Prospect Info: With the 3rd overall pick in the 2021 Entry Draft, the Ducks select Mason McTavish

[Static]

I don't see an elite defensive forward from what I have seen through the full games I have seen (although its only 7 game sample size). I have seen an above average one.

That may be but it doesn't detract from the overall point. Scheifele plays no defense and isn't physical whatsoever. Being a shooting first center is the only comp I can see between the two.

 

[bsu]

That may be but it doesn't detract from the overall point. Scheifele plays no defense and isn't physical whatsoever. Being a shooting first center is the only comp I can see between the two.

Cool.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

That may be but it doesn't detract from the overall point. Scheifele plays no defense and isn't physical whatsoever. Being a shooting first center is the only comp I can see between the two.

Scheifele is also much much more of a playmaker than how McTavish projects.
42 assists to 21 goals in 56 games this past season and 44 assists to 29 goals in 71 games in 2019-20.
Go back further and he had a 50 assist 32 goal season in 2016-17 over 82 games.

 

[Static]

Scheifele is also much much more of a playmaker than how McTavish projects.
42 assists to 21 goals in 56 games this past season and 44 assists to 29 goals in 71 games in 2019-20.
Go back further and he had a 50 assist 32 goal season in 2016-17 over 82 games.

Yeah he has a lot more assists on his record than I remember.

 

[Static]

Cool.

You don't have to take it personally, I agreed with some of your other comps.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

In 2017-18 Laine had a season with 44 goals & 26 assists in 82 games. If McTavish hits his ceiling i could see him doing something similar to that but as a Center.
McTavish is 3 inches shorter but has a massively better work ethic and a lot more maturity than Laine.

 

[GunnarStahl]

In 2017-18 Laine had a season with 44 goals & 26 assists in 82 games. If McTavish hits his ceiling i could see him doing something similar to that but as a Center.
McTavish is 3 inches shorter but has a massively better work ethic and a lot more maturity than Laine.

I think McTavishs typical deployments aren’t going to allow him to score like that. Obviously we don’t have the full details on how he will be utilized but if I had to guess I think he will be taking a lot of tough match ups and d zone draws, thus eating in to his production a bit, of course if the Ducks decide to play him on a line with Zegras that changes things and his production could be greatly increased

 

[bsu]

You don't have to take it personally, I agreed with some of your other comps.

I don't take anything personal... or serious for that matter on this website, it's a discussion board.

 

[OCSportsfan]

If Zegras and McTavish are on the same line (assuming we get Eichel or similar), I think it should be Zegras on the wing.

 

[Deuce22]

If Zegras and McTavish are on the same line (assuming we get Eichel or similar), I think it should be Zegras on the wing.

Disagree. Zegras is both more comfortable and more dangerous at center.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

If Zegras and McTavish are on the same line (assuming we get Eichel or similar), I think it should be Zegras on the wing.

So like Matthews and Marner.

 

[405Entrance]

A lot the more I watch, I watched the entire WJC18 tournament the last 3 days since I am moving... He needs to work on his stick handling and soften his hands up (a lot of passes hit his stick and it's not clean) but he does it all. He also took some HORRIBLE penalties in the gold medal game and 1 of them cost Canada a goal. His shot is unreal. He is super strong but I don't see him being much of a fighter more of a pain in the ass.

Zellweger was SUPER impressive during the tournament he actually stood his ground a couple times against much better players. Wright and Bedard are actually insane.

Guenther was barely noticeable. Clarke was really good.

If anyone wants to watch the WJC I got a torrent link for all.

That zelleweger pick is looking better and better by the day

 

[405Entrance]

If Zegras and McTavish are on the same line (assuming we get Eichel or similar), I think it should be Zegras on the wing.

Depends on the matchup but they would both benefit more if zegras was the C. I think it could be a fluid situation tbh

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I think McTavishs typical deployments aren’t going to allow him to score like that. Obviously we don’t have the full details on how he will be utilized but if I had to guess I think he will be taking a lot of tough match ups and d zone draws, thus eating in to his production a bit, of course if the Ducks decide to play him on a line with Zegras that changes things and his production could be greatly increased

With GM Bob Murray he definitely will want him to be used like Kesler.
After all Kesler was a player that Bob Murray scouted for the Canucks in 2003 draft
a few years before he left that scouting job to join the Ducks in 05.

 

[Force951]

The Athletic prospect rankings mentioned that the CBJ were targeting McTavish with the 5th pick.

 

[bsu]

The Athletic prospect rankings mentioned that the CBJ were targeting McTavish with the 5th pick.

(For what it’s worth: I also recently learned that McTavish was the Blue Jackets’ target at fifth overall, so even if the Ducks didn’t take him, he wasn’t ever going to be around where I had him ranked.)

 

[Hinterland]

The Athletic prospect rankings mentioned that the CBJ were targeting McTavish with the 5th pick.

