The Anaheim Ducks are winning games by doing what everyone expected them to do: score.
At 10-7-1 with 21 points, they’ve stayed right in the Pacific Division mix, and they’ve done it while going 5-0-0 since Halloween. That run has come with some ugly edges - a +3 goal differential, 69 goals scored and 66 allowed, both fourth-most in the NHL - but the Ducks keep finding ways to outgun opponents. Their power play has been a major weapon, clicking at 38.5% so far this season.
The scoring binge has reached historic territory, too. Anaheim became the first team since the 1991-92 Penguins to score at least five goals in seven straight games, then pushed the streak to eight against that same franchise, becoming the first team to do that since the 1988-89 Kings.
The headliners are exactly the players Anaheim paid to carry the load. Cutter Gauthier has been on fire with 15 goals and 22 points, while Leo Carlsson has six goals and 26 points.
Carlsson’s deal has been one of the biggest financial swings of the Ducks’ offseason. The former No. 2 overall pick in 2023 signed an offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2026 offseason - five years at a $18MM AAV - and Anaheim matched it. Keeping the 21-year-old Swedish star meant committing 17.3% of the cap hit to him, an unusual move for any team.
That decision helped reshape the roster around him. Anaheim moved veteran defensemen John Carlson to Tampa and captain Radko Gudas to Florida, while Jacob Trouba went to the neighboring Sharks.
The Ducks also sent Mason McTavish to St. Louis and Olen Zellweger to Buffalo.
After paying Pavel Mintyukov, they also had to release Chris Kreider to make room for the other scoring leader.
The money tied up in the forward group is massive, with nearly $70MM of the cap hit from the Gauthier extension spread across just 12 forwards. Gauthier had previously turned down a deal worth $13MM annually, but a bump to $13.5MM got it done.
Before those extensions, Carlsson and Gauthier were combining to make $1.9MM, which worked out to roughly $80K per point based on last season’s contracts and this year’s production. Now, with $31.5M on Anaheim’s annual books, that figure sits at $1.3MM for every point they produce.
The Ducks have kept investing in the next wave, too. Tristan Luneau got a $7.2MM extension that begins next season, and he’s sixth on the team in scoring with 13 points in the final year of his entry-level deal.
Jackson LaCombe also landed a major commitment, signing an eight-year, $9MM AAV extension during the offseason turnover. He has 22 points, and 21 of them are assists.
LaCombe is riding a 10-game point/assist streak, second only to Connor McDavid for the longest in the league this season, and his assist run is the longest by a defenseman in the NHL since Quinn Hughes’ 11-game streak in late January and early February of 2026, when Hughes had 17.
Anaheim has clearly leaned into youth. The team is the second youngest in the NHL at 25.93 years old on average, and it has the fewest total NHL games played of any team in the league. The top five scorers are averaging 24.4 years old, with veteran Mikael Granlund providing the older presence at age 34 and 20 points through 17 games.
There are still some warning signs. The Ducks are one of the league’s fastest teams, with 28 bursts above +22 mph, which ranks third in the NHL.
They’ve also been efficient at even strength, converting 21 of 137 high-danger chances for a 13.3% rate, second only to the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes. But their 5-on-5 possession is still below 50%, and the defensive side needs work.
Of the 66 goals they’ve allowed, 19 have come at the doorstep of Lukas Dostal, and cleaning that up will be a major test for this group.
In Other News...
Ducks Prospect Suddenly Faces A Tough Question About His Future
Jake Lees path through the Ducks development pipeline has taken another turn, with San Diego sending the defenseman to Tulsa in the ECHL. The move adds another layer to a season that has already seen him bounce between leagues, a reminder of how quickly the margin can narrow for prospects trying to stay in the AHL picture.
Lee has built a strong resume before turning pro, including Canada West Mens Hockey Top Defenseman honors and multiple all-star selections, so the talent has long been part of the conversation. The question now is whether this latest assignment is simply a reset or a sign that his next step with Anaheims organization may take a little longer to arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Cutter Gauthier Is Giving Ducks Fans A Breakout They Had To See
Cutter Gauthier keeps finding new ways to make the Ducks look like a team arriving ahead of schedule. In Thursdays 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the young forward added another hat trick to a season that is quickly turning into a weekly headline, and Anaheims offense kept rolling in a way the franchise has not seen in decades. The Ducks have now scored at least five goals in eight straight games, a run that reaches back to a level last matched by the 1988-90 LA Kings.
For Gauthier, the production has been impossible to ignore. Through 17 games, he already has 15 goals and seven assists, placing him among the league leaders in both categories and giving Anaheim a centerpiece it can build around in a hurry. The only lingering question now is how long this surge can last, because the Ducks are no longer just getting a hot streak from a promising scorer, they are getting a breakout that is starting to reshape expectations. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Offense Is Becoming Impossible For The NHL To Ignore
Around the league, the conversation keeps drifting toward the Ducks for all the right reasons. Anaheims offense has turned into a problem opponents cannot simply skate past, with the power play doing heavy damage and the group finding ways to pile up goals in bunches. It is the kind of stretch that changes how teams prepare for a matchup, especially when the puck starts going in at a pace that forces everyone to take notice.
Cutter Gauthier has been at the center of it, giving the Ducks a new layer of finishing punch and making this surge feel less like a fluke than a warning. Even as other games around the NHL turn chippy and chaotic, Anaheims recent scoring burst has become the cleaner, louder storyline, and it is putting the rest of the league on alert about how dangerous this team can be when its attack gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]