Player Discussion Mason McTavish

[Leonardo87]

Before the season I did not believe we'd even be talking about this but... in the remaining 25 games he needs 18 points to hit 50.

I think he probably will not hit it, it would require a much higher PPG than he has ever produced and I'd suspect our scoring going down even further. But it isn't as far-fetched as I previously thought. Currently, his pace would allow him to finish with 46.

If the Ducks PP was better executed and coached this season, strongly believe he’d be there, maybe even pacing closer to 60 points. Z and Terry would be closer to PPG players.

Looking at the numbers, If we scored another 10 PP goals we’d still be only middle of the road/average in the league. That is how bad the PP has been this year. Lol. At least we are not historically bad on the PP like two seasons ago. I think Geoff Ward really made a difference last season.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

He's been a pleasant surprise in an embarrassing season.

 

[LePerilsofPerreault]

It's a lot of pressure on young McTavish, but I hope he inspires the others with his ethics to become better versions of themselves. Some take pride in it and others aren't like that.

I kind of get the lone wolf type of vibe from McTavish, more of the Scott Niedermayer type when it comes to leadership. Anyone know better?

Idk about lone (dire)wolf but he seems to lead by example. From his big bro interactions with Bedard at WJC and some of his interviews he's a likable person. Mr. Serious but not Captain Boring.

 

[Leonardo87]

3 points last game.

Perfetti is likely out the rest of the regular season. Doubt he can catch Beniers, but it’s an unfair comparison since Beniers is on a much better team with more depth.

 

[AngelDuck]

He’s been a revelation. As good as anyone could have expected.

Him and Terry should be linemates for a long time

They need to find Zegras a big skilled winger

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

He’s been a revelation. As good as anyone could have expected.

Him and Terry should be linemates for a long time

They need to find Zegras a big skilled winger

So not short undersized Bedard?

 

[Leonardo87]

He’s been a revelation. As good as anyone could have expected.

Him and Terry should be linemates for a long time

They need to find Zegras a big skilled winger

Yeah I think all 3 assists were from not only hard work but also skilled hockey plays. Knew where to place the puck. Watching those goals now. With this team have to have something to root for. Lol.

I agree about Z, the Strome and Z chemistry has its moments, but when Strome is not playing well, that line goes to crap. Needs a skilled power forward, need someone Comtois was supposed to be. Lol.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

 

[DavidBL]

Be nice to compare to MB.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I often wonder if Seattle didn’t exist and take Berniers if we would’ve still chose Mctavish over him

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I often wonder if Seattle didn’t exist and take Berniers if we would’ve still chose Mctavish over him

That's a good question. Before the draft, Murray said there was Power and then 2-8, or something like, were all about the same. I was surprised because I thought there was Power, Beniers, and then 3-8 were all about the same. I only started looking at other talents at #3 because I didn't think we'd end up with either Power or Beniers.

Central Scouting's Final rankings

Beniers gives you the immediate dividends, but will McTavish give you more in the long run? Maybe McTavish was it all along.

 

[Kalv]

I often wonder if Seattle didn’t exist and take Berniers if we would’ve still chose Mctavish over him

Interesting question.

My guess, without any info to back it up, is that we'd take Beniers. He was pretty much a lock to go #2 and he had a Zegras connection, plus good style to combine with Zegras, plus the pedigree, he had it all...

Only because McTavish is having a pretty good year (and the WJC before), we are all thinking it might've been somewhat close in the draft but at that point it was a clear distinction and I'm not confident our staff saw something in the future (Benier sis still a better player)

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Interesting question.

My guess, without any info to back it up, is that we'd take Beniers. He was pretty much a lock to go #2 and he had a Zegras connection, plus good style to combine with Zegras, plus the pedigree, he had it all...

Only because McTavish is having a pretty good year (and the WJC before), we are all thinking it might've been somewhat close in the draft but at that point it was a clear distinction and I'm not confident our staff saw something in the future (Benier sis still a better player)

This question was brought up a couple of times before: after seeing a Murray video recap of how much he loved McTavish and during last season with McTavish going off in the OHL with Hamilton.

Remember, our scouting staff loves, loves, loves late risers in hopes for a higher ceiling in the future when those risers are available at our picks. This contradicts your, "I"m not confident our staff saw something in the future." I brought receipts.

Recent late rising prospects drafted by the Ducks

• 2019
  • Rd 1, 29th OA: LW Tracey... we passed up on F Kaliyev, who has direct connection and great chemistry with Zegras
  • Rd 2, 39th OA: high schooler D LaCombe ... passed upon D Thrun (projected to be a late 1st rd prospect), D Vlasic, D Helleson, etc...

