Lots of things have changed in Anaheim for the Ducks, but one thing remains the same. GM Pat Verbeek is insistent on proving what a grouch he can be when it comes time to sign a young player to a contract extension. This time, his target in Mason McTavish. Why it has to be this way is anyone’s guess.
To review: McTavish has proven to be a pretty dynamic #2 center behind Leo Carlsson, with 94 points combined in his last two seasons. He is a restricted free agent, but hasn’t shown much of an appetite to accept the gruel that Verbeek is apparently offering him for an extension. Verbeek is one of the more stubborn people around when it comes to second contracts for players. For evidence, one can see how Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale were punted out of town after lengthy negotiations, and how Troy Terry actually had to go to arbitration to get his. This is just how Verbeek does things, but it’s not how the league sees things anymore.
Where the Ducks are heading is something of a question. They’ve hired Joel Quenneville, and as desperate as he might have been to get any NHL head coaching job again after being banished for his role in the Kyle Beach controversy in Chicago, that desperation doesn’t mean he’ll be a patient coach. He’s a win-now man. The acquisition of Chris Kreider isn’t one for the future either, as Kreider is already turning odd colors in the sun. Same goes for the signing of Mikael Granlund.
Look around The Pond, and the Ducks look pretty old. Kreider is 34, Granlund, 33, Alex Killorn is 35, Ryan Strome is 32, Frank Vatrano is 31, Radko Gudas is 35, and the website says Jacob Trouba is 31 but in hockey years he’s 412.
McTavish is part of the Ducks’ youth movement, a major part of their next great team (in theory), unlike all the players mentioned above. The Ducks front office might argue that they’re so loaded with prospects coming up that they don’t have to bow down to McTavish’s demands, but that’s only partially true. Waiting in the wings, or at center as the case may be here, is Roger McQueen, this past June’s #10 overall pick. Problem is, McQueen missed most of last season with back problems. He’s 6-5, and big centers who have back problems already tend to turn into Kirby Dach instead of Mark Messier.
Cap space isn’t a problem. The Ducks have $20 million in space for this season at the moment, and are projected to have just a touch under $60 million next season. All those vets mentioned above, the ones who gum their food and their women, all come off the books in the next two years. The Ducks are as poised as any team can be to keep their young core together, once they identify who that is. Cutter Gauthier and Carlsson come up for new deals next summer. Same goes for Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger. Perhaps Verbeek is worried about setting a precedent of giving the kids whatever they want and is using McTavish as an example. That point was made quite clear with Zegras, Terry, and Drysdale, or so we would have thought.
This doesn’t make for a cheery atmosphere, as every young player wonders what kind of gauntlet they’ll have to run to get the money they deserve. Or that as soon as they get it, they’ll be traded in retribution for making Verbeek get out of his chair once. Either the Ducks are going with their young players, or they aren’t. Verbeek needs to stop acting like he’s doing them a favor.
Anaheim Ducks GM Trying to Prove How Tough He Is With Mason McTavish