Player Discussion Mason McTavish

[DuckDuckGetz]

Another one of his strengths is also my only real complaint about him. He is incredibly calm on the ice and I think sometimes waits a little too long to make a move. I’ve seen him get stripped of the puck more than most of our players and be a little too lackadaisical at times.

But that’s to be expected of a young player and I am confident he will adjust.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

You can tell he puts in the work look how much better his skating has gotten from his early look last season, to the start of this season, to now. His mobility has significantly improved

 

[tomd]

Amusing now to recall the hate directed towards those who were advocating for the Ducks to take McTavish before the 21 draft.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

It's actually more amazing than that. McTavish lost the puck in the offensive zone, but chased the man down, pinned him against the board and won the puck back to put it in the offensive zone. Then McTavish had to win another puck battle to get it to Terry.

I was getting WJC vibes with McTavish turning the puck over in OT. lol

Was going to point this out. He lost the puck with a half-assed play in the offensive zone, a la Zegras, but unlike Trevor he has the ability to pin a guy and win a board battle. He was very close to being the goat and he saved it himself, hopefully that kind of positive feedback reward creates the incentive to avoid that mistake next time.

 

[Kalv]

That WJC save was also after he whiffed the puck in the juniors I recall he also was sometimes vulnersble to just lose a puck like that. It's weird, because I dont see him as lazy

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Was going to point this out. He lost the puck with a half-assed play in the offensive zone, a la Zegras, but unlike Trevor he has the ability to pin a guy and win a board battle. He was very close to being the goat and he saved it himself, hopefully that kind of positive feedback reward creates the incentive to avoid that mistake next time.

That WJC save was also after he whiffed the puck in the juniors I recall he also was sometimes vulnersble to just lose a puck like that. It's weird, because I dont see him as lazy

I've seen him lose puck possession often this year, citing that he needs to improve his endurance, but maybe he's thinking too much and fumbles the puck. McTavish had a half-ass play in the defensive zone early in the sharks game and it was turned over for a quick strike goal against. I hope he can clean it up or else we'll have to live with it like we live with Getz' blind passes to the middle of the ice.

 

[Sean Garrity]

That WJC save was also after he whiffed the puck in the juniors I recall he also was sometimes vulnersble to just lose a puck like that. It's weird, because I dont see him as lazy

He looks lazy in the sense that Getzlaf looks lazy. Him not showing emotion doesn’t help that either and I’m sure people will ridicule him for that as well. He’s kind of like “oh ho hum” on the ice about everything, for better or for worse.

 

[Tunapants]

Amusing now to recall the hate directed towards those who were advocating for the Ducks to take McTavish before the 21 draft.

Yea I really hated the pick at the time, obviously more than happy to be wrong about it.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Amusing now to recall the hate directed towards those who were advocating for the Ducks to take McTavish before the 21 draft.

I wanted Eklund at that spot, but I’m also no scout and was enamored by his skill. Similar to Gaucher who doesn’t do anything flashy. Not comparing the two just comparing the bleh reaction when both were drafted. Where is bsu btw?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I wanted Eklund at that spot, but I’m also no scout and was enamored by his skill. Similar to Gaucher who doesn’t do anything flashy. Not comparing the two just comparing the bleh reaction when both were drafted. Where is bsu btw?

If the Ducks chose Eklund, then I wouldn't have minded. McTavish just brought more to the table such as playing center, having an NHL body at age 18, and can play the physical game if need be, which he did in the WJC-18 championship game. We also needed his type of play down the middle for the future b/c we were lacking another top-6 center in our system beyond Zegras. Lundy and Groulx are bottom-6 centers.

I tried sharing that McTavish possessed an abundance of skill beyond shooting the puck with scouting reports, podcast link, twitter links, and video links. He's a dynamic player. Also, that his huge jump in development over one off-season could translate to an even higher ceiling. To be fair, the rest of the scouting media caught on pretty late to McTavish. They relied on McTavish's D-1 season and that's the scouting report that was propagated online. That's what a lot of posters were using to describe McTavish, his D-1 scouting report.

Look at last night's Sharks game showed off McTavish's creativity when Terry was surprised to see the puck on his stick on a one-timer shot-pass from McTavish on the PP. Too bad Terry was surprised by the shot-pass b/c he missed scoring a PP goal.

As for the Gaucher pick, I'm with you. He's a safe, shutdown 3c projectable to go to the NHL. I figured Verbeek didn't want to risk not having a first round pick panning out. Gaucher reminds me a lot of Groulx, tbh. That's the problem, we already have a Groulx and nabbed him in the 2nd round of 2018. In 2021, we drafted another bottom-6 C in Josh Lopina in the 4th round.