• 2020
  • Rd 3, 67th OA: D Moore... another high school gamble

• 2021
  • Rd 1, 3rd OA: C McTavish... a mass majority (like 98%) hated McTavish in the top-8 conversation on here
  • Rd 2, 34th OA: D Zellweger ... passed up on C Raty
  • Rd 3, 76th OA: D Hinds... we traded back into the 3rd round for him, projected to go in 5-7th rounds b/c he only had defense and no offense

The common theme so far is that our scouting group is amazing with late rising D-men in this set and 50% with late rising forwards, for the time being. Tracey's still 21 years old.

Drafting high schoolers in earlier rounds is a new thing b/c it's such a higher gamble due to lower level of competition. Anaheim dipped into that pool twice in two seasons. I thought Anaheim was gonna select 6'2 high school OFD Scott Morrow at 34th overall in the 2021 draft instead of the smaller D in Zellweger. Carolina did snatch Morrow up six picks later. Morrow had a much bigger sample size to use than Zellweger did going into the draft and went to the same high school as LaCombe, implying the Ducks knows that team organization well.

I'll re-share that Murray's assessment of the 2021 draft was Power was the #1 pick and then picks 2-8 (or something like that) were about the same level. That threw me off b/c I thought like you did: Power, Beniers, and then 3-7 were about the same tier talent. It also didn't help to see Central Scouting's final NA ranking having McTavish #2 and Beniers #6.

Today, we can say that McTavish closed that talent gap by a lot since the 2021 draft.

 

[goonsaredumb]

I often wonder if Seattle didn’t exist and take Berniers if we would’ve still chose Mctavish over him

I would hope not, Beniers was a better prospect at the time, he's better than McTavish now and he's likely better than McTavish over the long term, I love McTavish and I'm glad to have him and think he's going to have a tremendous career, I just think Beniers is better and I'd hope our scouts at the time would've been able to see that.

 

[Kalv]

This question was brought up a couple of times before: after seeing a Murray video recap of how much he loved McTavish and during last season with McTavish going off in the OHL with Hamilton.

Remember, our scouting staff loves, loves, loves late risers in hopes for a higher ceiling in the future when those risers are available at our picks. This contradicts your, "I"m not confident our staff saw something in the future." I brought receipts.

Recent late rising prospects drafted by the Ducks

• 2019
  • Rd 1, 29th OA: LW Tracey... we passed up on F Kaliyev, who has direct connection and great chemistry with Zegras
  • Rd 2, 39th OA: high schooler D LaCombe ... passed upon D Thrun (projected to be a late 1st rd prospect), D Vlasic, D Helleson, etc...

• 2020
  • Rd 3, 67th OA: D Moore... another high school gamble

• 2021
  • Rd 1, 3rd OA: C McTavish... a mass majority (like 98%) hated McTavish in the top-8 conversation on here
  • Rd 2, 34th OA: D Zellweger ... passed up on C Raty
  • Rd 3, 76th OA: D Hinds... we traded back into the 3rd round for him, projected to go in 5-7th rounds b/c he only had defense and no offense

The common theme so far is that our scouting group is amazing with late rising D-men in this set and 50% with late rising forwards, for the time being. Tracey's still 21 years old.

Drafting high schoolers in earlier rounds is a new thing b/c it's such a higher gamble due to lower level of competition. Anaheim dipped into that pool twice in two seasons. I thought Anaheim was gonna select 6'2 high school OFD Scott Morrow at 34th overall in the 2021 draft instead of the smaller D in Zellweger. Carolina did snatch Morrow up six picks later. Morrow had a much bigger sample size to use than Zellweger did going into the draft and went to the same high school as LaCombe, implying the Ducks knows that team organization well.

I'll re-share that Murray's assessment of the 2021 draft was Power was the #1 pick and then picks 2-8 (or something like that) were about the same level. That threw me off b/c I thought like you did: Power, Beniers, and then 3-7 were about the same tier talent. It also didn't help to see Central Scouting's final NA ranking having McTavish #2 and Beniers #6.

Today, we can say that McTavish closed that talent gap by a lot since the 2021 draft.

We absolutely love late raisers. I love them too, they usually have really high upside. But does it mean we'd pick McT over Beniers? I'm not convinced still. Maybe it's because I'd pick Beniers at that time (probably still)

I'm not sure if Zell, Moore, and Hinds were late risers tho. To me they raised their value after the draft.
And anyway, even if these all were late risers, all the other picks (who were more than these) would mean they are not for late risers

Murray's comments about 2-8 are quite indicating tho. Just curious did he said it before or after the draft?

