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Before Wednesday's game, they had won five in a row. They have won eight consecutive games in which they have scored five goals. They have a player who has scored three hat-tricks in the last five games and yet he is not at the forefront of the team. And by the way, I'd like to remind you that this team was considered one of the biggest losers last offseason. Let's honor the Ducks today. This is Top Shelf presented by Enterprise. Players need good wheels and so do you. So we're here for hockey people, with a huge range of vehicles and a great team to help you find the right player.
Before this season started, I remember we discussed an idea with you about the significant losses the Ducks suffered last offseason. They finally ended an eight-year playoff drought last year, boasting a lot of young players, but also some very experienced players. I really liked their combination. Obviously they lost in six games to the Golden Knights who went on to reach the Finals. So it's not like things were looking bad by any means. Yes. Defeated the Oilers. This team certainly looked successful.
Really fun and they were in really good condition. dropped almost a third of his team. So they lost, they traded Mason MacTavish, Olli Juolevi, Jacob Trouba somewhere else, Radko Gudas somewhere else, John Carlson somewhere else, and Chris Kreider out as well. These were six guys who were big contributors to a playoff team. They were a very young team last year with their young players, but are now the second youngest team in hockey currently. And now they are back in a playoff spot. On 23 October, the team was ranked 24th in the league in goals scored. They are now fourth in the league in goals scored. Like in weeks two and three, they have scored 42 goals in their last eight games.
They currently have five players averaging a point per game or better. What's going on in Anaheim? How did they manage to fix everything so early in the season? As I said, I had no expectations for this team after the offseason. Those six players left and I think in exchange for those six players they got the only player to play an NHL game, Nikita Klapov, who has no points in four games, six penalty minutes. And I think they spent some money on AJ Greer, which wasn't a good signing, but Nick Jensen was released. NICK Yeah. I think we can still sit here and say the offseason was terrible, but this team is being pushed forward.
They are winning the game. The team is being led by an emerging young player. And that's the biggest thing, of course. Let's talk about this. How did they get here? This is actually the question of the day. How are the Ducks so hot right now? I beg your pardon, Josh. Well, I mean, thank goodness they matched Leo Carlson's offer sheet, right? Pat Verbeek messed that whole thing up to the point where people were thinking about taking four first-round picks.
You can't have the number one center in your building every day. So yeah, Leo Carlson is awesome. Cutter Gauthier, you immediately mentioned that he's scoring goals at an incredible rate and I attribute his recent success to his Hometown Remix jersey. Ok. I think this is the biggest reason. The vibes, I love it. Look good, feel good, play good, right? I like it. So let's get started. Yeah, this team has been a lot of fun lately. Cutter Gauthier has scored 13 goals in six games. Incredible. Saying it out loud, it feels like no matter how many times he scored three hat-tricks.
Yes, it is incredible. He had two goals in his first 11 games and was a shot- generation machine, and we knew that from last season, right? He's a really fun player and I think you see him making headlines because of the hat tricks and everything he's doing. You think about Leo Carlson and the offer sheet saga and his great start to the season but I think there are some players in this discussion that are underrated, like Beckett Seneca has continued his progression from a player who was a surprise third overall pick, right? Like his reaction was surprising. It was surprising, wasn't it? Like in terms of that progression, he wasn't just a good third
overall pick, he was the right pick, yeah. Which is madness. And you think, like, coming back to the draft, you got me thinking a little bit, like, how much of a home run was the Carlson pick? Because at that time many people were shocked by this. Everyone expected Adam Fantilli to finish second overall. It seemed like a safe choice and Carlsen is a 10 times better player than Fantilli. Yes, it's a big achievement for that team as they've done very little to finish in the top five. Some surprising selections or going against the tide, and they have done that not just in the top five, but also in the top three and
both have played well. Like, Seneca was a player who was expected to go at No. 9, 10, 11, and they took him at No. 3, and man, it feels great. And then the other player is Jackson LaCombe and this team would be nowhere without Jackson LaCombe and his breakout. The most important player on their team right now considering they have other forwards who can carry the load if someone else is out, but they do n't have any other D even close to Jackson LaCombe's level of play. Especially after those three and then Seneca is 20th in points. Where does Gauthier stand on this list? I know Gauthier is second or third in goals.
Carlsen is ranked 11th in points. So I mean, those four players, at the age they are, they're phenomenal this season. And then, of course, we shouldn't forget to mention Mikael Granlund, the second-leading point-per-game player. Look, time has gone back. I mean, is there any player who is less expected of him this season? Man, I thought he was completely lost at one point. What were you talking to him about in Pittsburgh Years ago, he had 41 points at age 30 and was a throw-in during the Karlsson trade era to get rid of his salary.
Five points in 20 games or something like that. Here he is, a team captain, scoring over a point per game, with two kids, Gauthier and Seneca. Like, this is really interesting. in the league in terms of points. He has more points than Mitch Marner. He has more points than Tag Thompson. Jason Robertson. It always comes back to Jason. Oh yes. Oh no, it's been incredible. As such, he looked like a player who would be in Europe right now. To be perfectly honest. Even for a good portion of his prime years, it felt like, hey, can this player even play center? Maybe he's better as a winger and now he's a stud playing center.
