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C Mason McTavish - Peterborough Petes, OHL (2021, 3rd, ANA)

Choralone said:
Good 1st-round selection by the Ducks. Again.
Did McTavish go higher than some people thought? Sure, but that is more than offset by catching the falling Zegras and Byram of the last two years.
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I think a lot of teams were just desperate for Centers. Almost all of them went much earlier than anticipated. At least McTavish does have 3rd overall upside if everything goes well. Beniers at 2 is horrible because you already know he's never gonna be able to live up to that. With McTavish (and Johnson as well), I think he could be even better at Wing than at Center though. Not sure what's the Ducks plans with him but I could see him play a bit of both...much like Pavelski.
 
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Hinterland said:
McTavish also has even better hands than Kesler. He's brilliant at deflecting pucks in the slot. Said it multiple times already but he reminds me a lot of Pavelski. Skating is also pretty similar. Not good but it doesn't really hold them back either.
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Yeah Pavelski is my compare for him too before he was picked in terms of his offensive upside but then he has that mean streak and toughness of Kesler.
I had McTavish going to San Jose because he could fill the void of Pavelski, if he got past Columbus but seeing how Columbus went for 6'1 Johnson i think McTavish would have been their pick.
I think Eklund will be the better offensive player for sure but it will be interesting to see how McTavish's defense and physical presence make up for it.
 
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Anaheim4ever said:
Yeah Pavelski is my compare for him too before he was picked in terms of his offensive upside but then he has that mean streak and toughness of Kesler.
I had McTavish going to San Jose because he could fill the void of Pavelski, if he got past Columbus but seeing how Columbus went for 6'1 Johnson i think McTavish would have been their pick.
I think Eklund will be the better offensive player for sure but it will be interesting to see how McTavish's defense and physical presence make up for it.
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I agree except I'm not sure if McTavish really is as phyical or mean as Kesler or Pavelski. Unlike others, I haven't seen it so far. And I've watched pretty much all of his games this season. I think this aspect of his game is overrated. Lots of room for improvement there. He's fearless, can hold onto pucks, win board battles or park in front of the net. But the intimidation factor isn't there yet. I also haven't seen any hard hits. I'd like him to be more aggressive.
 
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ShiroganeKvasha30 said:
Too bad they're run by Murray and Eakins. Great youth talent but the worst people leading the bunch.
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Don't really agree with this. Eakins isn't great coach but at least the young players did well this season. He's going to be gone after next one as well, so he won't be a problem for long. The Ducks have drafted and developed a number of great players under Murray, so I don't know how he's bad at running prospects. Or are you talking about his overall ability as a GM?
 
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JabbaJabba said:
Don't really agree with this. Eakins isn't great coach but at least the young players did well this season. He's going to be gone after next one as well, so he won't be a problem for long. The Ducks have drafted and developed a number of great players under Murray, so I don't know how he's bad at running prospects. Or are you talking about his overall ability as a GM?
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yep right there. I just don't trust him enough long term with what he will do as a GM. Eakins also should be gone but I fear that it could harm Zegras next season

Anaheim should also just go back to teal and eggplant on an unrelated note. For such a team with exciting prospects on the rise, I don't want to see the drab brown and orange again
 
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Trojans86 said:
For some reason i was thinking he is right handed. Yeah, front of the net would be a great spot for him. Zegras will br able to find him and he is strong enough to clear space and get a shot off.
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He plays a heavy game like Comtois, but he is a centre and he has a much better shot than Comtois. It's a heavy, hard shot, suitable for off-wing set-ups and one-timers. He can play net front, but that wastes his shot.
 
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Ryan Van Horne said:
He plays a heavy game like Comtois, but he is a centre and he has a much better shot than Comtois. It's a heavy, hard shot, suitable for off-wing set-ups and one-timers. He can play net front, but that wastes his shot.
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Thats what i was initially thinking
 
Yeah point-production wise he was not the best pick (Eklund, even Johnson probably, and Hughes from defensemen should be with higher upside), but the Ducks were happy to pick him anyway because he represents a lot of the ''Ducks hockey'' identity that has been very much lost during the past years.
McTavish is not afraid to go to the front of the net and it's hard to move there, he can hit and win faceoffs, and above all – he can score goals. You win with guys like this and it's usually really hard to get them. Also, the trajectory for McTavish scoring in Swiss 2nd league was very intriguing so who knows how good he can become, but seeing how one-dimensional the points were I think his point production is somewhat limited.

