If the Philadelphia Flyers have gotten one thing right in their rebuild, it's been their pro scouting and ability to buy low on struggling players. It might be time to check in with the Anaheim Ducks once again.
Trevor Zegras and, against the odds, Jamie Drysdale, have been success stories for the Flyers since arriving from the Ducks in the last two seasons, respectively.
Zegras was their first attempt at going out of their way to add a proven talent to the roster, and now the Flyers will have the opportunity to do something similar.
On Monday, the Ducks made center Mason McTavish a healthy scratch for their game against the Montreal Canadiens, which inevitably raised questions about his role and future with the team.
McTavish, 23, has just 13 goals and 32 points in 61 games for the Ducks this season and is a -11, and considering he had a career-high 22 goals and 52 points last year, the 2021 No. 3 overall pick is now going in the wrong direction amidst the worst season of his career.
If the Ducks do wish to move on from McTavish just as they did Zegras, who also started strong before being forced out, nothing will prohibit them from doing so.
McTavish is in the first year of the six-year, $42 million ($7 million AAV) contract he signed with the Ducks on Sept. 17, but he won't see his 15-team no-trade list kick in until 2029-30.
So, if the Flyers were to reunite the talented center with one of his old Ducks teammates, nothing is stopping them aside from a potential bidding war and meeting Anaheim's asking price, if there is one.
From 2022-23, Zegras and McTavish held an expected goals-for percentage of 47.5% at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, and while that is objectively a bad number, the Ducks were a bad team. The bottom line is that the two were better together.
McTavish, without Zegras, was at an even lower 44.57%. Zegras without McTavish was a tad lower at 43.74%. The Ducks without either of those two at 5-on-5? Just a dreadful 42.75%.
It's worth noting, too, that when paired together, McTavish, Zegras, and the Ducks scored 14 high-danger goals to their opponents' 12. There's untapped potential there if the Flyers can reunite the two former top draft picks in a better, fresher, and friendlier environment.
In the summer, when McTavish was an RFA, I advocated against the Flyers trading for him due to his lack of speed and production. These are still true, as McTavish is not particularly useful in the transition game and is now scoring points at the worst rate of his career.
At the same time, though, his $7 million cap hit is modest enough to make the risk worth the trouble for the Flyers, especially as they continue to drift towards another middling draft pick and may or may not make the playoffs.
The Flyers will need to find talented top-six centers one way or another, and it sure would be fun to see McTavish reaching his full potential playing with agitators like Zegras and Porter Martone, Travis Konecny, or Matvei Michkov.
More than likely, the Flyers have assets to make a potential deal worth Anaheim's while,