Player Discussion Mason McTavish

[FiveTacos]

Nah you bridge him. To much inconsistency. Bridge him and bring in a new coach

A lot of teams that have locked up young guys to 7 or 8 year deals based on potential or just a season or two of production will regret it. Not all are gonna pan out long term, even when they show early promise.

For every guy you end up having to pay more for long term because he got a bridge deal and then exploded, you probably avoid a couple bad contracts because you bridged them and they regressed or plateaued.

 

[SI]

I would be down for a Dobson for McTavish base if Verbeek had another deal lined up to move Zellweger for a young top 6 forward. Without a corresponding move though a forward for D just doesn't really work.

Does Anaheim really need more young F's?
The team is brewing with lots of young talent up front -

1. Carlsson
2. MacTavish
3. Zegras
4. Gauthier
5. Sennecke
6. Galimov - who I assume is coming over next season
7. Pastujov - lighting it up in the AHL
8. Colangelo
9. Gaucher - more of a 3C
10. Nesterenko
11. Pettersson

Not to mention that Anaheim could draft one of McQueen, O'Brien, Desnoyers, or Frondell in this year's draft.
Moving Trouba and that contract out and keeping Zellweger might be a stronger roster move

Anaheim D
Mintyukov - Dobson
LaCombe - Gudas
Zellweger - Helleson
with Luneau in the AHL waiting to push for a spot and Stolberg a season away from being brought over.

Anaheim F -
Gauthier - Carlsson - Sennecke
Killorn - Zegras - Terry
Vatrano - Strome - Pastujov/Colangelo
Nesterenko - Lundestrom - Leason

 

[The Duck Knight]

Does Anaheim really need more young F's?
The team is brewing with lots of young talent up front -

1. Carlsson
2. MacTavish
3. Zegras
4. Gauthier
5. Sennecke
6. Galimov - who I assume is coming over next season
7. Pastujov - lighting it up in the AHL
8. Colangelo
9. Gaucher - more of a 3C
10. Nesterenko
11. Pettersson

Not to mention that Anaheim could draft one of McQueen, O'Brien, Desnoyers, or Frondell in this year's draft.
Moving Trouba and that contract out and keeping Zellweger might be a stronger roster move

Anaheim D
Mintyukov - Dobson
LaCombe - Gudas
Zellweger - Helleson
with Luneau in the AHL waiting to push for a spot and Stolberg a season away from being brought over.

Anaheim F -
Gauthier - Carlsson - Sennecke
Killorn - Zegras - Terry
Vatrano - Strome - Pastujov/Colangelo
Nesterenko - Lundestrom - Leason

There just isn't enough PP and offensive minutes to go around for a D with Minty/Dobson/Lacombe/Zell/Luneau. Every one of those guys could in theory be a PPQB. There is also no moving Trouba sadly so we're stuck with him one more year. And I definitely think Zell has the lowest ceiling of that group of 4 young D. So he'd be the one I'd move if need be. We absolutely can use another scoring forward. No lineup with Killorn and Strome in the top 9 at this point is serious about winning hockey games.

 

[HanSolo]

Does Anaheim really need more young F's?
The team is brewing with lots of young talent up front -

1. Carlsson - Valid
2. McTavish - Valid looking like a future 2c tho.
3. Zegras - struggling. Team might move on from him unless he's willing to take the same money on his next contract. Doubtful.
4. Gauthier - should be a first line winger for this team or second line depending on how transactions/development shakes out.
5. Sennecke - probably our best bet in the system for a top 6 winger with good production.
6. Galimov - who I assume is coming over next season - maybe but no telling how well he'll adapt to NA hockey.
7. Pastujov - lighting it up in the AHL - still a long road ahead. Nowhere near a lock to be a solid top 6er.
8. Colangelo - has looked great but we'll see how much more he can develop.
9. Gaucher - more of a 3C - dude will be lucky to carve out a career as a fourth liner at this rate.
10. Nesterenko - has looked pretty good in his recent call up. Not sold he can be a top 6 guy.
11. Pettersson - long term project. Until I start seeing real numbers when he plays in the SHL, he's not really close.

Comments for the forwards. The only guys I feel really confident in becoming top 6 quality forwards are Leo, Cutter, Mac and Sennecke. Zegras still demonstrates talent but we've reached a point on his production where there's serious concern that he might not be able to produce enough to find a place on Anaheim's top 6 going forward if enough guys out produce him. Guys like Colangelo, Galimov, Pastujov, Nesterenko, have shown varying degrees of potential to be solid second liners but there isn't enough of a sample for real confidence.

The upper end guys have higher likelihoods of reaching top line quality but I wouldn't say it's a guarantee for any of them just yet. Gauthier by virtue of how he plays and the likelihood that he becomes a yearly 30 goal scorer probably has the easiest road but if the Ducks don't develop the other three properly they could end up with a hell of a lot of second line quality guys. Right now the Ducks need to hedge their bets as much as possible when it comes to young forwards because, historically, they haven't been the best at developing forward talent. Goalies and defensemen? Different story.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Comments for the forwards. The only guys I feel really confident in becoming top 6 quality forwards are Leo, Cutter, Mac and Sennecke. Zegras still demonstrates talent but we've reached a point on his production where there's serious concern that he might not be able to produce enough to find a place on Anaheim's top 6 going forward if enough guys out produce him. Guys like Colangelo, Galimov, Pastujov, Nesterenko, have shown varying degrees of potential to be solid second liners but there isn't enough of a sample for real confidence.

