SENSNEWS

Mason McTavish remains a restricted free agent of the Anaheim Ducks as we enter the month of August in the NHL off-season.

Mason McTavish A Potential Fit For Ottawa Senators?

Both McTavish and the Ducks have been unable to come to a contract agreement so far, and there have begun to be rumours floating around that he is a potential name available on the trade market.

McTavish is one of the most intriguing names—if the information about him being available is true. At just 22 years old, he is still extremely young and has already shown excellent promise at the NHL level.

Mason McTavish’s NHL Career So Far

This past season with Anaheim, McTavish recorded 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points in 76 games.

He has already proven himself as an effective second-line centre and certainly has the offensive potential to one day be a number-one centre.

Now, McTavish is a natural centreman, which is not a position of need for the Ottawa Senators. However, when a player is as good as he is, it’s worth trying to move someone to the wing to fit him into your top six.

The Senators would still ideally like to add a top-six winger to play alongside Tim Stützle. While McTavish isn’t a winger, he is certainly skilled enough to play on a first or second line.

If Ottawa were to try and acquire McTavish, they would most likely have to trade for his rights, as an offer sheet seems unlikely considering their forfeiture of the 2026 first-round pick.

Senators Can Make The Cap Work

In any potential deal, Ottawa would likely have to send back some salary in order to fit McTavish under the cap.

He is due for a substantial raise, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Ottawa would have to send out one of their larger contracts to make it work.

Some fans may remember that the Senators have left themselves with some flexibility as we continue through the off-season.

Ottawa currently has $4.29 million in cap space for the upcoming season, meaning they could likely afford McTavish’s services while only moving out a deal in the $2–4 million range.

Obviously, Anaheim would want significant value in return for McTavish. He is one of the brightest young stars on their team and certainly seems like he should be a key piece of their organization moving forward.

Senators’ Connections To Mason McTavish

However, the connections between McTavish and the Ottawa Senators organization run quite deep. McTavish was a member of the Hamilton Bulldogs, where he played under Steve Staios as GM and Michael Andlauer as owner.

Belleville Senators General Manager Matt Turek also served as the Director of Player Personnel on that Hamilton Bulldogs team.

Current Senators prospect Jorian Donovan was also a teammate of McTavish during his time in Hamilton.

We know how much Michael Andlauer and the Senators value bringing in familiar faces.

We’ve seen this with the hiring of Staios and Turek, among other members of the organization, including Sean Tierney, the Head of the Analytics Department.

On the ice, we also saw a move made just over a month ago with Arthur Kaliyev being signed by the Senators.

McTavish Feels Like A Good Fit

Given how impressive McTavish has been at the NHL level—as well as in his time with Hamilton—it would be hard to believe that Steve Staios wouldn’t welcome him with open arms to his hometown of Ottawa.

Staios, in contrast to the previous management team, has done an excellent job of keeping things under wraps in the media.

News about Senators trades or trade rumours has been much harder to come by compared to the previous regime.

We saw this with the Dylan Cozens trade as well as the Fabian Zetterlund deal. There wasn’t much time to recognize that these moves were going to happen until they ultimately did.

McTavish Is Worth The Risk

Now, going into the season, you have to wonder if the Senators have another trick up their sleeve. Perhaps there was more of a reason for creating cap space than we initially anticipated.

If the relationship continues to sour between McTavish and the Ducks, Ottawa will be a team well-positioned to make a potential deal work.

They have flexibility, and they have NHL-ready assets that could interest Anaheim. The big question now is whether or not there are two willing dance partners in this potential relationship.

So while Mason McTavish may not be a positional necessity for the Senators, he is certainly a fit for the right price. He could be the missing piece to the Senators’ top six.

One way or another, the Senators should look to use some of their available cap space. Another potential option from the unrestricted free agent market is winger Jack Roslovic.

However, my top target—and likely the Senators’ too, contextually speaking—would have to be Mason McTavish. Let’s see where all of this goes.