Player Discussion Mason McTavish

[Hockey Duckie]

His 43 points last year came on a historic bad Ducks team so maybe if they hadn't been so bad he'd have gotten 60 points on a very good team ?

Matthew Beniers had 57 points last year on a very good Seattle. Now Beniers isn't having the same success as last year and he's playing a whole minute more per game than McTavish.
McTavish has leapfrogged him in Faceoff win% at 57.7% this year.

I believe it's just a normal progression for McTavish. We were drafting him for his potential into the future. Plus, Mac wore himself out because he participated at the summer WJC-20, which took away his summer to rest, recover, and train. I think that had more to do with his production than being on a bad team as his play dropped off around game 50. Another factor is we started Mac at 2LW, but then worked his way from 4C to 1C, settling at 2C at the end of the season.

We are still not a playoff team this year. And if it were not for the Mac line being hot, we'd be in deeper shit. This past summer, Mac did have a normal summer to rest, recover, and train. That added strength is what's helping Mac out at the FO dot as he can overpower others if speed reactions are equal. Mac is producing with a bad team, but at a higher rate a year after his rookie season. It's what great prospects do. Question is if he can continue that pace.

Mac still isn't a finished product physically. A couple more years of weight training, skate training, and skill training, then Mac is going to be a tremendous force.

As for Beniers, I'm happy for Beniers. He stepped in on day 1 to be their 1C and help Seattle get into the playoffs.

Dunno why we keep on looking at the past and comparing to other players, especially on a board that didn't believe in Mac before we drafted him.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I believe it's just a normal progression for McTavish. We were drafting him for his potential into the future. Plus, Mac wore himself out because he participated at the summer WJC-20, which took away his summer to rest, recover, and train. I think that had more to do with his production than being on a bad team as his play dropped off around game 50. Another factor is we started Mac at 2LW, but then worked his way from 4C to 1C, settling at 2C at the end of the season.

We are still not a playoff team this year. And if it were not for the Mac line being hot, we'd be in deeper shit. This past summer, Mac did have a normal summer to rest, recover, and train. That added strength is what's helping Mac out at the FO dot as he can overpower others if speed reactions are equal. Mac is producing with a bad team, but at a higher rate a year after his rookie season. It's what great prospects do. Question is if he can continue that pace.

Mac still isn't a finished product physically. A couple more years of weight training, skate training, and skill training, then Mac is going to be a tremendous force.

As for Beniers, I'm happy for Beniers. He stepped in on day 1 to be their 1C and help Seattle get into the playoffs.

Dunno why we keep on looking at the past and comparing to other players, especially on a board that didn't believe in Mac before we drafted him.

Something about McTavish looks like he may be the better player afterall.
The he plays like a veteran already. I feel like he'll become one of those players who wins everything: WJC, Olympics, Stanley Cup like Perry.

 

[snowave]

I get he's been one of our best players, and I'm not advocating he fight all the time or anything... but he seems like he's really afraid to drop the gloves. Sure, he gets into the skirmishes, but then he always turns his head away during the middle of them. Kinda weird, not to mention it irritates the hell outta me when players do that.

 

[Sean Garrity]

I get he's been one of our best players, and I'm not advocating he fight all the time or anything... but he seems like he's really afraid to drop the gloves. Sure, he gets into the skirmishes, but then he always turns his head away during the middle of them. Kinda weird, not to mention it irritates the hell outta me when players do that.

He’s a skilled player who plays a hard game. He’s also not really all that big by fighters standards, he’s stocky. Personally, I don’t want him fighting, his hands are far more important and useful with a puck than on someone’s helmet.

I get his play style may hint towards it, while we’d never expect a Zegras or Carlsson to drop the gloves. My guess is MacT will drop them at some point when he feels it really matters.

 

[Quack Shot]

He’s a skilled player who plays a hard game. He’s also not really all that big by fighters standards, he’s stocky. Personally, I don’t want him fighting, his hands are far more important and useful with a puck than on someone’s helmet.

