Toronto Maple Leafs Urged To Pursue Former Third Overall Pick After Losing Favor With His Head Coach
The Maple Leafs could take a look at former third overall pick Mason McTavish as a means to add to their forward depth after he's had a falling out in Anaheim.
The number of players available for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brad Treliving to go after in a trade is varied and vast in nature. There is no shortage of key pieces that could take their season from a mere regular season success to a deep playoff run.
But of all the names that have come up, there's one who can come in and make a huge difference and he might be available thanks to some turbulence with his coach.
Mason McTavish An Underdog Trade Target For Toronto Maple Leafs
A former third overall pick in 2021, McTavish is a massive improvement over Toronto's third line pivots, and could fill in on the second line in a pinch.
A beefy center at 6'0, 213 pounds, McTavish is strong on and off the puck, can win faceoffs at a high clip, can play both the penalty kill and power play, has averaged 18 goals and 24.5 assists over the last two seasons.
But he's not gotten the time from his head coach, who took the time recently to belittle him:
It's a bit disingenuous to say that McTavish needs help to bring offense, or that he is strictly a third line guy.
On the Maple Leafs he would certainly rank behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares, but for the middling Ducks he deserves a bigger spotlight.
He does have 11 goals and 13 assists in 43 games for the Ducks, and is their fourth-highest scorer.
What's the harm in bringing Leo Carlsson down for a spell and move McTavish up? It could be Anaheim's key to unlocking that offense.
But if he's tired of the disrespect, then Toronto needs to take advantage and scoop him up ASAP.
In the final year of his ELC, Toronto can acquire him and re-sign him long term and have McTavish along with Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann as their trio of future stars to build around.
He won't come cheap, but there's minimal chances to acquire a player of this caliber, and Toronto can afford to give away their first rounder in 2026, plus a slew of other picks and perhaps a prospect could be enough to entice the Ducks to move on.
Mason McTavish is going to be a tough player to acquire given his skills at both ends of the ice, clutch performances, and he's barely scratched the surface of his potential.
But if Brad Treliving can give Anaheim a reason to doubt he'll succeed there, he could offer to take him off their hands for the right price and end up walking away a winner come March 7 at the trade deadline.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 27 | 659 ANSWERS Toronto Maple Leafs Urged To Pursue Former Third Overall Pick After Losing Favor With His Head Coach Should Toronto try and trade for Anaheim's Mason McTavish? | ||
| Yes | 463 | 70.3 % |
| No | 196 | 29.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
