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Mason McTavish, Anaheim Ducks (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

NHL Rumours: Senators, McTavish, Draft Update, Wild, Rossi

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Jacob Billington | Last updated Jul 13, 2025 12:50 PM ET

In today’s NHL rumour rundown, the Ottawa Senators could look to the Anaheim Ducks to fill out their top-six, and could target Mason McTavish. Elsewhere, teams have voted, and it appears that the NHL Entry Draft will remain decentralized. Finally, the Minnesota Wild and Marco Rossi are still trying to get a deal done.

Senators Could Look to Add McTavish

The Senators have a lot of good pieces around their roster, but there is one missing piece in the top-six group of the forward group. Sportsnet’s Alex Adams wrote about the Senators’ orgnaizational depth, and when looking at the forwards, mentioned McTavish.

“There have been rumblings that Anaheim and McTavish aren’t a happy family. If McTavish is on his way out of Southern California, don’t be surprised if Staios is all over that. McTavish surely would want to play at home, but he’s also young, talented, has pedigree and would become a long-term part of the future in Ottawa.”

Alex Adams, Sportsnet

Acquiring McTavish wouldn’t be easy or cheap, but if general manager Steve Staios could pull it off, it would be a huge hole filled for the Senators. The last general manager, Pierre Dorion, tried to fill that hole already by adding Alex DeBrincat, but didn’t do his due diligence and make sure he could be extended first. Of course, Staios has brought a breath of fresh air to Ottawa and the fanbase, and instills confidence with his moves. McTavish being acquired would be contingent on him extending long-term, if it were to happen.

With the acquisitions of Mikael Granlund and Chris Kreider, some of the young players, including McTavish and Cutter Gauthier, could be a bit concerned about their positions in the lineup, and could look to find another home.

NHL Entry Draft to Remain Decentralized

With team representatives deciding to decentralize the NHL Entry Draft, the 2025 draft was held in Los Angeles with teams and their staff staying in their home city. Plenty of the prospects were at the draft, did interviews, and much more, but the atmosphere was really missing something, that being the teams.

Cutting costs was a big part of the reason to initially decentralize, and Commissioner Gary Bettman has been vocal about it being the teams’ decisions, not the league’s.

Following the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, many fans and even insiders expected the draft to return to the way it was before. It was drawn out, and there were many complaints about the draft, but reports have come out over the past few days that there was another vote, and the strong majority was to keep the draft decentralized.

Reporting on this only because I’m a bit surprised by the outcome. Expect the NHL to give the Decentralized Draft model another try next year. Strong majority of GM’s voted in favour of the new status quo with some potential production tweaks to move the 1st round along.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 12, 2025

Multiple others reported very similar things, but Post Media’s Bruce Garrioch posted on X, stating, “The #Sens weren’t in favour of this. Michael Andlauer believes the picture on stage in the jersey is an important moment for the players. The cost of the draft is the reason it’s staying this way. Only the host city benefits.”.

Rossi & Wild Looking to Get Deal Done

Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic recently did a mailbag and answered questions regarding Rossi. (from Answering your Marco Rossi and Kirill Kaprizov questions: Ask Russo and Smith, Part 1, The Athletic, July 8, 2025).

Russo answered the questions regarding Rossi, and noted that while there were trade conversations, the Wild wanted a top-six forward in return, but weren’t being offered what they wanted. Bill Guerin has been vocal about matching any potential offer sheet that is signed, but Russo refers to that as a scare tactic. He says that if a team gave Rossi $7 million per season, he isn’t certain the Wild would match it.

If he doesn’t sign an offer sheet to force the Wild’s hand, I think this could be a long one right up until training camp or even beyond. The schism just remains wide and the two sides haven’t been actively negotiating

Michael Russo, The Athletic

There is a ton of talent with Rossi, but with a player like Sam Bennett as the Conn Smythe-winning second-line center on the Florida Panthers, Rossi is almost the polar opposite, and the NHL is a copycat league.