The 2025-26 NHL season will begin on Oct. 7, with training camps set to start the week of Sept. 17, followed shortly by preseason games starting on Sept. 20.
Eight RFAs remain unsigned league-wide, including high-profile core pieces like Luke Hughes, Connor Zary, and Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish.
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Two young and similarly high-profile players recently came to terms with their respective clubs: Marco Rossi signed a three-year contract with the Minnesota Wild that carries an AAV of $5 million, and Frank Nazar signed a sizable seven-year contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks at a $6.6 million cap hit that will begin in 2026-27.
There’s been little to no information regarding McTavish’s negotiations with the Ducks, but his name has appeared in countless trade and offer sheet speculations since the offseason began.
“I think that Anaheim likes the player (McTavish),” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on his most recent ’32 Thoughts’ podcast. “I think they recognize how good the player is. I think there's a difference of opinion on where the salary should go at different terms.
“I have heard just gossip-wise that, say you're talking about a seven-year deal, what Anaheim sees on a seven-year deal and what McTavish's representatives at Newport (Newport Sports Management Inc.) see on a seven-year deal is different. And so, I think that's the case in a couple of these terms. And I think that's one of the reasons that it hasn't happened yet.”
The Ducks traded Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23, with part of general manager Pat Verbeek’s stated reason for pulling the trigger being his belief in Leo Carlsson and McTavish down the middle.
“(Zegras) is more creative in the middle of the ice, and having to play from the wing, we're fortunate that there's Leo (Carlsson) and there's Mason (McTavish),” Verbeek said. “We find that they're two pretty good centermen. So Trevor has to get pushed to the wing.”
Though chatter and speculation have died down of late concerning the Ducks potentially moving McTavish, as training camp gets ever-closer, there still seems to be lingering discussion from multiple media outlets surrounding McTavish’s future in Anaheim.
So why does McTavish discussion persist when questions surrounding Hughes and the New Jersey Devils (who only has a projected $6.13 million in cap space to get a deal done) or Zary and the Calgary Flames (who has the fifth most projected cap space, $15.41 million) remain nonexistent?
The answer lies in the summer of 2023, when similar scenarios played out with previously regarded core pieces of the organization: Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. As the saying goes, “the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior,” and we’ve seen this playbook from Verbeek. Both players are no longer with the organization.
With those negotiations and taking Troy Terry down to arbitration day with his contract negotiations, Verbeek cemented a reputation as a shrewd negotiator, specifically with RFAs, and more specifically with RFAs coming off of their ELCs, where the team holds significant leverage.
“I think the Ducks like the player. I think that they believe in him. I just think that you've got a lot of grinders in this negotiation,” Friedman said. “Pat Morris, who represents McTavish, he's a grinder. Pat Verbeek is a grinder.
“I think Pat Verbeek kind of looks at it like, ‘before the guy gets the super big money, I want him to really earn it. I don't want to give it to him too early.’ I think that's a philosophy. Jeff Solomon, who handles the contract negotiations in Anaheim, he's a grinder.”
Laying out the pieces (though it can change with one phone call), an agreement and an end to negotiation seems currently out of sight. The Zegras and Drysdale negotiations lasted well into training camp, leading to both players sustaining injuries in efforts to get themselves up to speed in their first camp under a brand-new head coach (sound familiar?).
Friedman reported that McTavish’s representation was hoping or seeking out a potential offer sheet from opposing teams. Whether that was because they’re truly seeking another destination or because they wanted to reattain some leverage and force a decision from Verbeek remains unknown.
“I think that McTavish representatives looked for an offer sheet, it didn't happen,” Friedman said. “There's been a lot of talk about why offer sheets didn't happen this year after what St. Louis did last year.
“I really believe the whole thing with Gavin McKenna has terrified teams from doing the offer sheet. This is a player with a chance to do some great things in the NHL. (Teams) can’t protect (and) say, ‘This pick is top two protected or top ten protected.’ You can't do that with an offer sheet. And I think that really scared teams away, not only with McTavish, but with other players. So I'm not surprised that didn't happen.”
A negotiation lasting into training camp isn’t ideal, regardless of player or circumstance. However, that date is closing in, and if talks extend to that point, it would be beneficial to both parties to do everything in their power to ensure McTavish is eased into camp upon an agreement. Injuries are unpredictable as is, and can occur at any point, but adding risk is unnecessary.
It would be beneficial for both sides to get the deal done as soon as possible. McTavish would be afforded the runway to pick up where he left off last season, where he scored 33 points (16-17-33) in his last 36 games, and the Ducks would enter a pivotal training camp before a season in which the stated mandate is to make the playoffs, with their projected second-line center of the present and future under contract.
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