Not surprising. I was pretty sure he'd go 5th to Columbus. I just didn't expect Anaheim to take him over Eklund. But Columbus does need top Centers and among the natural Centers available (though McTavish is at least as good on the wing) I think McTavish has the highest upside.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Not surprising. I was pretty sure he'd go 5th to Columbus. I just didn't expect Anaheim to take him over Eklund. But Columbus does need top Centers and among the natural Centers available (though McTavish is at least as good on the wing) I think McTavish has the highest upside.

So the Ducks picking McTavish might be like how the Jackets took PLD over Puljujarvi (the consensus #3 in 2016)
but of course in hindsight they should have picked Tkachuk or McAvoy.

 

[91Fedorov]

So the Ducks picking McTavish might be like how the Jackets took PLD over Puljujarvi (the consensus #3 in 2016)
but of course in hindsight they should have picked Tkachuk or McAvoy.

Hopefully it's like when the Ducks took Lindholm about 10ish spots too soon. That seemed to work out.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

The Athletic prospect rankings mentioned that the CBJ were targeting McTavish with the 5th pick.

Bob McKenzie's rankings should have been a sign how he was rated it really wasn't a reach, more of play style preference for the players in that tier

 

[Hockey Duckie]

The Athletic prospect rankings mentioned that the CBJ were targeting McTavish with the 5th pick.

Bob McKenzie's rankings should have been a sign how he was rated it really wasn't a reach, more of play style preference for the players in that tier

There were two publications that staked their scouting report early that had McTavish ranking high: Central Scouting, NA had McTavish ranked the 2nd best skater and Elite Prospects had him ranked 5th overall. They were the only two that relied heavily on what McTavish was in 2019-20 and what he accomplished in 2021, both at the Swiss League second tier (NL-B) and the WJC-18's. Many didn't use the NL-B as part of their scouting. Some scouts identified the high jump in improvement, but were too conservative in moving McTavish up. Eventually, the scouting community changed their minds and moved McTavish up. There were also a handful of mock sites that put McTavish up in their top-10. MyNHLdraft had set on McTavish going to Columbus at 5th overall for quite some time. It's good to see the confirmation that McTavish's talent would have been selected at 5th and probably a huge reason why GM Murray didn't want to trade down from 3rd overall.

The TSN guys raised their stock on McTavish late, or rather closer to the draft date, which was July 23rd. A date of importance with all this scouting is that the WJC-18 took place from April 26 to May 6. Although McKenzie did finally rank McTavish fourth before the draft, it makes one wonder why make a change so late when all the info on McTavish has been out for months. Credit to McKenzie for having McTavish near the top-10 in early June.

YouTuber LegoRocks99 was doing a video on McTavish on June 4, 2021 and showed his EP page rankings. I compared that date with the final rankings on draft day. June 4th is about a month after the WJC-18 tourney was played. On June 2nd, the draft order took place and Anaheim dropped one spot to 3rd overall - that's when I started to do a deep dive on McTavish.

McTavish
Scouting Media	4-Jun	23-Jul	Diff
Consolidated Ranking	14	8	+6
Elite Prospects	5	5	0
FC Hockey	15	10	+5
Neutral Zone	21	9	+12
McKeen's Hockey	16	7	+9
NHL Central Scouting (NA)	2	2	0
Sportsnet's	9	8	+1
Recruit Scouting	17	9	+8
Dobber Prospects	29	11	+18
Draft Prospects	14	9	+5
Smaht Scouting	32	13	+19
The Puck Authority	17	11	+6
TSN/McKenzie	11	4	+7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

@KaseMeOutside is correct about McKenzie ranking both McTavish and Eklund at fourth, and the decision to select McTavish by the Ducks was preference between a physical, scoring center or a playmaking winger. I've shared this thought often after doing deep dive on McTavish and preferred a physical, scoring center because we lacked goal scorers and center talent.

Only two scouting entities had McTavish ranked in the top-5 on June 4th. If the scouting community had it's July 23rd ranking on June 4th, I wonder if selecting McTavish wouldn't have come out as such a big surprise or reach to many? It should make one wonder why so many scouting entities changed their minds drastically on McTavish and why they didn't have this ranking all along since the WJC-18's were completed in early May.

I hope for the best for McTavish because the Ducks are going to need that talent to pan out, especially if we're going to rebuild through the draft than via FA or trades.

 

[Hinterland]

There were two publications that staked their scouting report early that had McTavish ranking high: Central Scouting, NA had McTavish ranked the 2nd best skater and Elite Prospects had him ranked 5th overall. They were the only two that relied heavily on what McTavish was in 2019-20 and what he accomplished in 2021, both at the Swiss League second tier (NL-B) and the WJC-18's. Many didn't use the NL-B as part of their scouting. Some scouts identified the high jump in improvement, but were too conservative in moving McTavish up. Eventually, the scouting community changed their minds and moved McTavish up. There were also a handful of mock sites that put McTavish up in their top-10. MyNHLdraft had set on McTavish going to Columbus at 5th overall for quite some time. It's good to see the confirmation that McTavish's talent would have been selected at 5th and probably a huge reason why GM Murray didn't want to trade down from 3rd overall.