I get his play style may hint towards it, while we’d never expect a Zegras or Carlsson to drop the gloves. My guess is MacT will drop them at some point when he feels it really matters.

I can see him fighting at about the same rate as Perry did.

 

[Sean Garrity]

I can see him fighting at about the same rate as Perry did.

I’m too Getzlaf to look it up, but seems about right. Handful of times per year when frustration boils over. I never wanted Perry to fight for what it’s worth, but he had to answer for at least some of his antics lol.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I’m too Getzlaf to look it up, but seems about right. Handful of times per year when frustration boils over. I never wanted Perry to fight for what it’s worth, but he had to answer for at least some of his antics lol.

62 career NHL fights for Pears, if hockeyfights is accurate. Way more than I thought.

 

[Leonardo87]

Looks like he picked up another apple last night. 21 points in 20 games, simply remarkable.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Looks like he picked up another apple last night. 21 points in 20 games, simply remarkable.

He made a great move to go across the net front, lost the puck, and it fluttered away to a completely uncovered Killorn who happened to be standing in the right place and managed to get the shot on net.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Looks like he picked up another apple last night. 21 points in 20 games, simply remarkable.

In the infamous lavishing tone of the great Bill Walton, "Where would the Ducks be without this wonderkid, Mason McTavish?!"

 

[Hinterland]

I get he's been one of our best players, and I'm not advocating he fight all the time or anything... but he seems like he's really afraid to drop the gloves. Sure, he gets into the skirmishes, but then he always turns his head away during the middle of them. Kinda weird, not to mention it irritates the hell outta me when players do that.

His brother is kickboxer and Mason said that they're practicing together. I don't think he's afraid to drop the gloves.

 

[91Fedorov]

His brother is kickboxer and Mason said that they're practicing together. I don't think he's afraid to drop the gloves.

One thing I've noticed is that in a lot of scrums, when he grabs a guy he kind of rag dolls them. One guy he grabbed by the neck of his gear then pushed and pulled in a way that he popped the guy in the mouth and pulled him off the pile. Another he just put in a headlock and started to skate away with him. He's physical for sure, just not in ways that cost him 5 and a broken hand.

 

[AngelDuck]

I don’t want him dropping the gloves more than once or twice a season maximum. This is a potential dominant 1st line center, no thank you on the added injury risk

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I don’t want him dropping the gloves more than once or twice a season maximum. This is a potential dominant 1st line center, no thank you on the added injury risk

And those should be limited to the spontaneous defense of a teammate being cheap shoted. No staged fights.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

When you gotta scrap you gotta scrap. I’m all for him handling business as much as needed

We never held back the reigns on Getz

 

[lwvs84]

Unless he's fighting McDavid/Matthews/etc. why do you want him fighting? He's currently our best player and will probably be one of the top 2-3 players on the team when they're good again. You don't want him off the ice for 5 minutes unless the other guy going off is a superstar. That's not saying anything about the potential injury.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Pronman has a new edition of "NHL prospects I was wrong about".

NHL prospects I was wrong about, 2023 edition: Corey Pronman looks back

Predicting the future isn't an easy business. Corey Pronman highlights some of the major misevaluations he's made on prospects recently.

theathletic.com

Mason McTavish, C, Anaheim Ducks​

When McTavish was coming up, I thought he was a very good young player, but I didn’t see anything special. He scored 29 goals in the OHL as a 16-year-old, but going into his draft season, I saw a skilled, competitive player who could shoot the puck well. I didn’t think his playmaking was anything special and I saw a so-so skater with average size. He was a strange case because he didn’t play at all during his draft season, except for a few games in the second-division Swiss pro league due to COVID-19, and he was a top player at the U18 worlds.​

