Ducks announce bad news on veteran center

The Anaheim Ducks have announced that center Mason McTavish is day-to-day with an injury. Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune reported that Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek told the media McTavish tweaked something at Wednesday’s practice while he was reaching for a puck. Verbeek remained optimistic that the injury was of the minor variety adding that he believed it was a muscle spasm that likely needed a day or two of rest before the 20-year-old could get back on the ice.

The Ducks are already missing several key young pieces at training camp who are without contracts for next year and can ill afford to miss McTavish for any length of time. Although the Ducks aren’t expected to be a contender this season the club is hoping that their young players like McTavish can take a big step forward and develop into frontline NHL players.

McTavish was the Ducks’ third overall pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft and had a good rookie season last year posting 17 goals and 26 assists in 80 games. Despite his decent numbers, McTavish ran out of gas for the last stretch of the season posting just a goal and an assist in the final 12 games of the regular season. He also suffered an injury on April 11 that effectively ended his season. A strong training camp will go a long way to getting McTavish some of his confidence back that he seemed to lose towards the end of last year.

If Verbeek’s assessment is correct it shouldn’t be an issue for the young McTavish to be well-prepared for the Ducks regular-season opener on Oct. 14 against the Vegas Golden Knights.