Things are coming together for the Ducks.
If you look underneath the hood and dig around a little, you can see some potential red flags with the team’s defensive performance. Nobody is allowing more expected goals per 60 minutes during 5-on-5 play than the Ducks, and there is a sizable gap between them and the next-worst team. It’s a concern.
What’s not a concern, though, is the young talent on offense. They are the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging more than four goals per game, and have already scored seven goals in four different games. Leo Carlsson is turning into the star Anaheim hoped he would be, and Cutter Gauthier can not stop scoring goals at the moment.
There might be some regression that takes place here at some point, but the young talent is legit and the Ducks have built themselves a nice cushion in the standings for when the regression does hit. The playoffs are within reach thanks to this start.