Should be a great 2nd line center for years to come.
 
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Kalv said:
Yeah point-production wise he was not the best pick (Eklund, even Johnson probably, and Hughes from defensemen should be with higher upside), but the Ducks were happy to pick him anyway because he represents a lot of the ''Ducks hockey'' identity that has been very much lost during the past years.
McTavish is not afraid to go to the front of the net and it's hard to move there, he can hit and win faceoffs, and above all – he can score goals. You win with guys like this and it's usually really hard to get them. Also, the trajectory for McTavish scoring in Swiss 2nd league was very intriguing so who knows how good he can become, but seeing how one-dimensional the points were I think his point production is somewhat limited.

Should be a great 2nd line center for years to come.
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My wish is McTavish eventually becomes a 42 goal 30 assist guy like a Jeff Carter or Joe Pavelski at their peak.
I am setting the bar pretty high but that is because its a wish.
 
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Kalv said:
Yeah point-production wise he was not the best pick (Eklund, even Johnson probably, and Hughes from defensemen should be with higher upside), but the Ducks were happy to pick him anyway because he represents a lot of the ''Ducks hockey'' identity that has been very much lost during the past years.
McTavish is not afraid to go to the front of the net and it's hard to move there, he can hit and win faceoffs, and above all – he can score goals. You win with guys like this and it's usually really hard to get them. Also, the trajectory for McTavish scoring in Swiss 2nd league was very intriguing so who knows how good he can become, but seeing how one-dimensional the points were I think his point production is somewhat limited.

Should be a great 2nd line center for years to come.
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I don't think you really should be concerned about his point production.

He scored 29 goals and 42 points in 57 games as a 16y0 without getting much PP time.
In Switzerland, he had more than a point per game 11 goals, 7 assists, for 18 points in 17 games of pro hockey as a 17yo -- remember, he was one year younger than Eklund and Johnson who both played as 18yo in their draft years because of their late birthdays.
 
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He'll make a fine 3C as a floor. Don't like his skating and his goal totals are almost 2:1 with assists. Not good. He'll need to round out his game and hopefully he can generate more offensive plays if he wants to stick around in the top 6. A defensive 2C sure, but Eklund was the pick to take if drafting a forward.
 
Can't wait to watch him in his prime vs. our rivals.
 
I'm not the biggest McTavish fan in the world and there were players I personally like better for the Ducks at #3, but I can definitely see the reasoning behind this pick. There simply aren't a surplus of quality top 6 power forwards and you're often going to pay a premium to find them.

It sounds like the Ducks envision him as a combative 2C behind Zegras, but I think he'd be a nice fit as a LW alongside Trevor. I think Zegras' ability to slow down the game minimizes the downside of McTavish's not-spectacular skating, and he obviously has the vision to capitalize on McTavish's scoring ability in the slot.

Anaheim certainly upholding their reputation as a team other fans and players hate, and I don't mean that in a bad way.
 
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Ryan Van Horne said:
He plays a heavy game like Comtois, but he is a centre and he has a much better shot than Comtois. It's a heavy, hard shot, suitable for off-wing set-ups and one-timers. He can play net front, but that wastes his shot.
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He is one of the best tip-shot artists in any recent draft, drawing a lot of Pavelski comparisons. That's harder to find than a guy who can rip it from the half-wall. But like you said he's also a shooter. So it seems he's best in the middle-bumper position. He doesn't need a lot of space to shoot, and he can quickly get to the blue paint as well if needed.

I'm not sure if I remember all the PP positions he's played but much of the time has been in the bumper.
 
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I had McTavish ranked third and I expected Bob Murray to pick him. Absolutely no surprise there.

He was tied for 4th with Eklund in the final rankings from Bob's poll. That's consensus. I get it if people watched him and didn't like the pick but usually you get this kind of negative reaction because a lot of people saw the player lower ranked on earlier lists.
 
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