THN Anaheim Ducks Show (10-25-24)
Derek Lee and Patrick Present discuss the early storylines from the Anaheim Ducks 2024-25 season
The Anaheim Ducks (3-2-1) are set to begin a four-game road trip to the East Coast.
The Hockey News' Anaheim Ducks site editors/writers/reporters Derek Lee and Patrick Present took the opportunity to discuss what they felt were the team's top stories through the first six games of the season.
Topics:
-Early reactions to the team's play and how head coach Greg Cronin has adjusted both on and off the ice.
-Lukas Dostal has been the Ducks' runaway MVP in the early stretch of the season, as his traditional and underlying numbers are among the NHL's best.
-Cutter Gauthier was benched for a bit in the team's third game of the season but has responded professionally in the three that would follow.
-Cronin has recently shuffled lines to spark some players and reward others for their early performances.
-Ryan Strome's line has been the Ducks' best line and one of the best in the NHL through six games.
-The Ducks still have eight defensemen on their roster. Healthy competition has been fierce among the young blueliners.
Pavel Mintyukov and Brian Dumoulin have been deployed as the team's number-one defensive pair and have thrived in that role.
-The Ducks special teams, specifically the power play, have been significant stories early in the season. If those units can produce league-average numbers, it would go a long way toward the team playing competitive hockey late into the season.