorn.
"He's great. He's won at the highest level with two cups," Gauthier said of playing with Killorn. "He makes the game so easy. If we're out of position, he's quick to tell us and makes easy switches. He makes it a lot easier for us younger guys trying to get adjusted to the league. He's been a great person to look up to."
Unlike the rest of the Ducks' depth chart during the preseason, Gauthier's line has remained untouched, and it looks like it will remain intact through the start of the regular season.
Gauthier will be given every chance to succeed early in his rookie year, and he seems willing to embrace the pressure and opportunities.
Along with a firm grasp on a top-six role on the Ducks' depth chart, he has been a fixture on the team's top power play unit on the right flank, a spot he occupied during his time at Boston College and with the United States NTDP, playing in two World Junior Championships.
Gauthier is a volume shooter, and playing next to a puck-transporting 200-foot center who surgically and swiftly diagnoses defensive structures like Leo Carlsson and a forechecking player who thrives in small areas like Alex Killorn will open up ample lanes and soft ice for Gauthier to capitalize.
In two preseason games so far, Gauthier has notched 13 shots on goal, scoring on one in Wednesday's game against Utah.