ANAHEIM, Calif. – The end of hockey summer is nigh, as various levels of Anaheim Ducks get set to hit the ice with the Golden State Rookie Faceoff this weekend at Great Park Ice and the big club’s training camp next week.

Yet one piece of outstanding business lingers for the Ducks and general manager Pat Verbeek: signing restricted free agent Mason McTavish.

The 22-year-old center is just one of five unsigned RFAs across the NHL, including New Jersey defenseman Luke Hughes, Nashville winger Luke Evangelista, Vegas winger Alexander Holtz and Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.

The Ducks and McTavish are reportedly grinding out negotiations on a long-term deal, according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, with the sticking point being the salary number of a longer deal.

“They’re not crazy about bridging McTavish (with a short-term deal),” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast on Sept. 5. “If you want to do long-term… six years, seven years, eight years, all of a sudden, you’re getting into pretty big numbers… It might not be easy for the two sides to agree on a longer projection.”

In the face of unfounded trade rumors this offseason, Friedman also noted that the Ducks do not want to trade McTavish, backing up his previous reports that the Ducks do like the player and Verbeek’s own earlier comments that McTavish is an important player for the team’s future.

Friedman’s report did go against the prior train of thought that Verbeek would seek a shorter deal, as he did with McTavish’s contemporaries–Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale–in 2023. Negotiations with those two at-the-time young Ducks dragged late into the preseason and resulted in three-year bridge deals.

Verbeek in the past has wanted young players to earn their bigger paydays, but the looming cadre of restricted free agents next offseason and the ever-growing salary cap may be steering the Ducks general manager into different tactics.

With Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger all entering RFA status next offseason, Verbeek seems to be looking to lock in McTavish to a favorable number on a longer deal to take off some of the financial stress of short contracts that would need to be renegotiated sooner and the eventually even-bigger salaries these young players would command should they all hit their potential.

There are two situations that line up when looking for comparables to McTavish’s situation and his value.

Close to home, Troy Terry was the first significant restricted free agent that Verbeek negotiated with in his Ducks tenure. Terry’s situation is slightly different, as he had arbitration rights and was coming off a three-year bridge deal, but the negotiating still went down to the wire on a long-term deal. Terry earned a seven-year contract minutes before his scheduled arbitration hearing in 2023.

When looking for comparable current value, Toronto forward Matthew Knies signed a six-year, $7.75 million per year deal this June. Knies, also 22 years old, has scored 44 goals and 50 assists for 94 points in 161 games (0.58 points per game). Knies has mostly played alongside superstars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

McTavish has scored 60 goals and 80 assists for 140 points in 229 games (0.61 points per game). McTavish played most of his early seasons with Terry and Frank Vatrano and played most of this season with Gauthier and Robby Fabbri.

Where the Ducks and McTavish settle on is anyone’s guess, but the ticking clock grows louder each passing day closer to training camp, the preseason and the regular season.

How did McTavish and the Ducks get to this point? Here is a timeline of the negotiations:

Mason McTavish on upcoming RFA talks this summer:

“Nothing yet. I’m sure it’ll kind of happen as the summer goes on. Obviously I love it here, and hopefully I can stay here… They believe in me. (No numbers, but) I think that’s more between my agent, me and Pat.”#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/C8ptW2hTVf

— Zach Cavanagh (@ZachCav) April 18, 2025

April 18: At Ducks exit interviews, McTavish said negotiations had not started yet. “Nothing yet. I’m sure it’ll kind of happen as the summer goes on. Obviously, I love it here, and hopefully I can stay here,” McTavish said. “They believe in me. (No numbers, but) I think that’s more between my agent, me, and Pat.”

April 19: In a press conference after firing head coach Greg Cronin, Verbeek described both RFAs Lukáš Dostál and McTavish as “priorities” for the offseason. “They’re very important players to our organization, and the hardest thing is going to be to figure out what the contract looks like,” Verbeek said. “We’re going to go through our due diligence. Obviously, we’ve got lots of time to work through this. The offseason’s just starting, and I’ve actually had conversations with both agents before the season had ended.”

June 23: Following the trade of Trevor Zegras, Verbeek seemingly reiterated his commitment to McTavish being a key piece to the Ducks’ future as a top-two center. “We’re fortunate there’s Leo (Carlsson) and there’s Mason (McTavish), so that we find that they’re two pretty good centermen.”

June 30: Ducks tendered qualifying offers to retaining rights to eight restricted free agents, including Mason McTavish

July 1: After signing Mikael Granlund on the opening day of free agency, Pat Verbeek told reporters he was “starting to work on that stuff a little bit harder” regarding RFAs McTavish and Dostál. “We’re going to work to negotiate a deal long before (arbitration hearings for Dostál). And then Mason, we’ll do the same thing. It’s just we’ve got some time now to kind of, really, get after it and get both those players under contract.”

July 17: Ducks signed RFA goaltender Dostál to five-year contract.

July 18: Ducks signed RFA defenseman Drew Helleson to two-year contract.

Aug. 4: Ducks announced two-year contracts with RFA forwards Sam Colangelo and Tim Washe.

Aug. 23: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet offered the first public insider report on the McTavish negotiations. “I think Anaheim likes the player. I think they recognize how good the player is,” Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts podcast. “I think there’s a difference of opinion on where the salary should go at different terms. I just think you have a lot of grinders (Verbeek, Ducks assistant general manager Jeff Solomon and McTavish’s agent Pat Morris) in this negotiation.” Friedman also reported that McTavish’s representatives looked for an offer sheet from another NHL team to drive negotiations, but that did not happen. He added he would be surprised if McTavish was not a Duck at the end of this.

Sept. 5: Friedman provided an update that Ducks were “not crazy about a bridge deal” and would prefer a long-term contract.