It had been 38 days since John Carlson last played a game and, in that time, there was seismic change for him and his family.<\/p>\n
A career, and a life, were uprooted. After 17 record-setting years with one team, he moved to the other conference and the other side of the country. He left teammates \u2014 some bonded forever by a Stanley Cup championship \u2014 for another set that, for the most part, used to be foes.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s little wonder that when Carlson took the ice at Bell Centre for his debut with the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night, he finally felt at home, 11 days after his trade from the Washington Capitals. He had spent a long time trying to get familiar with the unfamiliar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt good,\u201d Carlson said after the Ducks\u2019 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. \u201cI was very pleased with how I felt, and I think getting through the injury is one thing, but there\u2019s definitely a freshness to it when you do have that layoff, too. Working both sides of it, it was a good first day.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Ducks traded what could end up being their 2026 first-round draft pick and a 2027 third-round selection for the 36-year-old defenseman, they knew he was recovering from a lower-body injury and wouldn\u2019t immediately jump into their lineup.<\/p>\n
What the Ducks got in their first game with Carlson is the top-pair type of defenseman they sought in their pursuit of a potential surprise Pacific Division title. Carlson didn\u2019t get a point in Anaheim\u2019s victory, but he was a contributor. His 22 minutes, 59 seconds, of ice time only trailed Jacob Trouba on the Ducks. Carlson was the on the ice for two Anaheim even-strength goals, including the winner from Cutter Gauthier with 2:30 remaining.<\/p>\n
And he looked no different from his Washington days. He moved the puck smartly and popped up into open space within the offensive zone for looks. Composed and steady. All of it has become more necessary for the Ducks with Radko Gudas serving a five-game suspension.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a horse,\u201d Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. \u201cWow, what a game. That was impressive. Just coming into our team systematically, he looked like he played here his whole career. Always patient. Play recognition. There\u2019s a lot of kids back there that he\u2019s helping every shift. I can\u2019t speak highly enough of what we just saw in one game.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is an accomplished player. Carlson holds Capitals records for most games, goals, assists and points by a defenseman. That\u2019s noteworthy because they have had some good ones in their history. Rod Langway. Sergei Gonchar. Scott Stevens. Calle Johansson. Kevin Hatcher. Mike Green.<\/p>\n
Carlson is on the back end of a fine career, but he\u2019s also not a shadow of his prime self. He had 46 points in 55 games with Washington this season. While some of his usage was usurped by Jakob Chychrun, Carlson still led the Capitals in ice time and was a top contributor until his injury just before the Olympic break.<\/p>\n
The impact that Anaheim hoped to get from Carlson was felt in the first period. As he carried the puck and surveyed the ice when he hit his own blue line, Carlson identified Troy Terry as an outlet and got the puck to him in stride. Terry kept moving and everyone else was in sync. Chris Kreider took it from Terry on the other side of the ice and found Leo Carlsson as he drove to the net. An easy tap-in completed the tic-tac-toe goal.<\/p>\n
Alas, the NHL doesn\u2019t hand out third assists. But while Carlson\u2019s first point with the Ducks must wait, the play fit right in his wheelhouse, in terms of starting an attack and creating transition offense. \u201cI think we\u2019ve got some real elite guys that can get it up the ice,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cThat\u2019s always my goal, to get it in those guys\u2019 hands. Certainly, that was part of what I like to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can just feel it when you\u2019re on the ice with him,\u201d Terry said. \u201cNo matter if the crowd\u2019s going nuts or they\u2019re making a push, if he gets it, he just has so much poise. It feels like he can kind of just control the ice with just a look or an open of the stick. He just has that ability. I know if I get speed \u2013 especially with me and Leo playing together, if we can get speed \u2013 he\u2019s able kind of manipulate the neutral zone and hit one of us with speed. And you saw it on that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what has Carlson most intrigued about his new situation. He sees what he called a level of \u201chigh, high-end talent\u201d that echoes what he left in D.C. There is no one on Anaheim like the game\u2019s greatest goal-scorer, Alex Ovechkin, but the Ducks\u2019 collection of youngsters jars memories of the Capitals\u2019 nucleus that won the Stanley Cup in 2018.\u00a0\u201cThese guys are ready for takeoff,\u201d Carlson said of his new teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow important they are already in their careers and stuff, it just shows you that the sky\u2019s the limit,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to adapt at that age, and to control the game play, control the puck like they do, it\u2019s incredible to watch. It\u2019s fun to see in practice even. And also, it\u2019s good for me. I always try to learn from everyone I play with too. That\u2019s going to be a great experience for me to play with another set of amazing players. And I think that\u2019s a two-way street.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ducks weren\u2019t cautious about Carlson\u2019s return. Without Gudas available for penalty-killing, Carlson was summoned for regular turns and the Ducks killed all four Canadiens power plays. Carlson wasn\u2019t counted on as much as Trouba or Pavel Mintyukov, but it was still notable that he could relieve Jackson LaCombe of short-handed duty.<\/p>\n
As far as the power play, Anaheim only had one so Carlson didn\u2019t get an extended look. But he was out there with Trouba in an old-school two-defenseman, three-forward setup with Terry, Carlsson and Kreider. Carlson was playing in all situations. Just what he is accustomed to doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m used to anything,\u201d he said. \u201cAll this stuff is just a moving target. I think I\u2019ve got to get more comfortable. The more games I get in, as much as you talk about it, live action means more. We\u2019ll see where that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ducks wanted to boost their defense through the trade market, and a right-handed shot was a logical addition, given how they often had youngsters Ian Moore and Drew Helleson alternating to go with veterans Trouba and Gudas on the right side. Even with a seemingly set group, Anaheim was still near the bottom in most goals allowed per game.<\/p>\n
Adding a staunch righty with size to be a defense-oriented shutdown piece seemed necessary. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, Carlson has size but his strengths have always leaned more toward offense. But in Quenneville\u2019s system, the Ducks value possession. Defending isn\u2019t as much of a chore when they\u2019re holding onto the puck in the offensive end.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that will work. Carlson took Gudas\u2019s spot alongside Olen Zellweger on the second pairing and, in his first game, had an impressive 60.61 Corsi-for rating with distinct edges in scoring chances (15-4) and high-danger chances (7-1). Trouba has had a strong offensive season, but the Ducks now have a true distributor on the right.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to forecheck some of the D in this league, and it\u2019s because they have that ability to \u2013 you know, they don\u2019t telegraph where they\u2019re going,\u201d Terry said. \u201cThey look one way, get you to move, and then pass it. There\u2019s a reason he has almost 800 points in the league. That\u2019s what he does. It\u2019s really fun to be out there with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
After years of trading roster players for future assets, the Ducks stepped forward as trade-deadline buyers. It was just one game, but they feel Carlson is the kind of addition that will push them farther in their evolution into a future Stanley Cup contender.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrading deadline, you\u2019re getting a guy like that, we\u2019re excited,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cAnd now I know we\u2019re excited for good reason.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It had been 38 days since John Carlson last played a game and, in that time, there was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,824,165,164],"class_list":["post-223707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}