- Pierre LeBrun says the Ducks have made Mason McTavish available this summer
- A contract stalemate cost McTavish camp and he never found his game in a 41-point year
- Read below for what LeBrun is hearing and why teams are split on the 23-year-old
The Anaheim Ducks are taking calls on Mason McTavish, and Pierre LeBrun thinks one of them turns into a deal.
LeBrun talked about McTavish’s future during a guest spot on TSN 690’s Melnick in the Afternoon, and he made it clear Anaheim has put the young center on the market this offseason.
“I really think there’s a chance he gets moved,” LeBrun said.
Teams are split on him, the way LeBrun tells it. The interest is there because of the pedigree. The hesitation is there because of the year he just had.
“I think teams are obviously intrigued, given where he was drafted and his pedigree, but also concerned because they’re wondering what’s happened here,” LeBrun said. “They want to know why the Ducks are taking so many calls on him.”
Part of the story is the contract. McTavish signed a six-year deal worth $7 million a season less than two weeks before Anaheim opened the year, and the holdout dragged out long enough that he never made up the ground.
Here’s LeBrun confirming the terms back in the fall:
LeBrun traced the rough season right back to that start.
“The short story is that he was chasing his year from the get-go by missing camp, right? He had the contract stalemate, took forever to sign, and from that point on, the Ducks feel like he was chasing and never found his game. It’s really just a year to forget.”
The drop showed up on the scoresheet. McTavish finished with 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 75 games, down from 52 the season before. He is still only 23, and he went third overall in 2021, so the ability that made him a building block has not gone anywhere.
Watch the kind of play that still has teams calling:
His name has been floating for a while now. Back in May, the Leafs, Blues and Jets had already checked in on him, so the market was forming before LeBrun spoke up.
The difference now is the tone. Anaheim is no longer just fielding calls and hanging up. LeBrun thinks McTavish is genuinely on his way out before next season starts.
