Ducks' Cutter Gauthier comes full circle in 'wake up call' rookie season

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Cutter Gauthier’s rookie year has come full circle.

When the season began, there was hope that the future first-line connection of the Anaheim Ducks was put together with then 19-year-old dynamic playmaking center Leo Carlsson and then 20-year-old triggerman winger Gauthier.

The young Swede and Swedish-born American were paired together with veteran Alex Killorn, and the expectation was their games were suited for each other. Carlsson would continue to develop as the franchise cornerstone, and Gauthier would embark on an explosive Calder Trophy campaign.

That specific threesome lasted just five games and produced just one goal at five-on-five. Carlsson and Gauthier were paired together for another two games without any further production.

Aside from some power play time, the two were not paired together again until last week, when following a 6-2 drubbing in St. Louis and trailing in Dallas, the Ducks shook up the lines mid-game to find anything to snap out of a free fall.

For the first time in 61 games, Gauthier was on Carlsson’s wing opposite of Killorn, and the Ducks got out running. The speed and presence of Gauthier, now 21, became a danger, and opened space for Carlsson, now 20, to earn a penalty shot, which then put the Ducks ahead before an eventual overtime defeat.

In the three games since, the trio has been Anaheim’s most consistently dangerous line, and Gauthier is back on the top wing.

“Definitely worked my way back up,” Gauthier said. “I've always been comfortable playing with Leo, and we have a good chemistry off the ice, so it's pretty fun to play with him. I feel like we read each other really well, both similar, really good skaters and crafty.

“And Killer, obviously, with all the experience he has, he just tells us to go skate and he'll find us.”

Killorn’s veteran knack has certainly been on display as well with points in his last three games, including primary assists to both Carlsson and Gauthier in Wednesday’s win over Boston.

“(Gauthier) has a little bit of confidence,” Killorn said. “He's always been a great skater, great shot, but I think his ability to hold onto the puck and make plays is what's really gonna make him a great player. I think he's improved in that sense.”

When Gauthier struggled early in the season–he didn’t score his first NHL goal until his 17th career game, unusual for a player that led the NCAA in goals in his last season at Boston College–Ducks coach Greg Cronin sent him to the third line, and at times the fourth line, to hone in on the finer points of the professional game.

Cronin said Gauthier’s elite speed and shot were immediately evident on the tape. The second-year coach noted Gauthier’s unique release that allows him to shoot from different angles but still with plenty of heat. However, there was a greater awareness in both zones that the natural scorer lacked.

“What I've learned in my relationship with him is that there's certain parts of the game that the NHL guys do naturally well,” Cronin said, “and you can rely on them as a coach being really good at it. Part of it’s (defensive) zone arrivals. They'll shoulder check, they'll look around, they'll get a sense of what's going on behind them before they make a decision. He wasn't doing any of that, like zero.”

“I was like, what the hell?” Cronin continued with a laugh. “You come down to the D zone and just stare at the puck and he's got attackers right behind him. Just that awareness of what's going on around him, both defensively and offensively was very absent. And I think, as he started to look, he started to slow the game down defensively, and offensively, ironically, it has come later for him.”

Gauthier said he was frustrated initially with the demotion, but it was a necessary eye-opener about what the real differences between the NHL and college are.

“You never want to play in the bottom six minutes, but I think it was something that was needed for my game,” Gauthier said. “Never kind of seen that perspective before… you have to fight for pucks a little bit more. You gotta be a bit more physical. You gotta set up the ground game instead of making everything look pretty and cute.”

With 41 games being the most Gauthier played in a college season, he said he’s been able to monitor his progress by splitting the 82-game NHL season in half. Gauthier is one of just three Ducks to play in all 71 games so far, and his numbers reflect an improvement.

In his first 41 games, Gauthier scored five goals, racked up 13 assists and posted a minus-1 rating. Two goals and four assists came on the power play, and despite being fourth among rookies in shots on goal, he had just a 6.1% shooting percentage.

“He was just taking pucks and chucking them to the net. But to me, they weren't purposeful shots.” Cronin said, again pointing to the rookie awareness factor. “They were reactionary shots that were tied to his natural DNA, which was I’m a shooter. I'm a shooter, I’m a shooter. Well, you turn on the puck over in the NHL, because if you don't hit the net, it's going out the other side, and they're coming out on a breakout.”

In Gauthier’s last 30 games, he has nine goals and eight assists–all at even-strength–and a plus-5 rating. Despite his average ice-time shrinking by over a minute, his shots per game are actually up by 0.4, but Gauthier’s shooting percentage has doubled to 12.5%.

Gauthier is now fourth in rookie goals with 14 and fifth in rookie points with 35.

“I’ve always been a volume shooter,” Gauthier said. “I've been able to score every single level shooting from anywhere in the O-zone, especially last year in college. I would score from pretty much about everywhere. At the start of the year, I didn't really change that too much, but now, I'm not gonna score on NHL goalies from the blue (line). Once in a blue moon I might, but just trying to pick my spots better, and if there's a better play to be made, I'm willing to make it.”

Gauthier said he wants to complete the full 82 games of his rookie campaign, and while hitting that mark and improving his offensive output are positives, he wouldn’t say he’s fulfilled by his first NHL season.

With a year of learning under his belt, Gauthier is hungry for more.

“I thought coming into it, it’s the NHL, it is the hardest league in the world. I thought it was gonna be a smooth transition, but it's not always like that,” Gauthier said. “It was a nice wake up call that you gotta put your work boots on and come to work every single day and I got a lot more to prove, and it'll be a fun summer going into the next year.”