NHL.com’s fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the underlying metrics behind the Anaheim Ducks’ breakout season.
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One month into this season, the Anaheim Ducks have blossomed into a high-flying offense and are leading the Pacific Division standings with many strong advanced metrics.
The Ducks, who are 9-3-1 in their first 13 games have the second-best points percentage in the NHL (.731) behind the Colorado Avalanche (.750), have blended their elite young core with veteran leadership and coaching under three-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville.
Anaheim leads the League in goals per game (4.15) this season, a drastic turnaround after it finished near the bottom of the League last season (2.65; 30th out of 32 teams). Led by recent top-five picks Leo Carlsson (No. 2 pick in 2023 NHL Draft), Cutter Gauthier (No. 5 pick by Philadelphia Flyers in 2022 NHL Draft), Beckett Sennecke (No. 3 pick in 2024 NHL Draft) and Mason McTavish (No. 3 pick in 2021 NHL Draft), the Ducks have the most combined points (65), goals (27) and assists (38) by 23-or-younger players in the NHL this season.
The addition of goal-scoring wing Chris Kreider (nine goals in nine games; most among offseason movers), who was acquired from the New York Rangers on June 12, has sparked an offensive outburst; the Ducks have the NHL’s top two players in goals per game with Kreider (1.00; first) and Gauthier (0.85; second). Anaheim has also already set a franchise record for most seven-goal games in a single season with four in their first 13 games, becoming the second team to do that over the past 30 seasons (other: Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019-20).
Here are three underlying reasons the Ducks can sustain their surprising start and end their six-season Stanley Cup Playoff drought this season:
1. High-danger goals
The Ducks have scored 28 high-danger goals, the second most in the NHL this season behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (29 in 14 games). Kreider is tied for the League lead in high-danger goals (seven) this season and leads that category since the start of the puck and player tracking era (123 since 2021-22). Forwards Troy Terry, Kreider’s frequent linemate, and Sennecke also rank highly in high-danger goals (four each; 90th percentile) this season.
Anaheim leads the NHL with five point-per-game players this season: Carlsson (1.54), Gauthier (1.38), Terry (1.31), Kreider (1.11) and Mikael Granlund (1.00), who signed with the Ducks this offseason but is currently out with a lower-body injury. Carlsson became the fastest Anaheim player to reach 20 points in a season since Teemu Selanne in 1995-96 (each did so in 13 games).