​

I completely misevaluated his skating, though. The Ducks didn’t see an issue and took him No. 3 overall. I wasn’t alone in the industry in thinking McTavish wasn’t fast after seeing him as a 16-year-old, but whether I was way off on that aspect or he made progress, he is a strong skater. That misevaluation of his feet, combined with the fact he has a lot of offense and a strong motor, has led to McTavish being one of the top young players in the NHL and a leading player on Anaheim.​

COVID season kinda did a huge number on a majority of scouting people, especially for the prospects in the OHL (including Wyatt Johnston), since the league never opened up to play. Notice how Pronman referred to Mac as a 16-year old prospect; that was Mac's D-1 season. Mac's D+0 season in the OHL was COVID season. Most of the scouting industry, except a few, only referred to Mac's D-1, 16-year old season scouting report.

Although Pronman noted Mac was a top player in the U18s, he probably omitted that info because it's such a small sample and reverted to Mac's biggest sample size, his D-1 season. Also, I don't think Pronman watched the U18s because Mac displayed so much skill and his improved skating on the ice. Craig Button noticed how people were saying Mac wasn't a good skater, but said Mac was a good skater on a sequence where Mac raced for a loose puck from his dzone to the ozone, beating out Bedard and an opposing defender, where both players were ahead of Mac. Button added that Mac won't skate like McDavid, but no not many will.

 

[robbieboy3686]

I don’t want him dropping the gloves more than once or twice a season maximum. This is a potential dominant 1st line center, no thank you on the added injury risk

And when he does, he needs to be commanded to rip the other players helmet off, or he isn’t allowed to throw punches ( getzy and pears ) always would do this. I always felt it was demanded of them by the organization given how important they were

 

[Hinterland]

Pronman has a new edition of "NHL prospects I was wrong about".

NHL prospects I was wrong about, 2023 edition: Corey Pronman looks back

Predicting the future isn't an easy business. Corey Pronman highlights some of the major misevaluations he's made on prospects recently.

theathletic.com

Mason McTavish, C, Anaheim Ducks​

When McTavish was coming up, I thought he was a very good young player, but I didn’t see anything special. He scored 29 goals in the OHL as a 16-year-old, but going into his draft season, I saw a skilled, competitive player who could shoot the puck well. I didn’t think his playmaking was anything special and I saw a so-so skater with average size. He was a strange case because he didn’t play at all during his draft season, except for a few games in the second-division Swiss pro league due to COVID-19, and he was a top player at the U18 worlds.​

​

I completely misevaluated his skating, though. The Ducks didn’t see an issue and took him No. 3 overall. I wasn’t alone in the industry in thinking McTavish wasn’t fast after seeing him as a 16-year-old, but whether I was way off on that aspect or he made progress, he is a strong skater. That misevaluation of his feet, combined with the fact he has a lot of offense and a strong motor, has led to McTavish being one of the top young players in the NHL and a leading player on Anaheim.​

COVID season kinda did a huge number on a majority of scouting people, especially for the prospects in the OHL (including Wyatt Johnston), since the league never opened up to play. Notice how Pronman referred to Mac as a 16-year old prospect; that was Mac's D-1 season. Mac's D+0 season in the OHL was COVID season. Most of the scouting industry, except a few, only referred to Mac's D-1, 16-year old season scouting report.

Although Pronman noted Mac was a top player in the U18s, he probably omitted that info because it's such a small sample and reverted to Mac's biggest sample size, his D-1 season. Also, I don't think Pronman watched the U18s because Mac displayed so much skill and his improved skating on the ice. Craig Button noticed how people were saying Mac wasn't a good skater, but said Mac was a good skater on a sequence where Mac raced for a loose puck from his dzone to the ozone, beating out Bedard and an opposing defender, where both players were ahead of Mac. Button added that Mac won't skate like McDavid, but no not many will.

