It is no secret that the Montreal Canadiens need another center behind Nick Suzuki for their Top 6 after their recent playoff run. General manager Kent Hughes is certainly going to be aggressive in trying to address that, and one player that could be an option is Mason McTavish.
According to Jimmy Murphy, the Canadiens have 'circled back' on McTavish this summer. He also wrote that a source had mentioned that Montreal had reached out to Anaheim last September when McTavish and the Ducks were trying to negotiate a new contract.
Mason McTavish checks a lot of boxes the Montreal Canadiens look for in potential additions
It has been made very clear that the Montreal Canadiens are not going to look for a win-now type move. They have been methodical with their rebuild and the focus is adding younger players on longer contracts that can grow with this core.
Mason McTavish was the third overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and will be turning just 24 this upcoming season. He has already gained plenty of NHL experience with 304 career games and became a full-time NHL player during the 2022-23 season. Since that point, he has had at least 40 points every season, but did take a step backward this past season with only 41 points after a career-high 52.
The decline in performance could be tied to a few issues that could just be fixed by a fresh start. This past season was his first under new head coach Joel Quenneville and saw his time on ice decline by over a minute.
However, even still down the stretch, he was productive, even with the limited ice time, as he had seven points in the final eight regular-season games and then six points in 10 playoff games.
The Canadiens might believe a change of scenery could help McTavish bounce back under a reasonable contract with an AAV of $7 million with five years left on the deal. When looking ahead, the salary cap is expected to only go up, so the percentage of the salary cap that McTavish counts against will only decrease.
There is no question that finding top-line centers is not an easy task in the NHL, and while McTavish has some concerns, there is plenty of upside that he may be the Canadiens' best option to address this roster need.
