IRVINE, Calif. – After an offseason that brought in new impact veterans and a new coaching staff takeover for the Anaheim Ducks, the story on the first day of training camp was not the arrivals of Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund or Joel Quenneville at Great Park Ice on Thursday.
The story was who was not there, as restricted free agent Mason McTavish remained unsigned and not even in the country. McTavish had been training locally as recently as last week, but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the 22-year-old center was back home in Ottawa amid the contract dispute.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said it was “disappointing” McTavish wasn’t signed and in camp, especially with an entirely new coaching staff to get up to speed with.
“There’s a lot of things to learn, and it takes a lot of reps to get it under each player’s belt,” Verbeek said in his preseason media availability, “and so, when Mason gets here, he’s got a lot of catching up to do. That more than anything–I’ve been through this scenario, okay? It’s not easy to join midcamp or miss the whole camp. Camp is a very, very important part of a player’s preparedness to go into the season. And so, from that aspect, it’s disappointing.”
Verbeek had labelled McTavish a priority in his end-of-season press conference in April and said he had spoken to McTavish’s agent Pat Morris before the season ended. On July 1, Verbeek said he was “starting to work on that stuff a little bit harder” and that he had some time now “really get after it” with negotiations.
Now, on Sept. 18, McTavish still remained one of four unsigned RFAs in the NHL.
“Talks are ongoing,” Verbeek said, “and we’ve made a lot of progress over the summer, but we’re not there yet. So, until we get there, he won’t be here.”
Friedman had previously reported that Verbeek and Morris were grinding towards a long-term deal, but Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic reported Thursday that the two sides were apart on both term and money. LeBrun also noted that the sides last talked on Monday before McTavish left for Ottawa on Tuesday.
However, Verbeek described the negotiations as “amicable, normal” and said that he’s known Morris a long time and both sides understand how both go about their business.
“We’re closing in, I would say,” Verbeek said, “but like I said, we’re not there yet. So both sides have to agree to a deal.”
This is now the third restricted free agent negotiation in Verbeek’s Ducks tenure to stretch into training camp with the other two–Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale–extending late into the same 2023 preseason. Zegras and Drysdale both received three-year bridge deals, were subsequently injured early in that 2023 season and now, under varying circumstances, have both been traded to Philadelphia.
Verbeek had two other high-profile RFA deals in his Anaheim run in Troy Terry and Lukáš Dostál with both avoiding arbitration–Terry at the last minute in 2023 with a seven-year deal and Dostál days before with a five-year deal this summer.
Ultimately, Verbeek has stuck to his guns as a hard negotiator and believes the proof is in the pudding.
“In the end, all the deals that were done were all fair market value contracts,” Verbeek said. “So, that’s the process. Where and how, and when it gets done are a lot of different variables, but in the end, we feel that it’s good for the team and good for the player, the deals that get accomplished.”
A prolonged negotiation doesn’t benefit either side in the short-term–McTavish is a notoriously slow starter–and it may affect Verbeek as he looks at a stack of RFA contracts up for negotiation next season.
Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger are all set for new deals next summer. With Anaheim’s top two forwards and half of its defensive corps looking for new deals in the wake of another lengthy contract dispute, Verbeek said that they are thinking about working a bit earlier on some deals, but every player and every deal is different.
“Well, we’re kicking that around now, internally,” Verbeek said. “We’ve been discussing that… but each individual, each contract, they’re all individually done and looked at differently. We have our process of how we go through and analyze each player’s scenario or situation and come up with a game plan and proceed to go through the process to get it done.”
For both sides’ sake, a quicker resolution is a better resolution, but whatever the result will have ramifications for both McTavish’s and Verbeek’s futures.
Below is a full transcript of the media availability with Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek on Saturday (questions and responses edited for clarity):
Mason McTavish, of course, unsigned. In your professional opinion, why do you think he’s not signed at this moment?
Well, that’s always a tough question. Talks are ongoing, and we’ve made a lot of progress over the summer, but we’re not there yet. So, until we get there, he won’t be here.
How would you characterize the talks so far?
Amicable, normal. I’ve known (McTavish’s agent) Pat Morris for a long time, so we both understand each other and know how each other goes about their business. So, it’s just totally fine.
The progress that you talk about, has any of that taking place lately? or is it kind of coming around?
No. We’re closing in, I would say, but like I said, we’re not there yet. So both sides have to agree to a deal.
These discussions with Mason, looking ahead to all the RFAs you have next season, does this affect how you think about those contracts? You’re thinking of getting any of those done earlier?
Well, we’re kicking that around now, internally. We’ve been discussing that, so that’s stuff you always look at. But each individual, each contract, they’re all individually done and looked at differently. We have our process of how we go through and analyze each player’s scenario or situation and come up with a game plan and proceed to go through the process to get it done.
Is that a tricky thing to manage? Because, like you said, you have more coming up on the docket. Is it tricky? And like you said, each is its own thing, but maybe one could impact the other managing that.
I would say there’s probably more outside influences, whether it’s league influences that kind of become tricky with those situations versus internal. don’t consider it tricky. It’s just, it’s just, just the process and things you have to go through.
