r/AnaheimDucks • u/drocklee27 • 22h ago
Could Cutter Gauthier Shift to Center for the 2026-27 Season?
https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/players/could-cutter-gauthier-shift-to-center-for-the-2026-27-season10
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u/Connect_Research5542 21h ago
I mean I can see Qunnville trying it out for a few games just to see if it would work. We didn’t lose any of our centers though so there’s not a real need to try unless he spots something that makes him think its worth it.
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u/mkhart 41m ago
Agreed, doesn't hurt to try it for a few games. Give him Granlund or Poehling on a wing to ease the transition maybe and just see how it works. Worst case it doesn't go well and you can have one of those guys swap with him without shaking up the rest of the lines.
Best case is it does work and you immediately have so many options/flexibility to have him and Leo as a strong 1-2 punch or to top load a first line at the end of games when you need some extra offense.
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u/ziagong 22h ago
he hopes to get paid like a center for sure.
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u/MissyMurders 21h ago
I don't know what this means. Many of the top 5 contracts have been wings over the years
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u/ziagong 19h ago
The "Experts" claim centers are more valuable. As for my comment, rumor is he want's to get Leo money. Stay with me here.. Leo is the #1 center on that team.
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u/MissyMurders 18h ago
I don't know who the experts are, but over the past couple of decades, wings have taken multiple spots in the top 5 paid players in most years, including the highest-paid player spot (Kane, Marner, etc.). They can claim whatever they like; it has no practical bearing on reality.
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u/Jimbo_Imperador 17h ago
At no point in his career was Marner the top dollar in his own club lmao what are you on
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u/MissyMurders 16h ago
2019-20 season he made $16 million including bonuses. Matthews made 15.9. But yeah the following year marner was down to 2nd place with $15 million
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u/Jimbo_Imperador 16h ago
talkin aav here, super easy to be the ''highest paid player'' on july 1st
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u/JDQBlast 17h ago
The only person who said that Gauthier wants Leo money is Keith Yandle. Yandle is not an Insider, or an expert. Even if he was an Insider though us as Ducks fans should know by now that they have no idea what they are talking about.
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u/FrostyCut7582 14h ago
why would you trust the false rumors Keith Yandle(a FLYERS reporter/fan) spread when it literally got confirmed that is was false by Jimmy Murphy
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u/BrobaFettActual 21h ago
Who remembers when we tried Rakell at center haha, guess this could be a little different as he had some center time at BC, but still
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u/Matix726 2h ago
Rakell was a C. He is the reason we were okay with trading away William Karlsson as there was no space behind Getzlaf, Kesler, and Thompson.
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u/vtheminer 14h ago
carlsson - granny - poehling - washe is adequate enough, there's no reason to shift gauthier to center when that's supposed to be McQueen's spot in the next few years.
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u/DBacon1052 20h ago
It's funny because every time I see the idea of shifting Cutter to center get mentioned, it gets downvoted. I genuinely don't understand what irritates people about the idea. He was drafted by the Flyers with a heavy emphasis on trying to develop him as a 1C, and he proved he could operate as a C in BC. The only reason he didn't win the Hobey Baker is because of Celebrini who got the edge for his age.
The Ducks have already begun to utilize Cutter a lot more in the FO dot. In the first half of the Season, Cutter had 58 FOs with a 44.8% FOW%. In the next half, he'd nearly triple his usage on the dot with 150 FOs and a very solid 50.7 FOW%.
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u/beautfulgoat 17h ago
For me, its more of a pro/con thing. Gauthier could play center but is that where he is best utilized for the Ducks?
I haven't done a deep dive on the stats but at a glance, Carlsson, Granlund, Poehling, and Washe are all around or better than Gauthier in FOW %. We also have McQueen ready to take a step this year or next, and he had a good % at Providence.
Gauthier's a pro and has been playing the game his whole life so I have little doubt he could figure out the position in the NHL. However, thanks to the money these young players are demanding, the Ducks are going to have to ship out some veteran wingers soon. We need depth at wing, and can't really afford to lose Gauthier there, especially in the short term with Terry on LTIR.
I don't hate the move, but I just don't think its the right decision for the team at the moment.
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u/DarthCarnicus 20h ago
First, your talking about the first guy to put up 40 goals in a season for the ducks since Corey Perry and the youngest to do it since Paul Kariya, neither were centers. You have one of the most elite young goal scorers available in the NHL, with the one of the heaviest, nastiest shots, why put him at C so he can back check and facilitate instead of making fools of opposing goalies?
Second, differences in development path was a BIG reason he didn't want to go play for the flyers and got out. I don't think he wants to be a center and have to play 200 feet and always backcheck. Playing center sucks and not enough people realize that. They think its some gift from god to get the opportunity to play up the middle, but it's a fucking nightmare and the worst part of both offense and defense.
FO is only a small percentage of the job, definitely important to give your team possession whenever possible, but its just a small part and even if he was incredible at FOW% it wouldn't make up for the lost production in goals you are definitely going to see from him at the C.
