As the Ducks’ center depth continued to thin, they were set to welcome one of the NHL’s hottest teams to Honda Center on Friday night, the Boston Bruins.
After losing one pivot, Ryan Poehling, to a knee injury during their win in Calgary, they appeared to have lost another following their defeat by the theretofore winless Flames at home on Tuesday.
Team captain Mikael Granlund now has a lower-body injury of his own, and should be considered doubtful for the match against Boston. The Bruins have won three straight games by an aggregate score of 17-5.
Multiple reports from practice indicated Granlund was not on the ice for Thursday’s session. Lottery pick Roger McQueen, who debuted Tuesday, was still with the club and Cutter Gauthier was a full participant after missing all but a couple minutes of the home-and-home set with Calgary.
Already down a centerman after trading Mason McTavish on draft day, the Ducks (4-2-0, 8 points) might have to get creative, including featuring Gauthier at center. He played in the middle at Boston College but has been a flanker, both on the left and right sides, almost exclusively in the NHL.
“Well, as you see it now, we have options,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said at the draft following his swap of McTavish for two first-round picks. “Cutter’s played center before.”
Now he might have to play it again, moving his lethal one-timer and elite shot away from some prime positions to fire off of lateral passes. His volume shooting approach could also work well in the center, however, and last season he worked harder at getting inside ice, even as he battled a serious back injury during the playoffs.
Granlund was fettered by a pair of lower-body injuries last season. They didn’t stop him from earning the second-line center role and the trust of his teammates to the point where he was selected as captain in his second year with the club.
Coach Joel Quenneville described the loss to Calgary as “one of those games where, at the end of the year, you’ll say ‘Geez, we left one on the table.’”
Now the Ducks will turn away from a team whose ice-cold start belied its name toward the Bruins (5-2-0, 10 points), who have firmly found their game of late.
Captain David Pastrnak, a teammate and friend of Ducks goalie Lukáš Dostál with Team Czechia, had six points during Boston’s domineering three-game surge. Fraser Minten, who impressed enough as a rookie to earn a $50 million contract this fall, has five points in his last two appearances.
Top defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who began 2026-27 serving a six-game suspension for a slash against Buffalo’s Zach Benson during the playoffs, returned to the fold. He scored a goal in his first match of the campaign, a 6-3 victory over the Sharks in San Jose on Tuesday.
BRUINS AT DUCKS
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
How to watch: KCOP (Ch. 13), Prime Video