I identified RW Snuggerud and C Kulich to be less riskier picks (far less riskier than Lambert) in the draft threads that could provide potential top-6 skills. Plus, it would have fit our current style of drafting late in the first round - which was to continue to add potential top-6 scorers. But that was under Murray.

2019: 29th, LW Tracey​

2020: 27th, RW Perreault​

But it's really early to tell about late first round picks. We're still waiting on Tracey and Perreault to develop.

 

[Gliff]

I wanted Luke Hughes or Eklund. I wasn’t happy when they picked McTavish, but I wanted to be wrong and I’m glad I was.

 

[Leonardo87]

I wanted Luke Hughes or Eklund. I wasn’t happy when they picked McTavish, but I wanted to be wrong and I’m glad I was.

Mac having a strong rookie season will really put a nice silver lining in this frustrating season. On top of a Top 3 pick in this draft, lol.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Mac having a strong rookie season will really put a nice silver lining in this frustrating season. On top of a Top 3 pick in this draft, lol.

It's a frustrating season if you were expecting to win and be playoff bound or even average. Verbeek stated he blew up the team and his replacements didn't replace what he loss, especially on defense and physicality. Getting a top-3 pick was by design.

McTavish having a strong rookie year plays well in this developmental season. That gives the Ducks three strong pillars with the forwards in Terry, Z, and McTavish... and maybe Lundy for next season.

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

Serious Mark Stone vibes from him. His anticipation is just elite. Such an underrated hockey IQ

I’ve never been this wrong about a draft pick, Hampus Lindholm included

I could honestly see him being named captain this offseason

Even if he somehow wins the Calder, I doubt that happens. Way too premature.

 

[Kalv]

Serious Mark Stone vibes from him. His anticipation is just elite. Such an underrated hockey IQ

I’ve never been this wrong about a draft pick, Hampus Lindholm included

I could honestly see him being named captain this offseason

Not sure about this offseason, but I think the org will go that direction. Perhaps an A this offseason?

 

[FlyingV09]

I know a guy who played with McTavish in Switzerland and I asked him the other day if Mason was captain material and he said “100%, absolutely”. Mature beyond his years, apparently.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I know a guy who played with McTavish in Switzerland and I asked him the other day if Mason was captain material and he said “100%, absolutely”. Mature beyond his years, apparently.

That was a trait often cited in his scouting reports. He's all about hockey, which is how his development jumped up so high between his D-1 and D+0 seasons. With the Bulldogs (CHL), he carried the team enough though he wasn't the captain of the team. With team Canada at the WJC-18 and WJC-20, he donned the C. (was A for WJC-18 until Wright got injured and he wore the C for a couple of games iirc).

The trait is there to be a captain, but it might be too soon like everyone is saying. Plus, there's Terry higher up on the totem pole. I don't think there's a rush to put a C on anyone.

 

[Kalv]

Very good player unfortunately the only quality lacking is a mean streak. Easily the most valuable player on this team. I wouldn't trade him for Zegras

No need, we have them both already

 

[ohcomeonref]

1:11:36 is where Mac comes in. I didn't see this posted here and just found it, pretty good interview.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

1:11:36 is where Mac comes in. I didn't see this posted here and just found it, pretty good interview.

Thanks for the time stamp.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

That was a trait often cited in his scouting reports. He's all about hockey, which is how his development jumped up so high between his D-1 and D+0 seasons. With the Bulldogs (CHL), he carried the team enough though he wasn't the captain of the team. With team Canada at the WJC-18 and WJC-20, he donned the C. (was A for WJC-18 until Wright got injured and he wore the C for a couple of games iirc).

The trait is there to be a captain, but it might be too soon like everyone is saying. Plus, there's Terry higher up on the totem pole. I don't think there's a rush to put a C on anyone.

Terry doesn't seem like Captain material, he's like Fowler.

 

[MMC]

McTavish just turned 20 today

 

[WhatTheDuck]

McTavish just turned 20 today

Happy 20th to McTavish. Officially halfway through that awkward period where he can drink back home in Canada but not in the States.

 

[Static]

Rookie Midterms: Mason McTavish looks like a soon-to-be top-line forward

The next Rookie Midterm zeroes in on Anaheim Ducks centre Mason McTavish, someone who looks the part of a soon-to-be-top-line forward.

eprinkside.com

Pretty glowing review of mac's season and development.

 

[Kalv]

30 in 52, which is on pace for 47 points. (I predicted him 45 at best before the season, I hope he keeps it up).

That's our 4th best scorer behind Zegras, Terry, and Rico. At least it's good to see that our young guys are taking the charge. With them getting better and with added depth, we should be turning some things around as a franchise, but it will take some time obv.

I really looking forward to him having a full offseason to train (gotta imagine he'll come to the WC). Hopefully no injuries tho.