Ducks’ Leo Carlsson deserves so much more love for his strong play

The Anaheim Ducks were a popular pick to be a breakout team in the Western Conference this season, and while much of that hope rested upon the upgrade behind the bench that was the hiring of Joel Quenneville, a lot of it also had to do with growth from its talented young nucleus.

One of the main stars of that group is center Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft who put up 45 points in 76 games a year ago, but both the eye test and his underlying statistics suggested he performed at an even higher level than that.

With a three-point night that included a smooth overtime winner in Saturday night’s win over the San Jose Sharks, Carlsson lent some credence to the idea that he could be one of the big breakout stars of this NHL season.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed Carlsson’s performance and growth, and what it means for the outlook of a young, talented Ducks team moving forward:

Tyler Yaremchuk: I’m going to give my “Man of the Weekend” to Leo Carlsson out in Anaheim. I think this a guy, you know top-five pick, but a top five pick who outside of that market almost doesn’t have a lot for fanfare around him… I think there are some flashier players that are even a part of that rebuild… You look at Leo Carlsson, and sometimes these high-end prospects who are really known for their defensive game, but you look at what Carlsson’s doing right now, OT winner gives the Ducks their first win of the season, and he’s starting to produce.

Carter Hutton: This feels like the team out West. This is the team we’ve talked about so much in Anaheim. There’s so much potential. There’s so many things that are going the right way, the way that it’s built, and Leo Carlsson is quietly one of those guys too.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…