The upper end guys have higher likelihoods of reaching top line quality but I wouldn't say it's a guarantee for any of them just yet. Gauthier by virtue of how he plays and the likelihood that he becomes a yearly 30 goal scorer probably has the easiest road but if the Ducks don't develop the other three properly they could end up with a hell of a lot of second line quality guys. Right now the Ducks need to hedge their bets as much as possible when it comes to young forwards because, historically, they haven't been the best at developing forward talent. Goalies and defensemen? Different story.

Same.
Z has been playing better lately but so has Carlsson, McTavish, Gauthier, Colangelo
Colangelo 6 points in 6 last games
McTavish 6 points in 6 last games
Gauthier 5 points in 6 last games
Carlsson 4 points in 6 last games
Zegras 4 points in 6 last games

Last year McTavish's biggest problem was the dumb penalties he took(86 PIM in 64 games), this year he appears to have really fixed that as he's got less than half of last years penalty minutes in nearly the same amount of games played (32 in 61games). This tells me he's smart enough to fix things in his game without it cratering the rest of his game.

 

[MCB]

with Luneau in the AHL waiting to push for a spot and Stolberg a season away from being brought over.

Solberg is on his way to SD now.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Now he has officially had his best season in terms of point per game rate despite the slow start.
Has a chance to get to 25 goals and 55 points. Being a+2 on a bad team is nice too.

 

[anezthes]

50 fewer PIMs is

 

[Rybread86]

2025, the year Mac figured it out

 

[Mr Rogers]

Fantastic player

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Fantastic player

in the making.

GWG and 70% on the FO dot in the Broadway show comeback story.

 

[AngelDuck]

Loved seeing him give it to the rangers fans after scoring the OT GWG. This guy just has the IT factor

 

[Leonardo87]

 

[AngelDuck]

View attachment 1001792

Might make this my avatar

Edit: had to do it. Thanks @Leonardo87

 

[Leonardo87]

Might make this my avatar

Edit: had to do it. Thanks @Leonardo87

I’m not even mad. Rangers deserved to lose that game lol

 

[Son of Gib]

Loved seeing him give it to the rangers fans after scoring the OT GWG. This guy just has the IT factor

It's funny because he always seems a bit disinterested/stoic when being interviewed or with fans, but on the ice he is comfortable letting it out and having this fun/passionate personality. Love it.

 

[70sSanO]

McTavish has really improved in not taking stupid penalties every game.

John

 

[HanSolo]

McTavish has really improved in not taking stupid penalties every game.

John

He's improved in a lot of ways. Something mentally has slowed down for him where he's not whipping the puck around the ice without thinking. I've noticed it the past month or so that a lot of the times he looks a lot more intentional when he's looking for who to pass to. He's not holding the puck for too long before he does but he does take a beat to scan the situation on the ice before making his passes or taking shots. He went from one of the sloppier passers on the team to one of the best lately. And generally he seems to be skating harder to win battles.

Last year he produced well for his relative development but even then I felt like he was playing a very chaotic brand of hockey. Since the third liner comment he's playing a very controlled and very strong offensive game relative to the rest of the team. This is easily the best stretch of play we've seen from him to date.

Edit: I'd honestly argue, as exciting as Leo's surge has been, Mac has been our best forward.

 

[zegrassyknoll]

It's funny because he always seems a bit disinterested/stoic when being interviewed or with fans, but on the ice he is comfortable letting it out and having this fun/passionate personality. Love it.

No shade to him, I think he just doesn't really like Ducks fans.

I remember not too long ago somebody said they saw him get denied at a club in Newport and he made a comment about how nobody cares about Ducks players here.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

He's improved in a lot of ways. Something mentally has slowed down for him where he's not whipping the puck around the ice without thinking. I've noticed it the past month or so that a lot of the times he looks a lot more intentional when he's looking for who to pass to. He's not holding the puck for too long before he does but he does take a beat to scan the situation on the ice before making his passes or taking shots. He went from one of the sloppier passers on the team to one of the best lately. And generally he seems to be skating harder to win battles.

Last year he produced well for his relative development but even then I felt like he was playing a very chaotic brand of hockey. Since the third liner comment he's playing a very controlled and very strong offensive game relative to the rest of the team. This is easily the best stretch of play we've seen from him to date.

iirc, Mac was playing well before the 3rd line comment. He had a great game and then Cronin said the third line comment.

