The waiting is over, the stalemate has ended and pen has been put to paper.
On Saturday, TSN and The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that it was “status quo” on negotiations between the Ducks and RFA Mason McTavish. Hours later, both LeBrun and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Ducks and McTavish were closing in on a six-year contract with a $7 million AAV. The Ducks then officially confirmed the extension.
This is the third long-term extension that Verbeek has handed out during his tenure as Ducks general manager. It’s the first long-term extension under Verbeek for a Ducks player who didn’t have arbitration rights.
McTavish is a key component of Anaheim’s young core, pegged to be the No. 2 center behind budding star Leo Carlsson. While offseason additions like Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund do improve the team’s depth, McTavish’s return strengthens their forward core immensely.
With McTavish back in the fold, head coach Joel Quenneville now has one of his key forwards at his disposal. Granlund will likely slide to the wing, bumping Alex Killorn down to the third line. A top-6 consisting of Kreider, Carlsson, Troy Terry, Cutter Gauthier, McTavish and Granlund is much stronger than the top-6 that Anaheim rolled out for most of last season.
The power play will get a boost as well. Though McTavish’s role on the man advantage is yet to be deduced, his presence alone adds offensive firepower.
“When he shows up, he’ll be ready to go,” Sam Colangelo said. “He’s an unbelievable player and a huge part of our team.”
“He's such a great player for us and brings so much to our team that I'm sure he's just waiting for the contract to get done so he can come join us,” Killorn said. “He doesn't have one of those personalities—I don't think—of guys who are just fine to sit at home and are able to just come 10 games into the season or whatever it is. So that's, I think, how he's feeling.”
“We’re ready for whenever (the extension) happens,” Terry said. “He’s such a competitor. I know he'll be just fine and be able to step right in here, hopefully sooner than later.”
“He takes care of himself off the ice and I know he loves hockey, skates all the time and he's working out hard,” Ryan Strome said. “So I'm sure when he comes back, he'll be ready to go.”
McTavish’s extension includes a 15-team modified no trade clause (NTC) in the final two years of his contract.
Per PuckPedia, the Ducks now have just over $13 million in projected cap space.
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