The Mason McTavish wait is over, as the Ducks have agreed to a six-year contract worth $7 million per season with the 22-year-old forward. McTavish will finally report to the Ducks’ camp and shouldn’t miss any games, although he may need more time than normal to get up to speed. Anaheim has three more preseason games that McTavish could appear in before starting the regular season on October 9.
McTavish is one of the Ducks’ top two centers, leading the team with 22 goals and 12 power-play points and finishing second with 55 points. Despite the relatively low team-leading totals in 2024-25, Anaheim added Mikael Granlund and Chris Kreider in the offseason while parting ways with the inconsistent Trevor Zegras, so they may be in a better position to make a run for the playoffs.
Yesterday I went through a list of possible center replacements for who drafted Aleksander Barkov. Add McTavish to that list, as he has only been drafted in 22 percent of Yahoo leagues. In default Yahoo leagues where there are two C spots and only four bench spots, McTavish was likely ignored at least partially due to the contract situation. He doesn’t seem to stand out in any one particular category, but the fact that Anaheim plays more light days (38) could make him worth drafting.
With McTavish now under contract, all eyes turn to Luke Hughes on when he will sign with the Devils.
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During Saturday’s games, the Blues announced they had agreed to a three-year extension with Cam Fowler. The contract is for $18.3 million, so Fowler’s cap hit will be for just over $6 million per season.
Acquired from the Ducks during the 2024-25 season, Fowler made his mark with 36 points in just 51 regular-season games after starting the season with just four points in 17 games with Anaheim. From December 14 (his first game as a Blue) until the end of the regular season, Fowler was tied for ninth in scoring among defensemen with those 36 points – a massive increase in value as a result of the trade. Fowler continued scoring during the playoffs with 10 points in seven games. If he continues that pace into this season, Fowler could set a career high in points at age 34!
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Kaapo Kakko is expected to miss the next six weeks with a broken hand. Kakko’s hand was injured during Wednesday’s preseason game against Edmonton. Kakko, who was traded from the Rangers to the Kraken during the season, finished 2024-25 with a career-high 44 points. Not only did his scoring improve from New York (14 PTS in 30 GP) to Seattle (30 PTS in 49 GP), his icetime also went up nearly four minutes per game. It looks like Seattle is a better place for him, although we will have to wait a while to find out.
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Marc-Andre Fleury’s career has come full circle. Fleury stopped all eight shots he faced in one period of action in his final game. What a sendoff for the beloved goalie.
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I have an actual fantasy draft later today, so I spent a portion of my Saturday practicing for it with a mock draft. Since my league has 14 teams, I decided to go with the 14-team mock draft option. When selecting 14-team mock drafts in the past, I noticed that there were often many autopickers, which made me feel like I wasn’t getting real practice. This time, I joined earlier in the day (3:30 pm PT for me), and found that more human drafters showed up. Maybe I had been drafting too late in the day for the Eastern Time Zone people.
Below is the team that I selected. For full draft results and other information like settings, go to my personal blog Goods Fantasy Hockey.
1-8: David Pastrnak (BOS – RW)
2-21: Evan Bouchard (EDM – D)
3-36: J.T. Miller (NYR – C,RW)
4-49: Josh Morrissey (WPG – D)
5-64: Seth Jarvis (CAR – C,LW,RW)
6-77: Anthony Stolarz (TOR – G)
7-92: Dylan Holloway (STL – C,LW)
8-105: Thatcher Demko (VAN – G)
9-120: Ivan Demidov (MTL – RW)
10-133: Nazem Kadri (CGY – C)
11-148: Morgan Rielly (TOR – D)
12-161: Logan Cooley (UTA – C)
13-176: Will Cuylle (NYR – LW,RW)
14-189: Darnell Nurse (EDM – D)
15-204: Kiefer Sherwood (VAN – RW)
16-217: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF – G)
Instead of going through pick by pick like I’ve done in previous mock drafts, I’ll just share a few observations.
First, this draft won’t look as deep because it is a 14-team draft. I like drafts that go longer and require more skill and bring more possible names into the fold. I’m sure you feel the same. The downside is that you’re less likely to win a league title with more teams. Just like if Bettman adds teams in Atlanta and Houston and Phoenix and wherever else, then your favorite team becomes less likely to win a Stanley Cup!
Let’s talk about goalies next. I’ve been a proponent of Zero G, but for some reason the variety of goalies that were available in the sixth round stood out to me. All of the first-tier goalies are usually gone by then, but I had my choice of what I thought were some decent options, including Stolarz (my choice), Darcy Kuemper, Logan Thompson, Linus Ullmark, and Jacob Markstrom. Pick your goalies when they seem like the best value – but don’t reach for one. Goalie value can fluctuate from season to season, and the wrong goalie can sabotage your entire goaltending categories. That’s less likely to happen with top scorers. Stolarz’s short-term value increases with Joseph Woll away from the Leafs indefinitely.
I know that picking Thatcher Demko just after pick 100 might be viewed as a bold move. However, it’s looking more and more like he’ll be healthy this season (fingers crossed). Demko made it through 40 minutes of a preseason game on Wednesday without any issues.
Ivan Demidov at pick 120 might be a reach for a rookie. But it’s not that far off from his ADP of 128. Rookies can be hit or miss, but he seems like the Calder Trophy favorite.
In bangers leagues, I try to look for hits later and focus on scoring earlier on, because scoring is harder to find later. Yet some of the scorers I drafted early on – Miller, Jarvis, Holloway – provide healthy doses of hits. Hopefully that doesn’t come at the expense of my scoring (although I won’t think about this any further because this is a mock draft!) I was able to find hits later on anyway with Cuylle, Nurse, and Sherwood.
I also try to find cheap sleeper scoring later on. Cooley might be the best example of that. I think he’s falling in drafts because he has been dealing with an injury in the preseason, and he’s only C-eligible in Yahoo. Look for players who have fallen in drafts but seem to be on the road to recovery, as they could represent a great value opportunity. At the same time, make sure you’re on top of injury news so you’re not drafting a player that will miss the start of the season and perhaps much more.
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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social