Obviously a couple of years ago, with Zegras and Drydsale, those kind of took basically all of camp. How much are you looking to avoid a similar instance in terms of get them in here, get it done, get them in?
You talk about those players, I know you’ve mentioned Troy Terry and Dostál. I mean, in the end, all the deals that were done were all fair market value contracts. And so that’s the process, where and how, and when it gets done are a lot of different variables, but in the end, we feel that it’s good for the team and good for the player, the deals that get accomplished.
Does not having one of your top two centermen in camp under a new coach, is that compromising preparations for the new season?
It’s disappointing that he’s not here, obviously. I think that, virtually a whole new coaching staff and the group’s really excited like I’ve never seen before, but there’s a lot, a new system that’s getting implemented. There’s a lot of things to learn, and it takes a lot of reps to get it under each player’s belt. And so, when Mason gets here, he’s got a lot of catching up to do. And so that more than anything–I’ve been through this scenario, okay? It’s not easy to join midcamp or miss the whole camp. It’s camp is a very, very important part of a player’s preparedness to go into the season. And so, from that aspect, it’s disappointing.
What was it like to see Joel Quenneville back out there back in his element?
It’s exciting. He’s excited. The passion, the intensity, the vibrance that he brings–the players, they feel it, and they’re excited about it. They can’t wait. Obviously there’s a lot of work to be done, a lot of things to hone in on or hone up better for this upcoming season. So, tthat’s part of the process that we have for training camp and exhibition games to really start to dial it in to get a good start to the season.
Can you tell a difference in the attitude and the tenor of the group coming into this year versus the last couple?
This year, it’s night and day. There’s a couple, obviously the coach has brought a lot of excitement. The players highly respect him. They respect his track record. So that’s exciting for them. I think that the addition of a few players to the group, and I think the young players, you know, looking at themselves getting better and taking a jump is exciting for them as well. So there’s a lot of different variables coming together at the same time, which is very important.
Not just Q, you’ve got Jay Woodcroft, Ryan McGill as well. Basically an overhaul. How much of a difference can you see just this staff making?
Well, they’ve got a lot of tremendous experience, with Ryan from his side of things, the top five PK, for the last little while here with the two teams that he’s been with, and Jay, who I’ve known since Detroit, very detailed coach, very detailed in how he goes about his teaching process with things that need to get accomplished on the power play. So he’s got a long track record of having a top 10 power play, as well. So, all exciting stuff, and I think very vast experience in those areas to really help this young and experienced group at the same time.
What’s your goal or goals for the season for the team?
Our expectation is to make the playoffs. That’s our goal, and then we’ll go from there.
First day of training camp. Are you comfortable with where the team is at right now? Are you still looking to add pieces?
No, I mean, this is our group right here. I mean, we’ll see. There’s a lot of younger guys gonna be pushing for jobs, so we still see. That’s why we have the exhibition games and training camp to see who pushes themselves through.
You mentioned the young guys leveling up here as a goal. What about just obviously Granlund, Kreider, Poehling. What do you see as the impact they can make?
Production. I mean, if you look at all their production, I think Kreider’s last year was, well, probably an anomaly for me in the sense that he had a tough season. I think every player you’re going to look at through their history, they come across a tough season. So the one thing about change, and players being excited, it’s fresh. I’m expecting a big bounce back season. He’s going to be able to give us things that we haven’t had. Granlund, 66 points last year, expect a lot of that the same. He’s a very smart player, a very competitive player. And a guy that, you know, gets into the dirty areas of the ice, which is important to score goals, and Poehling as well. Looking anywhere on the third, fourth line, his production, points were in the 30. That was part of the thing that I was looking to improve in the bottom six, production. So plus, he kills penalties. There’s a lot of things that have been added to the group subtly, which makes us deeper, and we can put out four strong lines.
On Beckett Sennecke, what do you see as the path forward for him right now? Feels like a very pivotal point for him, in terms of going to juniors of NHL with no other option?
We’re going to go through this process that I went through with Leo (Carlsson), okay? So we’re going to analyze to see where he is at the end of these three, four weeks here, and then you know, I’ve got, as I did with Leo, I’ve got a couple different plans in my mind and we’ll see and make the best decision at the end of training camp.
Obviously, you want Mason in here sooner than later, but how much does Granlund’s importance grow with Mason not here?
I think from that point, I think there’s a lot of–Cutter Gauthier can play center, Poehling can move, we have Tim Washe.There’s lots of options that can kind of fill–I’m not saying we can fill the void completely, but opportunities for players to step in into that role to fill it if it has to be done. I mean, it’s no different than dealing with an injury all through the season. Guys go down, you’re gonna have to find somebody to play hole, so that’s kind of how we’re approaching it.
Just to jump off that a little bit. You mentioned Cutter playing center, he did that in college. Do you see that as a realistic scenario at some point, at all, even when Mason comes back?
I’m not sure. I’m not sure about that. Ultimately, Coach and I discussed that, and we’ll see what’s best for the team is how our guys will be deployed.