The St. Louis Blues entered this year's NHL Draft with four first round picks at their disposal, leaving fans and experts wondering if they had planned on flipping some of them for a top player. During the first round, the Blues flipped two of those picks to the Anaheim Ducks for center Mason McTavish. The Blues were aggressive in landing McTavish, as reports indicated that the New York Rangers were also making a serious run at him as well.
With the Blues trading away the likes of Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou this year, the Blues needed to add some talent to their top six, and the hope is that McTavish could provide just that. Even though he's never eclipsed more than 52 points in a season, the Blues are still banking on his potential to become a legitimate scoring threat on the team.
And there is belief from his former coaches in Anaheim that he could be just that in St. Louis.
The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford and Joe Smith spoke with his former head coach in Anaheim Greg Cronin and assistant coach Craig Johnson about McTavish and their belief that he can be the player that can help the Blues.
Mason McTavish's former coaches believe he can thrive with Blues
“He seemed to be coming along my last year,” Cronin said. “There was some visible momentum with him, not only in his points, but in his skating and his decision-making. I don’t know what happened. He got sat a few games (under Quenneville). I don’t really talk to anybody (in Anaheim), so I don’t really know what happened with him, why he became tradable. But I think he’s a good player.”
Cronin was the lead coach behind the bench for just two seasons during McTavish's career. One of those seasons was where he put up 52 points and a plus/minus rating of zero, easily the best numbers of his career. But Cronsin was fired after the 2024-25 season, and replaced with Joel Quennville. McTavish's numbers dipped, posting 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) and a minus-15 plus/minus rating. Hence why Cronin said he was surprised why McTavish didn't take that next step this past season under Quenneville.
Now Cronin is an assistant under Jim Montgomery in St. Louis, and now will get to work with McTavish once again. This could allow Cronin to unlock McTavish further.
Meanwhile, Johnson praised McTavish for not only his play on the ice, but his willingness to learn, as he watched game and practice film with him during their time in Anaheim. Perhaps most importantly, Johnson said McTavish didn't have a negative attitude during his time in Anaheim, which were filled with numerous years without a playoff appearance.
“He was drafted to be one of the young core players so that when the Ducks got better, he would be one of the key pieces in that,” Johnson said. “I look at what he had to go through, and he went through it with positivity. He was never negative. He was never like, ‘Our team stinks.’ He showed up, he wanted to play, and he wanted to be part of the solution.”
While teams have been banking on McTavish's upside, there was one main area of his game that was a cause for concern, and that was his skating speed. McTavish isn't a fast skater, as The Athletic points out, his maximum speed was 21.85 miles per hour, which is below the league average. Johnson said he believes that McTavish's speed will improve as he gets more playing experience and as he gets older.
“You don’t have to be extremely fast, but you have to have change of speed,” Johnson said. “He just has to keep developing that pace. As he continues to get older and get stronger and redefine his skating, he’s going to play with more pace and more energy.”
Let's not forget that while McTavish played five years in the NHL, he is still only 23 years old. There is still plenty of room for him to improve his game, which is what both Cronin and Johnson stressed. The thing is, though, the Blues gave up two first-round picks this year to bring in McTavish to be their No. 2 center.
The pressure is going to be high for McTavish to produce and be a pivotal player for the team.
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