Will the Anaheim Ducks Actually Move On from Mason McTavish?

Don’t Expect Mason McTavish To Be Traded from Anaheim

Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about Anaheim Ducks RFA Mason McTavish and whether he could wind up in Montreal. Bernstein believes the Ducks won’t trade him, and he will eventually sign in Anaheim.

NHLRumors.com Transcriptions

Host: “I think people in Montreal are specifically wondering about Mason McTavish, who is still unsigned.”

Dennis Bernstein: “Yeah, well, you’re going to have to pay that player, what, probably $7 million. Well, first of all, he’s got to and it’s not just, you can’t offer sheet a guy, right? You have to have an agreement with him on a term, or a contract. He’s got to want to play here at the term. And so the more logical way to acquire him would be, I think, through trade. But I don’t understand the narrative about Mason McTavish.

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Now, I get it. They traded Zegras, but Zegras, when you look at those two players, who’s more of a Joel Quenneville type of player, Trevor Zegras or Mason McTavish? It’s Mason McTavish, right? So, and this team, I think, was 30th in offense, right? You’re going to trade your 2C, elevate Strome to it from 3C to 2C, and think you’re going to be better offensively. I don’t understand it. It’ll get done. He has no leverage, and it might give him $5 or $6 million a year, a bridge contract, right?

So, I don’t understand that, because where Anaheim is in their development, you wouldn’t trade that player. You wouldn’t trade a young 2C. Plus, I’d like to see him a year under Quenneville. Like, if it doesn’t work this year for him, and he doesn’t elevate like, because right now, the number one center of the future in Anaheim is Leo Carlsson. Number two would be Mason McTavish. He would be a really solid, I think, number two center, probably for 10 or 12 years in this league.

So, yeah. So while Habs can wish and hope and pray and dream that Mason McTavish can some way wind up in Montreal. I don’t see Anaheim letting go of him at this point in time in their development.”

NHLRumors.com Note: As documented on NHLRumors.com, the Mason McTavish saga continues to drag on. Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek comes from the Steve Yzerman school of giving players bridge deals coming out of entry-level. However, the last two bridge deals Verbeek negotiated with Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale did not go well, and both players are now with the Philadelphia Flyers.

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However, as we have seen in the past with offer sheets, other GMs around the league do not want to do Verbeek’s work for him. So it remains a battle between McTavish and Verbeek. But the longer this drags on, the more concerning it is because they need McTavish in camp with Joel Quenneville instituting his system. While McTavish would be the perfect fit for what the Montreal Canadiens are looking for, does Kent Hughes want to give up the necessary assets to get him?

But if the Ducks were to trade McTavish and potentially Olen Zellweger, then the chatter of what Pat Verbeek is doing in Anaheim would pick up even more.

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