In his second NHL season, Leo Carlsson is finding it harder to rack up points. Sophomore slumps are real and understandable.
Matty Beniers dropped 20 points from his rookie season total of 57 in his second season. It looks like he will easily pass that total this season.
Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli – who were drafted just before and after Carlsson, respectively – have gone through their own struggles, though both have started to pick up the scoring pace of late.
Points were scarce for Carlsson. He has only 15 points this season, four of which came in the last month. The Ducks’ scoring woes this season have been well documented, and part of that is because Carlsson couldn’t get going offensively.
“I want to score more points,” Carlsson said. I think I played well in these few games, but I didn’t score. It’s also a bit frustrating, but you just have to keep going. I can’t be too upset about that, even though I try to produce every game, it’s just not happening right now.
“I think we all expected Leo to take the next step this year and become a more dominant offensive player,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “I talked to him about that a few times. I think he has an incredible amount of talent and I think he is capable of being a point-per-game player in this league.”
It won’t just be up to Carlsson, who will be a crucial part of the Ducks’ rebuild, to be the driving force behind the offense. The team has plenty of players who can play offensively, such as 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 problem for Carlsson is that the attacking opportunities have not been generated at a consistent pace. Part of that is due to the line composition. Alex Killorn is a great addition and does a good job of supporting Carlsson by winning board battles and getting him the puck when he can.
However, Carlsson’s other flank was not abundantly supplied with attacking talent. Brock McGinn, Isac Lundeström and Brett Leason are all hard-working forwards who can anticipate with ferocity, but their attacking ceilings are limited.
On Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes, Sam Colangelo played alongside Carlsson and Killorn and helped create several offensive opportunities. Colangelo was recently named an AHL All-Star and has played with Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome since his Jan. 8 recall.
Having another player on his wing who can compete for the puck while adding a scoring touch will do wonders for Carlsson’s chance creation. Whether it means keeping Colangelo with him or reconnecting him with Trevor Zegras – who is currently still recovering from meniscus surgery and not traveling – when the latter is healthy, it’s clear that Carlsson won’t be at his best this season has been the best.
“He has that Mike Modano look to him when he skates through the neutral zone,” Cronin said. ‘He has to profile himself as a driver on the line. You can skate, but you have to drive. Everything will come through the middle of the ice, usually through the neutral zone.
“And then we talked about driving through the ice, getting to the front of the net and stopping there. Stand in the offensive zone and pull the pucks off the end wall and build momentum toward the net, okay. Once he gets more and more comfortable doing those things on the ice, I think his game will explode.”
Carlsson is only 20 years old, so there is no cause for major concern. But putting the young Swede in better positions to succeed – such as surrounding him with better quality linemates – will go a long way toward helping him reach his attacking ceiling in due time.
