ANAHEIM, Calif. – The swords have been sheathed. The war is over. Mason McTavish got his money, and the Anaheim Ducks got their man.

After a prolonged and grinding contract negotiation, the Ducks signed restricted free agent McTavish on a six-year, $42 million contract on Saturday to get their No. 2 center into training camp with two weeks to the regular season.

“Today is an exciting day for me and my family to commit my long-term future to the Anaheim Ducks,” McTavish said in a statement. “I believe in the direction of this organization and the group we have in the locker room. We’re building something special and I want to help this team take the next step toward becoming a consistent playoff contender and, ultimately, a championship team.”

The salary cap value for the 22-year-old center comes in at $7 million per season, which ties him for the highest-paid Ducks forwards with five years left on Troy Terry’s contract signed as an RFA in 2023 at $7 million per season and Mikael Granlund’s free agent deal signed this summer for three years at $7 million per season.

“Mason is a key part of our team, and we’re excited to reach a long-term agreement that reflects his importance to our future,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said in a statement. “He’s a highly skilled, physical, and competitive player who plays the game the right way. Mason has already made a significant impact at a young age, and we’re confident he’ll continue to grow into a top player as we build toward sustained success.”

McTavish’s camp had reportedly been seeking a seven- or eight-year contract at $7-8 million per season, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period last week, and the same report had the Ducks’ offer at five years and $5.5 million per season.

Ultimately, Anaheim compromised on the years, and McTavish compromised on lower end of the asking price to come in with a nice “fair market value” deal for both sides, as Verbeek has claimed he’s negotiated in each of his high-profile Ducks RFA talks.

Negotiations were tight in 2023, as well, as Terry signed his seven-year, $49 million deal minutes before his arbitration hearing and both Trevor Zegras’ and Jamie Drysdale’s contract disputes dragged late into training camp.

“In the end, all the deals that were done were all fair market value contracts,” Verbeek said at his preseason media availability. “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.”

If anything the deal may lean slightly in McTavish’s factor, both in terms of money and with the deal only buying two years of his unrestricted free agency. McTavish was eligible to be a UFA in 2029 at 26 years old, and now, he will hit the market in 2031 at 28 years old.

McTavish is the only Duck signed past 2030. McTavish, Terry and Lukás Dostál are the only Anaheim players signed past 2028.

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek had labelled McTavish a priority at his end-of-season availability and said he had already spoken with McTavish’s agent, Pat Morris, before the end of the season. After the first day of free agency on July 1, Verbeek said he was “starting to work on that stuff a little bit harder” with some time to “really get after it” in terms of negotiating with his other RFAs.

After closing deals with Lukáš Dostál (five years, $6.5 million per season) and Drew Helleson (two years, $1.1 million per season) to avoid arbitration, signing Sam Colangelo and Tim Washe to two-year, two-way contracts, getting through nine days of training camp and playing three preseason games, the Ducks finally closed up their offseason business by locking in McTavish.

Once McTavish returns to Anaheim from his training in Ottawa, he can rejoin his teammates and get to work under new coach Joel Quenneville to continue preparation for the regular season.

“He’s a huge part of this group,” Radko Gudas said earlier in training camp. “We just can’t wait to get him around here and get him up to speed, and he’s very important for us.”

Verbeek can now turn his attention toward the future, as the Ducks look to avoid this same situation with a litany of key RFAs next season. Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger all come up for renewal next summer.

“Well, we’re kicking that around now, internally,” Verbeek said about an earlier start to the next round of RFA negotiations. “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 now, the Ducks’ summer has officially come to a close. Drop the puck on the 2025-26 season.