Ducks Rumors: The Latest On Mason McTavish

Mason McTavish has been one of the hot topics of the latter half of this offseason as he is one of just seven RFAs who don't have a contract for next season yet. He could also end up getting the most money and longest deal from the remaining RFAs as well, but Luke Hughes may challenge that.

McTavish is one of the centerpieces of the Anaheim Ducks and he had another strong season, finishing first in goals on the team with 22 and second on the team with 52 points in 76 games. He is a top-6 center who is good in the faceoff circle, is physical, and is still only 22 years old.

Elliotte Friedman said, "say you're talking about a seven-year deal, what Anaheim sees...and what McTavish's reps see...is different. I think that's one of the reasons it hasn't happened yet. One thing about (Pat) Verbeek...he's not afraid to let this linger."

Frank Seravalli pointed out that, "I do think there's lots of teams that would be interested in Mason McTavish, and I just feel like he's got a bit more leverage." While the interest from around the league may be in favour of McTavish in contract discussions, the Ducks have full control of him and have a backup plan in place as the team brought in Mikael Granlund and Chris Kreider to bolster the offense with a lot of money to still spend.

I don't see this contract dispute going into the season, but if McTavish misses any part of training camp, it will likely impact his game negatively at the start at least. That has been the case more often than not for players that miss some preseason games and practice ahead of the season. The Ducks don't need that as they have playoff hopes this season after a big improvement last season and more roster improvements this offseason.

McTavish's ceiling is much higher and there's little use for the Ducks to hold out too much and penny pinch. Roger McQueen is no sure thing and he isn't even in the NHL yet. There's nothing against moving one of McTavish or McQueen to the wing long-term. There is going to be a ton of money for the Ducks to spend after next season as well.