What is it going to cost a team to acquire Mason McTavish from the Anaheim Ducks? Would the Montreal Canadiens part with that piece?
The Shaun Starr Show: Shaun Starr and Marco D’Amico talk about the potential availability of Anaheim Ducks RFA forward Mason McTavish. What are the Ducks looking for, and would it make sense for the Montreal Canadiens?
D’Amico: “This is Pat Verbeek classic, right? Where he waits it out with his RFAs. The most recent being Trevor Zegras, right? And I think that’s what’s got the rumor mill going, because you’ve seen this situation before.”
Starr: “Totally, but let me if I ask, you know, when they decide to move away from Trevor Zegras, right? In my mind, when that move was made at the time, I’m like, okay, they’ve made up their mind. They prefer Mason McTavish down the middle in Anaheim moving forward than they do Trevor Zegras.
That’s how I interpreted that decision, coming from the front office out in Southern California. But here we, here we are now talking in mid-August about the again, the possibility strong or weak, that Mason McTavish likely gets moved.
NHL Rumors: Alex Ovechkin’s Future, and Matthew Tkachuk’s Injury
So I think every Canadiens fan watching us right now would love to see a Mason McTavish. This is a six-foot-one guy, you know, over 200 pounds, like he checks a lot of boxes and…”
D’Amico: “Left shot.”
Starr: “Well, totally. And you look at these like, everybody loves the proven angle, as opposed to, you know, what might become. I’ll throw a name out, like Michael Hage, for example.
I mean, 140 NHL points and 229 NHL games. I mean, let’s, let’s take, let’s take a break here and talk about, okay, Mason McTavish is available. The Canadiens are kicking tires, as they should. Any responsible organization that’s rebuilding should at least inquire, at the bare minimum.
What’s it gonna, what’s it gonna cost? I mean, what world exists? A real, a realistic world, like, it’s David Reinbacher, plus. It’s Michael Hage, plus. Like, first round picks, plus your A prospects, right?”
D’Amico: “Yeah. And even then, I don’t even think they’re really interested in the first round picks. My colleague Jimmy Murphy put out an article recently where he had a source indicate to him that the only thing that will really grab Anaheim attention at this point is a current or future top-pair right-shot defenseman.
The Canadians have one in Noah Dobson, that’s not moving. And then the Canadians kind of have one in the projection mold in David Reinbacher. But I don’t think the Canadians are going to spend in one summer, to go from having two really good young pieces on the right side of their defense in (Logan) Mailloux and Reinbacher, and then trade them both the moment that they trade for Dobson.
I think when you look at Stanley Cup winning teams, they always have a locked-down, immovable top-four that just eats up those minutes, 50 out of 60 minutes a game, if it doesn’t go to overtime. And that’s what the Canadians have essentially built up, right? I think Dobson playing with (Kaiden) Guhle makes sense. I think eventually Lane Hutson playing with David Reinbacher makes sense. And then you fill on, you filled your third pair up. If you people want Arbor there, that also works. You could trade for a bottom pair right-shot D. Alex Carrier could be extended. There could be a prospect that comes in and takes that spot. But ideally, your top four is locked and you interchange your bottom pair.
And if that’s the vision, which you know we’ve seen from Jeff Gordon in the past and the teams that he’s built, I don’t necessarily see the Canadians trying to fill one hole by like, exposing themselves on the other. Because, and I state this, hen Noah Dobson was initially made available, or when I, when I mentioned that Noah Dobson was on the Canadians list and that they had kick tires on him back in the spring, a lot of people said it would cost, you know, Caulfield, (inaudible), etc, right? And it ended up being two first and Emil Heineman, because of a situation that unfolded.
And I feel like that’s where the Canadians are right now. They’re in a situation where they want something to happen, for them to pounce. And I don’t think that there’s anything happening right now with Mason McTavish. I think this is summer speculation just running amok.
I think that he starts, from what I’m hearing, he’s going to be starting the season in Anaheim.”
Starr: “Right.”
D’Amico: “And the drafting of Roger McQueen, which is what started all this is not enough. In my opinion, he’s at least two years away with the injury he had last year. He’s at least two years away from sniffing the NHL. Going to the NCAA next season. Lots of time to figure that out. And you can never have too many centers, right? And you look at a guy like Michael Granlund.”
Starr: “Exactly.”
D’Amico: “I’m not sure Michael Granlund is going to play center for the Anaheim Ducks. The way that Quennville. Joel Quennville likes to run his teams. He likes big centers up the middle. I don’t necessarily think that that plays into it, either.
There’s just a lot of situations, a lot of coincidental situations, are creating this assumption that he’s being pushed out the door. He may eventually get traded, yes, but I think he, if he does get traded, it would be for the precise need and really the only need that the Anaheim Ducks have at this moment – right shot D.”
NHL Rumors: Pittsburgh Penguins, and Possible Landing Sports for Mason McTavish
Starr: “And what really, because I would think, just to counter that, right? And, you know, just so we’re on the same page here. I totally see it the way you kind of outlined it, too. I would be beyond shocked if David Reinbacher was part of this. Like, I think the Canadians need a very good, fundamentally strong defenseman. I mean, they’ve checked the boxes with offensive-minded blue liners. They’ve got that in spades in two really super studs, and Hudson and Dobson, obviously. The counter, you know, a little bit more counterbalance the defensive brigade, is something I think they need to do, and I think David Reinbacher would be an integral part finishing that off and rounding it out, right?”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