Pronman is a moron and I always said that McTavish was gonna be a star but I have to say that I was sceptical about McTavish's playmaking as well. It's better than I thought it would be at NHL level. It may also have to do with how he was used, what he was asked to do by his coaches pre draft. For example, playing with the imports in Olten, he was asked to always be the open man, hang around the slot, wait for pucks to find him and score goals. That's what he did. Doesn't mean he couldn't have played differently as well. He'll remain a goal scorer though despite his playmaking being better than anticipated.

His skating was always underrated though. Also, I think playing on the wider European ice helped him and he did extra skating practices after that as well. I think he was skating with NHLers and their coaches over the summer etc and that proved to be effective.

 

[Sean Garrity]

His great shot really hasn’t been on display this season. He’s scoring mostly gritty goals within 5-10 feet of the goal.

 

[Hinterland]

His great shot really hasn’t been on display this season. He’s scoring mostly gritty goals within 5-10 feet of the goal.

Yeah, his shot is great and his playmaking better than anticipated but that's McTavish in a nutshell. The slot is his office. He always scored most of his goals from the slot with deflections and off rebounds. But make no mistake, it takes a ton of skill to do it the way he does it. He's difficult to move and he's always in the right spot as well.

That's why I always compared him to Joe Pavelski. The only player with a similar style and skillset in my view.

 

[lwvs84]

His great shot really hasn’t been on display this season. He’s scoring mostly gritty goals within 5-10 feet of the goal.

His versatility is amazing. We know he has a shot, this season he's showing more ways of producing offense than last season. The vision, the brain, and the work ethic are amazing with this kid.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Pronman is a moron and I always said that McTavish was gonna be a star but I have to say that I was sceptical about McTavish's playmaking as well. It's better than I thought it would be at NHL level. It may also have to do with how he was used, what he was asked to do by his coaches pre draft. For example, playing with the imports in Olten, he was asked to always be the open man, hang around the slot, wait for pucks to find him and score goals. That's what he did. Doesn't mean he couldn't have played differently as well. He'll remain a goal scorer though despite his playmaking being better than anticipated.

His skating was always underrated though. Also, I think playing on the wider European ice helped him and he did extra skating practices after that as well. I think he was skating with NHLers and their coaches over the summer etc and that proved to be effective.

What I liked about his time with Olten was regardless of how the team was playing, Mac said the coaches would always be working on skills training. Working out for several months until Februbary, playing against men, playing on the bigger sheet of ice, and skills training made the WJC-18 game look so much slower and easier for McTavish.

The WJC-18 did show off the skating and playmaking skills. Someone did a highlight, scouting film for McTavish's WJC-18 and his array of skills were all on display. Watching that highlight and listening to Mitch Brown talk about the WJC-18 on a podcast matched up. EP (Mitch Brown) and Central Scouting were the only scouting entities to rank McTavish in the top-5 early. McKenzie put him 4th just before the draft, tied with Eklund.

 

[Hinterland]

What I liked about his time with Olten was regardless of how the team was playing, Mac said the coaches would always be working on skills training. Working out for several months until Februbary, playing against men, playing on the bigger sheet of ice, and skills training made the WJC-18 game look so much slower and easier for McTavish.

The WJC-18 did show off the skating and playmaking skills. Someone did a highlight, scouting film for McTavish's WJC-18 and his array of skills were all on display. Watching that highlight and listening to Mitch Brown talk about the WJC-18 on a podcast matched up. EP (Mitch Brown) and Central Scouting were the only scouting entities to rank McTavish in the top-5 early. McKenzie put him 4th just before the draft, tied with Eklund.

That's typical for Swedish coaches I think. Lots of skill drills. Not sure McTavish really needed that though. Can't hurt to do them but he always had an outstanding skillset.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

That's typical for Swedish coaches I think. Lots of skill drills. Not sure McTavish really needed that though. Can't hurt to do them but he always had an outstanding skillset.

I didn't know Olten had Swedish coaches. Good to know.

McTavish needed it since the OHL was shutdown due to COVID. It's professional skill sets as opposed to junior hockey training.