Teams have started calling on Mason McTavish, and the Anaheim Ducks are listening. The center is drawing trade attention even while he is under a long-term contract, a sign that the market around him is moving faster than his box score would suggest.
The timing matters because the NHL trade market is active and the free-agent crop is shallow, which has pushed clubs to look for upgrades in deals instead. McTavish, 23, is set to enter the second season of a six-year, $42-million contract he signed late last September, but his name is now part of the summer conversation in a way that would have seemed unlikely after his 22-goal, 52-point campaign a season ago.
This past season was less convincing. McTavish scored 17 goals and 41 points in 75 regular-season games and added one goal and six points in 10 playoff games. He was sometimes in Joel Quenneville’s doghouse, was often used on the wing and in the bottom six, and sat out a handful of games as a healthy scratch. That usage matters because a player’s value is shaped not just by his contract, but by how often he is trusted to play the middle of the lineup.
The Ducks had a deep forward group, with Leo Carlsson, Mikael Granlund and Ryan Poehling down the middle in the top nine, while Cutter Gauthier, Chris Kreider, Beckett Sennecke and Troy Terry often filled the top six. In that setup, McTavish was not always being asked to drive a major offensive role, and that has complicated how other teams are reading his worth. One Eastern Conference executive said McTavish’s value is not as high across the league as it was a season ago.
The Calgary Flames have already called on McTavish, but a team source said they do not feel they have what the Ducks are looking for in exchange. Another team source said Pat Verbeek is looking to make hockey deals, which points to Anaheim wanting a return that fits its own roster rather than simply taking the best asset on the market. In simple terms, the Ducks appear to want a trade that helps them now, not a package built only around future uncertainty.
The Philadelphia Flyers are also believed to be keeping tabs on McTavish, and they have been looking to add a center all offseason. A team source said they believe he is a true center, and that makes him a cleaner fit for a club that wants help down the middle. Defenseman Cam York could be a player of interest for the Ducks in any hockey deal. York, 25, is set to enter the second season of a five-year, $25.75-million contract he signed last summer, and he had four goals and 22 points in 74 regular-season games last season before scoring the series-clinching overtime goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. He is also a native of Anaheim, which adds another layer to why he stands out in this discussion.
There is still a gap between interest and agreement. McTavish is locked in at a $7-million AAV for another five years, but that security has not made his market simple, and the Ducks are being measured against what they can actually bring back. The Minnesota Wild have not reached out, while the Buffalo Sabres have been listening on Bowen Byram, another sign that teams are working the same thin market from different angles. For now, McTavish remains the player everyone is calling about and no one has yet priced correctly.
