The Ducks are off to a great start to the season as they currently hold a 5-4-0 record with close losses to the Bruins and Stars. They looked good in most of their games and having one of the youngest teams in the NHL that is very encouraging. They have one of the best young trios in the league in McTavish, Carlsson, and a 19-year-old defenseman Pavel Mintyukov.
McTavish leads the Ducks with 11 points and is the best player on the team by far and should be a breakout candidate for the whole NHL as I would expect him to put up at least 80 points at the end of the season (43 points in 80 games in 2022/2023 season). His average time on ice has gone up from 15:30 last season to 17:20 for 9 games so far this season. He is also taking almost one more shot per game than last season as he has shown big improvement in every category so far. He is still only 20 years old and has a big future in front of him as he looks to lead this Ducks team.
Both Carlsson(18) and Mintyukov(19) are playing their 1st games in the NHL this season and both of them are showing great potential already as Carlsson has 3 points across 5 games played along with playing just over 19 minutes per game and Mintyukov is a true no. 1 defenseman already playing with 1st PowerPlay unit and already collecting 6 points while playing in all 9 games. It is a great sign for all Ducks fans as both players look like they will play a big part in bringing this team back to the playoffs and possibly in a few years as they could contend for the Stanley Cup.
One of the big questions for them is in goal and will Lukas Dostal have a chance to take the no. 1 position in the net. Gibson is 30 years old and we know what can we expect from him but they have a better goalie on their roster in Dostal who is only 23 years old and has improved every year. He has started this season with a 4-1-0 record and currently holds a .921 save percentage. His only loss came against the Coyotes in which he allowed only 2 goals on 29 shots in what was a great performance from him. They need to keep developing him as he should become a top-10 goalie in the league if things go right.
Except for those great young players they have players like Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome, and Troy Terry who will need to perform at a high level for the Ducks to be great again. Terry and Zegras are great players but they need to be even better for this team to get to playoffs in the next few years. Potential PowerPlay with Terry, Zegras, Carlsson, and McTavish as forwards and Mintyukov as a quarterback is a pretty scary thing for the opposition to think about if you ask me. Zegras and Terry combined for only 7 points this season while playing in all 9 games so far and they need to improve on those numbers for sure. Another bad thing in their play this season is that them two are the only forwards on the Ducks with minus stats in the plus/minus category and that is one concern with this team at this point. But if you ask me they will improve at some point and will likely be stable players with at least 60 points per season while playing behind McTavish and Carlsson.
The Ducks are currently on the East Coast as they have their first road trip of the season and are currently 4-0-0 while recording wins against the Blue Jackets, Flyers, Bruins, and the Penguins. Despite not playing against teams like the Rangers or Lightning this is still an impressive road trip and one that this team should build around. There is much potential and a lot to look forward to in Anaheim.