Age 34. And like you talked about earlier with the Ducks, it looked like they were a team that was just about to fall apart after a breakout season last year and what the kids have done is really impressive. I also want to thank Tristan Jerry who found that amazing extension. 14 games into his NHL career and he's already a top-four contributor. He's just below the five players we talked about who give up points per game. Yes, so you get it. Yes. Very impressive. Of course, the kind of run-and-gun hockey they're playing makes Joel Quenneville want to pull his hair out. That's the other side of it, isn't it? Like we've talked a lot about the offense and
how fun this team has been and they're winning games, so there's praise to be given for that. They've had brutal goaltending, which you probably wouldn't expect for a long time because Lukas Dostal is looking like a great goalie and save percentage entering Wednesday. Yes, I have him in my fantasy hockey league and I am well aware of his save percentage. Um, but every Gold, every goaltender on the roster is below 880, so they're not getting good backup goaltending or anything right now.
Um, and it's like how much can you beat your problems? Like you can do that right now in November. Yes. You can do that in March and April, right? As it always is, that's the question for these young teams. I think there's a huge opportunity to improve on the blue line and certainly help that, but I think the most promising thing is that they're still able to compete and win games with this young core, which I think a lot of us were pretty skeptical about coming into the season. Yes. And let's not forget how close this young core was to being in Philadelphia. good effort. Good effort by the Flyers, but uh good opportunity as well as overpaying for everybody.
Like being outside of everything. Like they had to essentially cut Chris Kreider because of it. So yes, indeed. So uh yeah, on that note, let's get to our enterprise top pick question of the week. Which young core would you most like to build around? We have four options here, the four guys we've talked about with Anaheim, Gauthier, Carlson, Seneke, LaCombe. We have the Sharks with Celebrini, Will Smith, Stenberg and Misa. Then we have the Habs. Of course, we have Habs, Caufield, Hutson, Slavkovsky and Demidov. And we threw the Blackhawks in there because they're still trying to build something. So, they have Bedard. I know.
Bedard is the projection there. Yes. Bedard, Frontale, Byrum and Knight. We'll start with you, Josh. Which of these do you go with? I'm projecting a bit here, but I have to take the shark. Just man, Macklin Celebrini, like you would n't want to build around that guy? He is by far the best player among all these players mentioned here. Easily the best young player in the league without question. Probably close to the best player in the league. Obviously, McDavid is on a completely different level right now. But you know, you have four guys who were picked in the top four, three were
picked in the top two. Stenberg has looked pretty solid so far. Will Smith has already had a very productive season. We still have to see more of Misa, but I mean, I still like the player a lot. I like projection. I wish it had something like D. They don't really have that. Dickinson looks fine. Verhaeghe is coming in, but yeah, that four-pack of forwards is next level and they're all 21 or under. So, I'm taking the shark. There really can be no mistake about it. Kyle. Give me the Habs. Like this is the core that's already there. Like some of them technically have Cup Final experience, but they just went to the Eastern Conference Finals. You have a big-bodied power forward. You have a slick goal scorer. You have a
slick playmaker in Demidov. And then you have one of the NHL's most unique players in Len Hutson. It's important to have a defender there. If you want to extend it to five, I'd throw Jacob Fowler in there as well. I know I'm going against the rules, but I can get a goaltender in there. I really like the core makeup of the Habs. And I think because they've already gotten there, they've already gotten to the playoffs, they've already gotten to the conference finals, I like what they're going to do in the future as well. Yes, but are you still worried that there is no center in that group I have Nick Suzuki. I know that doesn't count. No, I think you have a power forward who can win you playoff games and
with Slavkowski where you hope his progression continues, Caufield and elite goal scorers. As such they are an unconventional team in many ways that they have built. So I'm not worried about not having a center in that mix. Yes, okay. Give me the ducks. We've been talking about them this whole time. I mean what do we have? There are four people in the top 25 in points. The oldest is Lacombe at 25, followed by Gauthier and Carlsen at 22. 22 Seneca is 20 years old. Like he is number one for his age. You have a real number one center and a real number one D.
You have everything. So yeah, Anaheim is the place where you can build a team around four guys who are so good so quickly. And again with Karlsson, with Seneke, even with Gauthier, like he was kind of pushed out by the Flyers. He didn't want to be there. That was a question mark in a way. Like everyone here, besides Lacombe, was a question mark at one point. This is what it looks like when four people are completely successful. So give me the ducks, man. Sorry Black Hawks, none of us picked you. Sorry. But that's why we do the Enterprise Top Picks poll because you can vote in the comments or in the community poll. If anyone thinks the Black Hawks are right, feel free to tell us why.
Yeah, feel free to tell us why, but no, this has been a fun episode. It's fun to, you know, give a team that's not always in the spotlight a little praise and shine a light on the Ducks when they're playing so well. We have to do this. So they left us no choice. I'm excited to see how this team progresses throughout the season. And those four guys, man. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what those guys do. So yeah, this has been a fun episode. This is Top Shelf presented by Enterprise.
We'll see you next week.
