Mason McTavish could be playing with some extra fire heading into the 2026-27 season.
The St. Louis Blues forward told reporters Thursday that he's "not happy" with the way things went down in Anaheim following an off-season trade from the Ducks.
"Yeah, I think I have a chip on my shoulder, for sure," McTavish said to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. "I'm not happy with the way things went in Anaheim. I enjoyed my time there; it was awesome, guys were great, but at the same time, they traded me. That's something I'm passionate about and want to get better. I'm looking forward to doing that here."
McTavish, 23, was acquired by the Blues on June 26 at the NHL Draft, with picks Nos. 15 and 29 heading back the other way.
The move came after McTavish, who had been an alternate captain for Anaheim since the 2023-24 season, put pen to paper on a six-year, $42-million ($7 million in average annual value) deal the summer prior.
His first year under that new contract didn't go according to plan for the third-overall pick from 2021, as he finished with 17 goals and 24 assists with a minus-15 in 75 games — well off his 52-point output in the 2024-25 campaign.
Despite his drop in production, the Ducks finished with a 43-33-6 record and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign. They eventually lost in the second round to the Stanley Cup Final-bound Vegas Golden Knights.
McTavish also fell out of favour with new coach Joel Quenneville, who slashed his ice time from 16:53 to 15:19 per game and scratched him during that playoff appearance, playing in only 10 of the team's 12 post-season games. When he did skate, he logged only 12:25 of average ice time.
Now, he'll hope to rebound with a Blues team that just missed the playoffs last year with a 37-33-12 record.
"It's been awesome so far," McTavish told Rutherford about his new side. "The guys have been super welcoming and just meeting everybody is a lot, so it was nice to come in a little earlier and put names to faces."
