The 23-year-old is entering the second year of a six-year, $42 million contract.
With the abundance of trade rumors that had cropped up this past week, it was only a matter of time before the hammer dropped. On Friday evening, during the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, the Ducks traded forward Mason McTavish to the St. Louis Blues for the 15th overall pick and the 29th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Ducks then used the 15th pick to select forward Nikita Klepov. There is zero salary retention in the deal.
2025-26 was a rollercoaster season for McTavish. He missed the start of training camp due to a contract dispute before signing a six-year contract with a $7 million AAV. He did have a good start to the season, putting up 18 points in 25 games, but he was unable to perform consistently in a bigger role while Leo Carlsson was out due to surgery to remove a Morel-Lavallée lesion.
The inconsistency persisted into the second half of the season, with McTavish eventually shifted to the wing and even healthy scratched for a handful of games. He was also a healthy scratch in two of the Ducks' playoff games against the Vegas Golden Knights.
While McTavish is a capable player offensively, his lack of foot speed and below-average defensive work proved to be deficiencies. Without the pace needed to adjust to head coach Joel Quenneville's system, he was a square hole in a round peg. In his 2025-26 exit interview, McTavish said that he wanted to come into next season a bit leaner and work on improving his speed and defensive work. The fruits of his labor will be viewed in St. Louis instead of Anaheim next season.
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