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I don't know if Bob was smart enough to play mind games but if you're sitting with the 3rd pick, why wouldn't you publicly state that 2-8 are a toss up? Hoping the guy with pick 2 doesn't go with the so called obvious choice. But then it was Bob so, he probably was sincere. LoL!

 

[Mr Rogers]

Beniers probably has better mobility right now but I haven’t seen better vision or anything from him, and certainly not a better shot. Like I don’t see Beniers make plays where I’m like there’s no way Mctavish could do that

 

[Kalv]

Beniers probably has better mobility right now but I haven’t seen better vision or anything from him, and certainly not a better shot. Like I don’t see Beniers make plays where I’m like there’s no way Mctavish could do that

Yep. Beniers is just a high motor all the time tho, that will be hard to play against when he reaches his peak.

Not that McT will be easy to play against, but as much as I've seen, I'd give a slight edge to Beniers. He plays on a better team, but he's also a big part of that team being into the playoff zone.

That doesn't take anything away from McTavish tho, he's a beast.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

We absolutely love late raisers. I love them too, they usually have really high upside. But does it mean we'd pick McT over Beniers? I'm not convinced still. Maybe it's because I'd pick Beniers at that time (probably still)

I'm not sure if Zell, Moore, and Hinds were late risers tho. To me they raised their value after the draft.
And anyway, even if these all were late risers, all the other picks (who were more than these) would mean they are not for late risers

Murray's comments about 2-8 are quite indicating tho. Just curious did he said it before or after the draft?

You're not convinced, but did you and the rest of hockey pick McTavish to go 3rd overall? Or did you mock the hell out of it? The fact he went 3rd overall should pique your curiosity of such a huge jump against the mass of scouting media. Only one scouting media projected McTavish to be in the #2-3 range, which is Central Scouting, who didn't change its ranking. Central Scouting also ranked Beniers 6th overall.

​

McTavish Ranking Comparison​	​	​	​
Scouting Media, 2021​	4-Jun​	23-Jul (Draft Day)​	Diff​
Consolidated Ranking​	14​	8​	6​
​	​	​	​
Elite Prospects​	5​	5​	0​
FC Hockey​	15​	10​	5​
Neutral Zone​	21​	9​	12​
McKeen's Hockey​	16​	7​	9​
NHL Central Scouting (NA)​	2​	2​	0​
Sportsnet's​	9​	8​	1​
Recruit Scouting​	17​	9​	8​
Dobber Prospects​	29​	11​	18​
Draft Prospects​	14​	9​	5​
Smaht Scouting​	32​	13​	19​
The Puck Authority​	17​	11​	6​
TSN/McKenzie​	11​	4​	7​

I find your responses odd b/c you straight up say, "without any info to back it up," and continue to be dismissive rather than entertain the thought. It feels like the whole "Don't pick McTavish at 3rd overall" thread bit from two years ago. Yet I come bringing receipts and your response is to be even more definitive in your opinions rather than to bring up receipts.

Here, again, you make claims of "they raised their value after the draft," without providing actual receipts. And then you bring up something stupid to CYA by stating, "And anyway, even if these all were late risers, all the other picks (who were more than these) would mean they are not for late risers ." No shit, Sherlock. Pastujov wasn't a late riser, he fell from the first round to the third. Lundestrom wasn't a late riser either, but he fell into our laps. Zegras and Perreault weren't late risers, but they too fell into our laps. Maybe you didn't read my post carefully, but I'll quote it here:

Remember, our scouting staff loves, loves, loves late risers in hopes for a higher ceiling in the future when those risers are available at our picks.

That means if the late riser and the pick coincide, then they'll take a late rising prospect. Case in point, we picked Pastujov with our pick. I bet we were going to draft Hinds originally, but couldn't pass up on Pastujov falling to us. Then we traded back into the 3rd as high as we could to draft Hinds.

I'll bring receipts, specifically on Zell and Hinds, but also in general for Moore, a 3rd round pick, with this video.



Maybe you should bring receipts instead of unsupported opinions and passing it like they were facts.

 

[Kalv]

Maybe you should bring receipts instead of unsupported opinions and passing it like they were facts.

Maybe. And maybe you meed to chill this is a discussion board not a court house. There is no way me or you know the truth mate

 

[Ducks DVM]

Let’s dial sown the hostility.

 

[All Mighty]

Let’s dial sown the hospitality.

Please don't edit this.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Please don't edit this.

I so hate apple.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

McTavish with 2 goals tonight hit 40 points on the season. I think he has exceeded most expectations, not bad for a pick so many were mad about

 

[Sean Garrity]

May never become a star, but he's going to be one hell of a player and to be cliche one that you win with. I see Captain written all over his DNA far more than Z or Terry and that's not a slight at them.