I think part of the improvement is due to better talent around him. Usually it was Fabbri and Leason on Mac's wing. It coincided when Cutter was dropped to the third line to Mac because Cutter wasn't working with Carlsson-Killorn. That move sent a spark in Cutter's production. Then the team tried him at LW with Carlsson and the top line started to produce. Afterwards, he was sent back down to the third line, but with more offensive talent with Colangelo's call-up: Cutter-Mac-Colangelo. That's a heavy, cycling line where both Colangelo and Mac love to crash the net while Cutter can start zipping the pucks to the net from anywhere when he cycles up the wall with the puck. Now, Z gets sent down to the third line because he wasn't working with the top line in Carlsson-Killorn. Z looks more dynamic with Mac centering him and they just have to figure out how Colangelo can fit into that duo's chemistry b/c Z isn't a cycler like Cutter.

There's a common theme with Mac. Put talented offensive players with Mac and that line will score. Last year, he centered Vatrano and Strome. That line was hot potatoes in the first 20 games when Mac was playing healthy. Here's a screen shot early last year, after 33 games, of Vatrano and Strome's production with Mac and without Mac. Vatrano had 15 goals in only 26 games with Mac last year. This year, Vatrano has 20 goals in 72 games.

Mac shows adaptability with players around him. It looks as though he understands other offensive players and where they should be. With lesser talents, maybe those lesser talents aren't where Mac thinks they should be and it looks like he's the crazy one.

 

[JAHV]

No shade to him, I think he just doesn't really like Ducks fans.

I remember not too long ago somebody said they saw him get denied at a club in Newport and he made a comment about how nobody cares about Ducks players here.

There was that video that came out last week about the drawings of Ducks players and his reaction to his own was a bit odd. I feel like most guys saw their own picture and laughed it off or reacted lightly to it. McTavish seemed genuinely nonplussed at his picture. Almost upset even. I thought it was weird.

Anyway, maybe nothing, but I could see this being true. Cue discussion about him not signing here long-term...

 

[Mr Rogers]

Idk, I just watched that video on Reddit and didn't think his reaction was that noteworthy. Perhaps he's a little awkward in those kind of skits and doesn't quite say the 'right' thing but i don't think there was anything concerning about his reaction.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything noteworthy there, he’s just kinda awkward and deadpan the way Perry was.

Regardless, we REALLY need to start winning again just so we can stop psychoanalyzing the roster’s body language (the blanket we includes myself)

 

[robbieboy3686]

There was that video that came out last week about the drawings of Ducks players and his reaction to his own was a bit odd. I feel like most guys saw their own picture and laughed it off or reacted lightly to it. McTavish seemed genuinely nonplussed at his picture. Almost upset even. I thought it was weird.

Anyway, maybe nothing, but I could see this being true. Cue discussion about him not signing here long-term...

Aly lozoff goes out of her way to annoy him too. I can’t blame him if he feels annoyed overall.

 

[HanSolo]

iirc, Mac was playing well before the 3rd line comment. He had a great game and then Cronin said the third line comment.

I think part of the improvement is due to better talent around him. Usually it was Fabbri and Leason on Mac's wing. It coincided when Cutter was dropped to the third line to Mac because Cutter wasn't working with Carlsson-Killorn. That move sent a spark in Cutter's production. Then the team tried him at LW with Carlsson and the top line started to produce. Afterwards, he was sent back down to the third line, but with more offensive talent with Colangelo's call-up: Cutter-Mac-Colangelo. That's a heavy, cycling line where both Colangelo and Mac love to crash the net while Cutter can start zipping the pucks to the net from anywhere when he cycles up the wall with the puck. Now, Z gets sent down to the third line because he wasn't working with the top line in Carlsson-Killorn. Z looks more dynamic with Mac centering him and they just have to figure out how Colangelo can fit into that duo's chemistry b/c Z isn't a cycler like Cutter.

There's a common theme with Mac. Put talented offensive players with Mac and that line will score. Last year, he centered Vatrano and Strome. That line was hot potatoes in the first 20 games when Mac was playing healthy. Here's a screen shot early last year, after 33 games, of Vatrano and Strome's production with Mac and without Mac. Vatrano had 15 goals in only 26 games with Mac last year. This year, Vatrano has 20 goals in 72 games.

View attachment 1003268

Mac shows adaptability with players around him. It looks as though he understands other offensive players and where they should be. With lesser talents, maybe those lesser talents aren't where Mac thinks they should be and it looks like he's the crazy one.

Maybe. Maybe that's just part of it. Maybe he had his own personal ephipanies and broke out of a mental slump, if he was ever in one in the first place. All I can say for sure is what I can see. Mac last year was producing but his puck management and skating around the offensive zone was erratic and chaotic. The way I saw it was he was producing more from having high pace in his game and finding good plays among a bunch of sketchy ones.

This year he seemed to lack that pace and was too often just casually throwing the puck around with a bunch of unforced turnovers.

You're right that he was already starting to play better before the third liner comment but it's been an upward trajectory since then rather than a switch flip. He's been even better the past two weeks than the two weeks before then where he's playing, in my view, the most controlled and consistent offense we've ever seen from him. He's snuffed the chaos out of his game and plays with poise and intention that creates dangerous chances.

Regardless of how he got here, this is an optimal outcome for his development.