Canucks: Why massive Mason McTavish hype is about playoff potential

Article content

When Joel Quenneville guided the Chicago Blackhawks to their third Stanley Cup championship in a six-year span in 2015, his centre of attention was Jonathan Toews.

Article content

At age 26, his “Captain Serious” moniker fit like a glove because of drive, desire and delivery. Toews was 21 when the Blackhawks claimed their first crown in 2010, nearly the same age as another pivot who has become talk of the league this summer.

Article content

Article content

Mason McTavish, 22, is a proud, productive and stubborn restricted free agent with the Anaheim Ducks, whose heavy and direct game at junior and international levels projects well for the NHL postseason. He led the Ducks last season with 22 goals, and his 52 points with the 24th-ranked club, and 30th-rated offence, were as credible as his team leading 50.7 per cent face-off efficiency.

McTavish has potential to become a reliable 30-goal producer and tough to play against. However, he has yet to reach contract-extension terms and that has sent suitors into a summer tizzy of what it would take to pry him away — everything from offer sheets to multiple players and draft picks.

Article content

Article content

Good luck with all that. He could stay put.

The Vancouver Canucks would salivate at potential of adding the 6-foot-1, 219-pound McTavish to help solve their riddle in the middle. But at what cost? Probably a roster player, prime prospect, and pair of high draft picks. AFP Analytics has McTavish receiving a six-year, $40.6-million US deal that would carry a $6.67 million in annual average value.

Of course, his camp is pushing for more, somewhere between $7 million to $8 million, and hence the impasse.

McTavish’s competitiveness was evident in advance of the 2021 NHL Draft. After 42 points in (29-13) in 57 OHL games with Peterborough Petes in 2019-20 — followed by COVID suspension of OHL games the next season — he was loaned to Olten EHC of the second division Swiss pro league. He responded with 11 points (9-2) in 13 outings.

Article content

“I love to get to the dirty areas to score goals,” he told this reporter prior to the 2021 draft, where he was selected third overall behind defenceman Owen Power and centre Matty Beniers. “I’m not one to shy away from playoff-style hockey. Just watching the NHL playoffs, those big-bodied guys really pay off.

“I love to compete against anybody and I don’t really back down from anyone. I just want to be hard to play against and you don’t want them to say: ‘Oh, he was easy to play against.’ Or, ‘He was fun to play against.’ I don’t like to make it easy on guys.”

Kind of sounds like what former Canucks captain Bo Horvat brought on a nightly basis. He has surpassed the 30-goal plateau in three of the last four seasons.

“(Horvat) works really hard and takes pride in his two-way ability,” McTavish said in 2021. “A terrific player and I have a lot of work to do, but hopefully I can have a similar career to that. Definitely somebody to look up to.”

Article content

Quenneville could have McTavish centre a second line with Cutter Gauthier and Frank Vatrano, while Leo Carlsson works the first alignment with Chris Kreider and Troy Terry. That leaves Mikael Granlund between Alex Killorn and Ryan Strome. Not bad. Maybe a playoff contender.

That wood resonate with McTavish, who excelled in international competitions that were like a postseason pressure-cooker.

He piled up 17 points (8-9) in seven games to lead Canada to the 2022 world junior championship crown and was named the event’s most valuable player. He also helped his country claim gold at the 2021 U-18 world championship with 11 points (5-6) in seven outings. McTavish, a Zurich native who moved to Canada at age eight, also played in the 2022 Olympics.

Article content

In his OHL career finale, McTavish led the Hamilton Bulldogs to the league title in 2022 by scoring twice in Game 7 of the championship series. He then got creative when COVID struck and he needed a place to play.

“It was obviously a crazy year, but it was a very cool experience for me to go back to where I was born in Switzerland and play professional hockey at such a young age,” recalled McTavish. “It really helped me get prepared for the U-18s. I would do that again.”

But maybe not with all the travel hassles.

“I was in the Montreal airport in mid-November and was supposed to get over there (Switzerland), but they wouldn’t let me into the country with COVID-related stuff,” said McTavish. “We went back home and I also needed a work visa to get over there, and I had to be 18 to get that.

“So, right on my Jan. 30 birthday, I got my visa, and the next day I way on a plane. In the next couple of days, I was playing a game. It was pretty competitive. They’re older men and they don’t take days off, and take it way more seriously.

“I learned a lot from those guys.”

bkuzma@postmedia.com

Article content