NHL EDGE stats: Gauthier joins ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy race during goal surge

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we take a look at three underlying metrics behind Cutter Gauthier’s historic goal-scoring stretch.

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Cutter Gauthier is in the midst of a historic goal-scoring streak for the Anaheim Ducks, and his elite advanced metrics suddenly have him near the top of the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race.

Gauthier became the first player in NHL history with three hat tricks within the first 10 days of a calendar month (accomplished feat in eight-day span); the previous record for fewest days to three hat tricks in a month was 13 set by Phil Esposito (December 1970). Gauthier is the seventh player in NHL history with three hat tricks in a five-game span and first since Alexander Mogilny (1992-93).

Gauthier ranks third in the NHL in goals (15) this season and is only one behind the leaders, Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers and Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild (16 each); Gauthier has played one fewer game than Draisaitl and two fewer than Kaprizov. Gauthier, who’s 22 years old, is the fourth player in NHL history to have as many as 13 goals in any six-game span before turning 23 years old, joining Babe Dye (1920-21), Wayne Gretzky (1981-82) and Patrik Laine (2018-19).

Gauthier is in the midst of a six-game goal streak, which is tied for the longest in the NHL this season (with Draisaitl, Mark Jankowski). Since the start of Gauthier’s goal-scoring streak Oct. 29, he leads the NHL in the following categories:

• Goals: 13
• Hat tricks: 3
• Multigoal games: 4
• Even-strength goals: 5
• Power-play goals: 8
• Game-winning goals: 4
• Go-ahead goals: 4
• Shots on goal: 34
• Shot attempts: 59

Here are three underlying reasons Gauthier is a bona fide “Rocket” Richard Trophy contender:

1. Mid-range goals

Gauthier leads the entire NHL in mid-range goals (eight) this season. He ranks second in mid-range shots on goal (35) behind Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks (39).

Last season, Gauthier was among the League leaders in mid-range shots on goal (117; fourth) and mid-range goals (18; tied for fourth), shattering his previous NHL career high in goals (41 last season; tied for 11th in League); he scored 20 goals as a rookie in 2024-25.

In terms of goals per game (0.88; second) this season, he’s slightly behind Draisaitl (0.89) for the NHL lead. Since Feb. 1, he leads the entire League with 33 goals in his past 40 games over that span, which dates back to last season. Gauthier has overcome a slow start to this season, in which he started the season with two goals in his first 11 games (including nine-game goal drought from Oct. 7-27), to rejoin the League leaders.

2. Shot speed

Gauthier ranks among the forward leaders in both hardest shot (94.98 mph; 98th percentile) and average shot speed (64.69 mph; 96th percentile) this season. Gauthier has 26 shot attempts of 80-plus mph, which ranks second at his position behind Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres (31).

Gauthier has scored four goals on shots of at least 85 mph, with each coming during his hot streak. No other NHL player has more than two 85-plus mph goals this season.

• 88.63 mph on Nov. 6 vs. Calgary Flames
• 88.60 mph on Nov. 3 vs. Vancouver Canucks
• 87.12 mph on Oct. 29 vs. Buffalo Sabres
• 86.62 mph on Oct. 29 vs. Buffalo Sabres

Gauthier’s shot speed has fueled his mid-range prowess, and his versatility in terms of goals by shot type has also been a huge factor. He has scored seven snap shot goals (tied for third in NHL), four slap shot goals (tied for most) and four wrist shot goals (tied for 17th), making him the only player in the League this season with at least three goals on each of those shot types.

3. Power-play impact

Gauthier leads the NHL in power-play goals (10) this season and has scored eight power-play goals over his past six games. The Ducks lead the NHL in power-play percentage (38.5) this season and have been thriving from high-danger zones; Anaheim ranks second in high-danger goals (38) behind the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes (39).

Gauthier’s goal-scoring success has come mostly on an even-strength line with fellow young standout Beckett Sennecke (nine high-danger goals; tied with Draisaitl for NHL lead this season) and on the first power play with Sennecke and Leo Carlsson (17 power-play points; second in NHL behind Connor McDavid’s 19). Veteran forward Mikael Granlund, who also plays on Gauthier’s line and the first power play, has scored four high-danger goals (91st percentile among forwards).

Granlund, Carlsson and Sennecke have each been on the ice for 22 power-play goals this season, tied with each other for the most in the League. Jackson LaCombe (21) and Gauthier (20) make the Ducks the only team in the NHL to have five skaters on the ice for at least 20 PPG this season.

NHL EDGE IQ insights: Over Gauthier’s past six games (since Oct. 29), he leads or co-leads the NHL in scoring chances (29), power-play scoring chances (13; tied with Brady Tkachuk), scoring chances on offensive zone plays (21) and perimeter scoring chances (14). Scoring chances are shot attempts with a Projected Goal Rate (“PGR”) greater than 5.0 percent.

With the Ducks being the youngest team in the NHL (average age: 26.45), Gauthier leads a promising core of skaters and has reached another gear individually this season. In order for Gauthier to ultimately win the “Rocket” Richard Trophy, the Ducks will either have to sustain their power-play dominance or improve their 5-on-5 play; they rank 24th out of 32 teams in 5-on-5 shot attempts percentage (48.3) and have been outscored at 5-on-5 this season (37 to 34; minus-3 differential).