The TSN guys raised their stock on McTavish late, or rather closer to the draft date, which was July 23rd. A date of importance with all this scouting is that the WJC-18 took place from April 26 to May 6. Although McKenzie did finally rank McTavish fourth before the draft, it makes one wonder why make a change so late when all the info on McTavish has been out for months. Credit to McKenzie for having McTavish near the top-10 in early June.

YouTuber LegoRocks99 was doing a video on McTavish on June 4, 2021 and showed his EP page rankings. I compared that date with the final rankings on draft day. June 4th is about a month after the WJC-18 tourney was played. On June 2nd, the draft order took place and Anaheim dropped one spot to 3rd overall - that's when I started to do a deep dive on McTavish.

McTavish
Scouting Media	4-Jun	23-Jul	Diff
Consolidated Ranking	14	8	+6
Elite Prospects	5	5	0
FC Hockey	15	10	+5
Neutral Zone	21	9	+12
McKeen's Hockey	16	7	+9
NHL Central Scouting (NA)	2	2	0
Sportsnet's	9	8	+1
Recruit Scouting	17	9	+8
Dobber Prospects	29	11	+18
Draft Prospects	14	9	+5
Smaht Scouting	32	13	+19
The Puck Authority	17	11	+6
TSN/McKenzie	11	4	+7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

@KaseMeOutside is correct about McKenzie ranking both McTavish and Eklund at fourth, and the decision to select McTavish by the Ducks was preference between a physical, scoring center or a playmaking winger. I've shared this thought often after doing deep dive on McTavish and preferred a physical, scoring center because we lacked goal scorers and center talent.

Only two scouting entities had McTavish ranked in the top-5 on June 4th. If the scouting community had it's July 23rd ranking on June 4th, I wonder if selecting McTavish wouldn't have come out as such a big surprise or reach to many? It should make one wonder why so many scouting entities changed their minds drastically on McTavish and why they didn't have this ranking all along since the WJC-18's were completed in early May.

I hope for the best for McTavish because the Ducks are going to need that talent to pan out, especially if we're going to rebuild through the draft than via FA or trades.

I agree with this.
Furthermore, I never really understood why McTavish fell out of McKenzie's top10 in Bob's mid term rankings. Remember McKenzie had him at 9 on his initial list but McTavish was playing very well over in Switzerland against men. That demotion didn't make sense at all:
Blueliner Owen Power tops McKenzie's first 2021 Draft Ranking

Having said that, McKenzie's list is based on what NHL scouts are telling him and the Swiss League isn't a league top prospects typically play in. If at all, Swiss League players tend to get taken in the later rounds. This probably made it hard to really judge McTavish's performances and progress. Also, because of the pandemic and restricted travelling, I don't think there were many NHL scouts at Swiss League games. Central Scouting however does employ a Swiss scout:
Thomas Roost at eliteprospects.com

Roost knows everything about Swiss hockey and watched both McTavish and Othmann a lot so of course Central Scouting knew about them and had them ranked higher than others. Not sure how many NHL teams actually employ Swiss scouts. Again, with travelling restricted, that then makes it difficult if you don't have Switzerland based scouts. Video access I guess was very restricted as well as there aren't a lot of Swiss League broadcasts available. It's usually just one or two games per round with at least one of them being a one camera production. Because of covid and no spectators allowed, some teams started doing own broadcasts but these were mostly one camera productions as well and teams weren't allowed to share their material either because of the exclusive rights broadcasting deal with payTV broadcaster Teleclub. So if NHL teams even got to watch some tape of McTavish it was probably mostly pretty bad quality. Can't know for sure but I'd say I've probably seen more of him than most NHL teams.

This is probably why teams kinda ignored his success in Switzerland and he only started climbing the rankings after playing the WJC18.

 

[Kalv]

Was checking Draisaitl stats pre-draft. From what can be compared, McTavish doesn't come close.
Draisaitl was anchoring his team D-2 year in the WHL. McTavish while was scoring at a good pace, was just a complementary scorer on his team, with comparable stats to someone as Ritchie.

I sound a bit like a hater, but I'm very ok to have McTavish in our org btw. It's just I don't think he was the BPA and there is some hype on him in our fanbase but I think some fans will be disappointed on the outcome.
Murray said he could be a top-9 center and right now it looks like that to me - a Middle-6 two-way centerman. 50 point potential in peak years.

 

[bsu]

Still wish we took Eklund but excited about MacTavish now he's a Duck.

 

[Trojans86]

Mctavish is going to bring a ton of physicality, explosiveness and an elite shot. He may not be a superstar but i cant see him hurting our team in any way.

Btw, i talked to a coach that said he has a shot to make the nhl club if he does really well in camp.