Ducks’ surprising success being driven by unexpected rookie performanc…

The Anaheim Ducks’ 7-4-0 start to the 2023-24 NHL season is one of the league’s biggest early surprises.

After all, this club went 23-47-12 in 2022-23 with a -129 goal differential. It didn’t look poised to hit a new level entering this season either, despite the addition of free agents like Alex Killorn and Radko Gudas, plus second-overall pick Leo Carlsson joining the roster.

Killorn has yet to play with his new team due to an injury. Carlsson is on an unusual load-management program and Gudas resides on the club’s third pair — so that doesn’t account for the team’s hot start, anyway.

Neither does existing stars Troy Terry or Trevor Zegras exploding out of the gate, although Terry has been solid.

Instead, there have been two unexpected factors driving the Ducks’ success. The first is the line of Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, and Mason McTavish getting very hot with a combined 17 goals and 36 points thus far.

That’s impressive production, but it seems unlikely to continue considering that trio has a sky-high shooting percentage of 20.5% right now. When that calms down, those three should return to earth. At 21, McTavish may be finding a new ceiling — but the other two are veterans with established levels of production.

A more interesting development for the Ducks has been two rookies with less fanfare than Carlsson making massive impacts.

The first — Russian defenseman Pavel Mintyukov — has gone from the OHL to the NHL without missing a beat at the age of 19 after being drafted 10th overall in 2022.

Mitnyukov managed 88 points in 69 games in the OHL last season, but it was unfair to expect him to step into a prominent role and thrive right away.

He’s done just that, though, establishing himself on the team’s second defense pair and top power-play unit — and showing some significant offensive flair.

Mintyukov enters Monday tied for the lead among NHL rookies in points…