Ducks Young Forwards Driving the Offense

The Anaheim Ducks are 9-9-2 since the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off break and have fallen entirely out of the Western Conference Playoff race, in which they had made a brief appearance early in March when they were within six points (as recent as March 5) of the second Wild Card spot. They played a handful of meaningful games, a significant improvement over the season’s past in that regard, but they came up short in nearly every game where they could have closed the gap.

The Ducks’ opening night roster featured nine players aged 23 and under, ready to assume larger roles than they had previously. However, aside from Jackson LaCombe and Lukas Dostal, the team’s youngest and most talented players stumbled out of the starting gate. The majority of them had either plateaued or seemingly taken a step back in their progression as they attempted to refine details in their games and/or carve out consistent roles for themselves.

The Ducks relative success for the first half of the season could be largely attributed to the play of their goaltending tandem, Lukas Dostal and John Gibson, as well as timely goalscoring from veterans like Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, and Troy Terry.

LaCombe (24) hit the ground running on the 2024-25 season, grabbing hold of spots on the Ducks’ power play and penalty kill while assuming shutdown responsibilities at 5v5 as well. He has emerged as a star blueliner in the NHL.

As the season's halfway mark passed and the 4 Nations tournament approached, roles for the important young stars on the Ducks roster became clear, and their production skyrocketed. For the last month and a half, the offensive keys had seemingly been handed over to Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, and Cutter Gauthier.

“Leo, for us, has become, and he was last year, an attractive player when you watched (him),” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said ahead of Tuesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks. “He’s taken on another level since the 4 Nations tournament. He’s got the size and length you can’t create.

“Mac-T has taken a humongous step this year. Both those guys (McTavish and Carlsson) are over a point-a-game guys for the last 20-plus games. Zegras has taken a huge step.”

Carlsson (20) has 24 points in his last 23 games, and the game is slowing down immensely for the sophomore superstar center. He’s always been able to read attackers well and strip them of possession, but he’s now translating that to the offensive side of the ice, displaying more selectivity with his decision-making and not attempting to take on up to four defenders at once.

McTavish (22) has 21 points in his last 19 games and has improved leaps and bounds on the defensive side of the puck. He’s one of the most tenacious players on the Ducks roster in board battles and has worked tirelessly to remain diligent in defensive zone coverage and not let opponents drift too far from his hip.

Zegras (24) has 11 points in his last 12 games, further displaying his overhauled attention to detail and returning to a state where he’s comfortable to showcase his creativity again. He’s becoming a force below the offensive goal line and is timing his cuts to the slot as his last three goals have all been of the grittier variety (tips, rebounds, etc.).

Gauthier (21) has easily been the Ducks player that has come the farthest since the start of his rookie season, as is natural. He has 16 points in his last 19 games and is truly discovering what will make him a successful all-around offensive player in the NHL for a long time. He’s doing the things that coaches like, such as getting to the net front, pressuring defensemen on the forecheck, and angling on the backcheck. However, he’s also adding change-of-pace and off-puck timing elements to his game to remain an offensive threat at all times when on the ice.

“Cutter struggled with a lot of fundamentals that we felt were going to be critical for him to perform well from shift to shift,” Cronin said. “With the absence of practice (due to the Pacific Division travel schedule), you got to communicate it to them, make them aware of it, and show them on the video. The best way to do it is get them on the ice and go through reps with it.

“He’s been very coachable. He wants to be a great player. He’s humble enough to recognize these are things that he hasn’t been made aware of before, and he’s done everything in his power with the limited practice time to attack those areas and get better at it.

“His core strength’s always going to be skating. He’s an elite skater, and he’s got an elite shot. That’s why he was drafted in the top ten, because of those skills. What happens in the NHL is you can’t just rely on those skills because you’re not going to get the puck as much as you did in college. So you have to defend the puck, and that’s an area that he has really worked hard at.”

A critique of the Ducks' rebuild to this point has been the lack of significant steps taken from their most talented and highest-drafted players, the ones who are to make up the core of the team when they finally reach their contending window. If this 20-ish game sample is an indication of things to come, these important pieces have taken those steps, and those criticisms can potentially be laid to rest.

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