Ducks Must Get Leo Carlsson Going

In his second NHL season, Leo Carlsson is finding points harder to come by. Sophomore slumps are real—and understandable.

Matty Beniers dropped 20 points from his rookie season total of 57 in his sophomore season. He looks set to easily pass that total this season.

Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli—who were drafted right before and right after Carlsson, respectively—have been going through their own struggles, though both have started to pick up the scoring pace of late.

For Carlsson, the points have been few and far between. He has just 15 points this season and four of those have come in the last month. The Ducks’ scoring issues this season have been well-documented and part of that is because Carlsson hasn’t been able to get going offensively.

“I want to score more points,” Carlsson said. I think I played well these couple games, just not scoring. It's a little frustrating too, but you’ve just got to keep going. Can’t be too mad about that even though I’m trying to produce every game, but it's just not happening right now.”

“I think we all projected Leo to be taking the next step this year and be more of a dominant offensive player,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “I've spoken to him about that a couple of times. I think he's got an incredible amount of talent and I think he's capable of being a point-per-game player in this league.”

Now, it’s not all on Carlsson, who is pegged to be a crucial part of the Ducks’ rebuild, to be the driving force behind the offense. The team has more than enough players capable of providing offense in Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier, to name a few.

Related: Takeaways from the Ducks 6-0 Loss to the Flyers, 3-2 OT Win over the Canes

The issue for Carlsson is that the offensive chances have not been generated at a consistent rate. Part of that has been due to line composition. Alex Killorn is a fine complement and does well to support Carlsson by winning board battles and providing him with the puck when he can.

However, Carlsson’s other flank hasn’t been abundant with offensive talent. Brock McGinn, Isac Lundeström and Brett Leason are all hard-working forwards who can forecheck with ferocity, but their offensive ceilings are limited.

On Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes, Sam Colangelo played alongside Carlsson and Killorn and helped create several offensive chances. Recently named an AHL All-Star, Colangelo had been playing with Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome since his recall on Jan. 8.

Having another player on his wing who can compete for the puck while also adding a scoring touch will do wonders for Carlsson’s chance creation. Whether that’s continuing to keep Colangelo with him or reconnecting him with Trevor Zegras—who is still currently recovering from meniscus surgery and not on the road trip—when the latter is healthy, it’s clear that Carlsson hasn’t been at his best this season.

“He’s got that Mike Modano look to him when he's skating through the neutral zone,” Cronin said. “He’s got to establish himself as a driver on a line. You can skate, but you've got to drive. Everything’s going to come through the middle of the ice, most of the time through the neutral zone.

“And then we've talked about it, driving inside ice, getting to the front of the net and stopping there. Get in the offensive zone and pulling pucks off the end wall and building momentum towards the net, okay. Once he gets more and more comfortable doing those things in the interior of the ice, I think his game's going to explode.”

Carlsson is just 20 years old, so there isn’t any cause for major concern. But putting the young Swede in better positions to succeed—like surrounding him with linemates of better quality—will go a long way toward making sure he reaches his offensive ceiling in due time.