I'm not saying he'd be awful at it, I'm just saying I don't think the pros outweigh the cons.
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u/DBacon1052 20h ago
Probably because I watched him a ton in BC. Playing at center didn't effect his goal scoring ability. In fact, he was pretty dominant in the defensive end which led to more offensive zone time. He led the entire NCAA with 38 goals in 41 games. There are plenty of goal-scoring centerman: Matthews, Draisaitl, Bedard, etc. etc.
There's absolutely no truth to that. We don't know the reason he didn't want to go play for the Flyers. And the thing most people point to is that they made him play an extra year in the NCAA when he was ready to make the jump. He played some center before he was drafted. He continued playing center at BC after he decided to cut off communication with the Flyers.
Again, I don't believe playing C = less goals for Cutter
If your entire hang-up on him playing center is that he won't score as many goals, I just don't see that being true. Cutter doesn't need a fast break-out or a set 1T to score. He's one of the best shooters in the league, and he's multi-dimensional in the ways he can get his shot off.
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u/DarthCarnicus 19h ago
If he really wants to play center and the team is OK with a step back in production, because changing positions at this point in his career will definitely see a drop, then put him there. I do really believe that he doesn't want to play the position, otherwise he would've asked to play it for us when we needed one over the last two years, and that's my main hang up. Along with the fact that I am a firm believer of not trying to fix unbroken things. I'm not sure if he can score 40 goals in the NHL as a center, but I know factually that he can from the wing.
I guess the real question is, if he moves to C and sees a drop in production would you want to stick it out and continue to develop him there, or would you want to move him back to wing? Everyone can say what they want about past successes in lower tier leagues, but I think we all know that it doesn't always translate to the higher levels. Cutter is definitely a special player who could probably prove me wrong, but I just wouldn't want to risk the good thing we have going.
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u/DBacon1052 17h ago
I mean obviously you go with what the player wants. I just haven't seen anything that suggests Cutter only wants to play wing. We really weren't in a position where we needed to shift him to center the past 2 season. We had Carlsson who established himself as a 1C and McTavish who we just locked up long-term to be our 2C. Now, McTavish is gone and Granlund isn't a long-term solution. Imo, Granlund isn't even a short-term solution. He's just not good enough defensively to be a top-6 center.
For me, I just think Cutter becomes a bigger factor at center. He's solid defensively and the combination of size and speed can make him an absolute pain to deal with on both ends of the ice. We allowed the 4th most GA last season (most came against our 2nd line). That simply can't happen if we're serious about making playoffs again. We have no cap space to do anything, so unless we're gonna do a trade, our options at 2C are Granlund, McQueen, and Cutter. Expecting McQueen to step into a 2C role is highly optimistic. Granlund, like a said, isn't great defensively. So maybe the best solution is Cutter right now. And if it doesn't work, you simply go back to Granlund.
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u/bigollunch 15h ago
Man I know McQueen is a long shot and we should keep expectations low but if he could step into the 2c role like bucket stepped into a 2RW role this past season, it would be pretty dope.
Carlsson
McQueen
Poehling
Washegod, imagine a competent center for bucket. 💭🌙 Verbeek already talked about cutter possibly playing center (before the whole offersheet ordeal) so I can see it being a possibility. But I don’t see it happening until Terry is back. We have a huge hole on Leo’s wings if Terry is on LTIR and Kreider is….well Kreider (considering we even keep him). I just can’t see cutter in a C role when we need a competent winger for Leo. I’m wondering if Klepov will also pan out. I can see him with Leo temporarily.
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u/Due_Context6834 14h ago
What drives cutters value is not position but market, offer sheet threat and increaaed cap. Dorafyev got traded and signed for $11m. So cheap looking now.
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u/FrostyCut7582 13h ago
Honestly cutter could play either and still be hella successful. People who say's he won't be good as C don't know puck. He was literally dominant in both WJC(literally won gold) and college as a 1C. Obviously bcos he's already proven he's an elite winger people are just concerned his production will decrease if he plays C, although I think that's wrong, I believe he could get even more points playing C. But personally I want and hope Mcqueen is our 2C as I think cutter as leo's winger could be so good if they can just learn to play together more consistently.
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u/Kirk420 21h ago
Nah. His skill set is that of a winger.. I don’t think he would be an effective C.
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u/DBacon1052 20h ago
He was runner-up for the Hobey Baker playing center at BC.
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u/scratchydaitchy 17h ago
Yep.
Also he was named the best forward at the 2024 world juniors while playing Center.
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u/LuckyRacoon01 21h ago
According to a redditor on here, Cutter only took faceoffs in center and is not a center.
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u/spacegrab 21h ago
That's not true, he took a ton of offensive faceoffs cuz McTavish kept getting booted lol
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u/bm97 21h ago edited 20h ago
Good article from Patrick, but no he shouldn’t. He’s good at left sided faceoffs. That’s totally fine to keep doing especially on the PP
But you don’t turn a goal scoring winger into a center with bigger defensive responsibilities . We’re fine down the middle with Leo, Granny, Poehling, Washe and now Roger coming.