Ducks assign No. 3 overall pick Mason McTavish to OHL

Mason McTavish’s time with the Ducks this season has come to an end, as they announced that they have assigned the center back to Peterborough of the OHL.  Interim GM Jeff Solomon provided the reasoning for the decision:

"While we are happy with Mason’s development to date, we believe it is in his best long-term interests to continue his development playing in the OHL for the remainder of this season and, hopefully for Team Canada in the upcoming World Junior Championships. Among other things, this move should afford Mason the opportunity to gain additional experience playing his natural center position, which we believe will be beneficial to Mason and the Ducks in the long run."

The 18-year-old, who was the third overall pick in this year’s draft, made the team out of training camp but dealt with a lower-body injury early in the year.  That stopped his games-played clock and actually created a window for him to be sent to AHL San Diego on a conditioning stint, something that can’t be done on a regular assignment as he’s too young to be sent down as part of the CHL-NHL agreement.  That allowed Anaheim to delay a decision on what to do with McTavish until now.

McTavish posted decent numbers offensively — two goals and an assist in his nine games — but struggled on the possession side of things.  What certainly would have complicated the decision for the Ducks is that they’re banged up at the moment.  Wingers Max Comtois, Max Jones and Rickard Rakell are all out with injuries, which has thinned their forward depth, but they’ve opted for the longer-term play here.

With this move, Anaheim will not activate the first season of his entry-level deal.  McTavish will still have three years remaining on his three-year contract after this season, while the Ducks will still have seven seasons of club control.  Meanwhile, McTavish will go back to Peterborough, a team he hasn’t spent a lot of time with since that league didn’t play at all last season; he last suited up for the Petes more than 18 months ago.

Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek was the first to report McTavish’s assignment.