The Anaheim Ducks are reportedly “deciding between” competing trade offers for center Mason McTavish from two teams: the St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic first reported that the Blues were involved, and his reporting was further supported by Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.
According to Friedman, the Blues’ offer for McTavish centers around the No. 11 pick in today’s draft, while the Rangers’ offer centers around “a player.” Friedman did not want to speculate on which player the Rangers have built their offer around, but The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano reported the player is not veteran Vincent Trocheck. Mercogliano also wrote that he has “gotten some pushback” on defenseman Braden Schneider as that centerpiece player in the Rangers’ offer.
It should be noted that, according to Friedman, the Ducks are not looking for draft picks as their end goal in any McTavish trade. The team is looking to add players who can help their roster on a more immediate basis, to add to a lineup that reached the second round of the playoffs this past season.
Presumably, that means that if the Ducks end up opting for St. Louis’ offer, the No. 11 pick they acquire would instantly become available for trade, which could perhaps be of interest to teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins who are reportedly interested in trading up and climbing the draft order.
In any case, it does appear relatively likely that McTavish will be traded at some point in the very near future, as early as today if the Ducks end up preferring St. Louis’ offer. Although he had a somewhat disappointing 2025-26 season, scoring a career-low 41 points in 75 games, the 2021 No. 3 overall pick remains one of the more talented centers available on the trade market.
If teams believe he can bounce back and become a solid No. 2 center, his current contract, which carries a $7MM AAV through 2030-31, could provide real surplus value. It seems the Rangers have eyed McTavish as a potential replacement for Trocheck, who is likely to be dealt this summer, while the Blues would most likely plug him into their lineup as their No. 2 pivot behind Robert Thomas.
