NHL
Mason McTavish finished this season with 17 goals and 41 points, a drop-off from the previous season. Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images
The Anaheim Ducks traded Mason McTavish to the St. Louis Blues during the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday for the Nos. 15 and 29 picks.
Just after the trade was announced, the Ducks picked Nikita Klepov at No. 15.
McTavish spent his first four full NHL seasons with the Ducks, who drafted him with the No. 3 pick in 2021. The 23-year-old will be entering his second season on a six-year, $42 million contract that he signed with Anaheim last fall after he missed part of training camp due to a holdout.
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The Ducks are moving on from a player who is coming off a difficult, regressive season. McTavish got off to a solid start in 2025-26, with 11 points in his first 15 games, but finished with just 17 goals and 41 points, a drop-off from the previous season, in which he had career highs of 22 goals, 30 assists and 52 points.
The Blues have been stockpiling 23- to 26-year-old players who can be part of their long-term future, and they’ve added another in McTavish.
McTavis is a 6-foot-1, 219-pound left-shot forward who can play center or wing. He is capable of playing a physical style, which the Blues have expressed a need for going into the 2026-27 season.
McTavish came into the league as a center, which the Blues are also in need of this offseason. If he’s up to that task, he could play in the middle on the second or third line, and if not, he can be used on the wing.
In 304 NHL games, McTavish has 77 goals and 181 points.
The potential issue with McTavish is that he needs to be better defensively and improve his speed. He was a healthy scratch for the Ducks in the regular season and the playoffs in 2025-26.
In September 2025, McTavish signed a six-year, $42 million contract ($7 million average annual value), and he has five seasons left on that deal.
It once seemed McTavish would be part of Anaheim’s core for years, but things changed when he struggled in coach Joel Quenneville’s up-tempo system, which had the Ducks playing at a higher pace. McTavish lost the No. 2 center job early to veteran Mikael Granlund and was moved to left wing as the Ducks filled out the middle with Ryan Poehling and rookie Tim Washe.
Instead of being an important piece behind Leo Carlsson, McTavish was scratched on a couple of occasions during the regular season. That raised eyebrows, and the forward was also scratched twice during the second-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, which drew more attention toward his future with the Ducks.
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A native of Switzerland — his father, Dale, played there when he was born — and raised in Canada outside of Ottawa, McTavish had a decorated junior hockey career. He started with the Peterborough Petes before winning an OHL title with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
McTavish captained Canada’s gold medal-winning team in the 2022 World Juniors, where he made a signature play by knocking down Topi Niemela’s potential game-winning shot for Finland with his stick and pulling the puck off the goal line. Moments later in overtime, he factored in Kent Johnson’s golden goal. McTavish was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
With that No. 15 selection, the Ducks selected Klepov of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. A dual citizen of the United States and Russia, Klepov was the forward Anaheim coveted and provides another high-ceiling offensive talent.
Klepov, who turns 18 on Saturday, had a terrific first OHL season, with 37 goals and 60 assists in 67 games to win the league’s scoring title. He has committed to attend Michigan State after the one season in Canadian junior hockey.
The Ducks ended up trading up one spot with the second pick, from No. 29 to get No. 28 from the Vegas Golden Knights. They selected Marcus Nordmark, coincidentally the son of former Blues defenseman Robert Nordmark.
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