The Anaheim Ducks called up Roger McQueen from AHL San Diego this morning, and the 2025 10th overall pick could make his NHL debut tonight.
Elliotte Friedman broke the news Tuesday morning. And the opponent waiting at home tonight is a familiar one, the Calgary Flames, beaten 4-2 by Anaheim on the road three days ago.
The timing could not be friendlier. Calgary arrives 0-5-0, sitting 32nd overall and riding a seven-game losing streak.
If you're going to throw a top-10 pick into his first NHL game, this is the softest landing on the schedule.
It's like taking your driving test in an empty mall parking lot on a Sunday morning. Nobody is coming at you fast.
The Flames have given up 27 goals in five games. At the other end, they're scraping together 1.6 per night.
Anaheim, meanwhile, sits 4-1-0 under Joel Quenneville and owns a perfect 3-0-0 mark away from home. So where does a rookie fit on a lineup that's already working?
Cutter Gauthier and Ryan Poehling sit day-to-day as Ducks shuffle forwards
Cutter Gauthier is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, expected out until at least October 13. That's today.
He's got two power-play goals through five games and carries a $13.5 million cap hit, so any time he spends in the press box hurts the man advantage.
Ryan Poehling is also day-to-day, dealing with a lower-body issue. He's the only Ducks skater with a shorthanded goal this season, and he has a game-winner on top of it.
Whether the rookie steps into one of those holes or watches from above for a night is Quenneville's call, and nobody should pretend to know the answer before warmups.
Youth isn't new territory in Anaheim. Beckett Sennecke has three goals already, two of them with the man advantage.
Leo Carlsson leads the Ducks in scoring, and six of his seven assists came on the power play. The kids are driving this team, not riding along.
That's the room McQueen walks into. A young core that's producing, and a bench boss with zero reason to rush anything while the wins keep stacking up.
Goaltending is the one place this start looks shakier than the record. Lukas Dostal sits at a .884 save percentage, while Ville Husso has been the steadier hand in the crease.
The schedule tightens fast after tonight. Boston visits Friday, then the Ducks head east for four straight road games against the Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Flyers.
A one-night look against a winless team is the easy part. Packing McQueen's bag for that road trip is a much bigger statement from Pat Verbeek's front office.
And if the 2025 pick looks like he belongs tonight, somebody in that top-heavy forward group is going to feel it.
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Should the Ducks keep Roger McQueen in Anaheim for the eastern road trip?
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