Ben Shelley: Ducks select Mason McTavish with third-overall pick

Ben Shelley: Ducks select Mason McTavish with third-overall pick
- Ben-Shelley

Terrible pick at 3rd. Management should be fired.

Bob sure surprised the heck outta me. I thought it was very easy to see how much this Ducks team needed more skill on the top 6. We have plenty of grit and size on this team. But thinking about it overnight I have to say. I shouldn't be that surprised. Bob loves gritty players. And his vision is to literally build a team that smashes it's way to another Stanley Cup.

I mean logic says the best way to improve is to strengthen your biggest weakness. If you need goaltending draft a goalie. If you need defense then draft a dman. If you need more toughness draft a big physical forward. But the Ducks have these attributes. I remember Bob Murry saying in the end of last season that he wanted the team to go to the net more. Well he seems fixated on that. And it's not a bad thing. That's the dirty area. Where the rubber meets the road. But who gonna get the puck to McTavish. And he's a center. He shouldn't be going that low in the first place. That's where wingers should play more often.

Now not to disparage Mason McTavish. It's not anything about him that's bad. He's going to be a good player. Better than Ritchie, Jones and probably Comtois. And Bob seems to think he'll be a good fit. Maybe true. But man. This team is being built to be the version of the Broad street bullies. Every time this team goes out on the ice I'm gonna think " Hulk Smash!!!". Because that's what's Bob's building. And big hulking team that smashes its way through the playoffs.

I like this pick. There were a group of guys that could've gone from 3-12 and he seems like a solid solid player with a terrific shot to go along with a hard game. The ROR/ Mark Stone comparisons are good enough for me.

People seem fixated on his skating .. but really how many times do you sprint in a straight line during a game. As long as his close quarter quickness is solid so be it.

Z - Him in the middle is nice. Along with Isac and hopefully Steel that is 4 C I can get with.

Pick makes total sense. You could see the disappointment on Murray's face when the Ducks fell to #3 in the draft. Why? Because Beniers would have been the pick at 2. The Ducks DESPERATELY need a strong C. That's why the Eichel rumors. Asking price was obviously too high. McTavish makes total sense. He's going to be the grinding C to the finesse C in Zegras.

Really really like Zellweger with the 34th pick also.. A kid who can really skate and has tremendous edge work. Another swift skater on the backend never hurts and he's a bulldog who had a very nice U18's... good get boys.

Benoit / LaCombe / Olen / Nickl -wow the pipeline is looking really good on the backend again.

Now Sasha @ 66 ... wow thought he'd be long gone.. high skill and hockey sense... another nice get.

Bob sure surprised the heck outta me. I thought it was very easy to see how much this Ducks team needed more skill on the top 6. We have plenty of grit and size on this team. But thinking about it overnight I have to say. I shouldn't be that surprised. Bob loves gritty players. And his vision is to literally build a team that smashes it's way to another Stanley Cup.

I mean logic says the best way to improve is to strengthen your biggest weakness. If you need goaltending draft a goalie. If you need defense then draft a dman. If you need more toughness draft a big physical forward. But the Ducks have these attributes. I remember Bob Murry saying in the end of last season that he wanted the team to go to the net more. Well he seems fixated on that. And it's not a bad thing. That's the dirty area. Where the rubber meets the road. But who gonna get the puck to McTavish. And he's a center. He shouldn't be going that low in the first place. That's where wingers should play more often.

Now not to disparage Mason McTavish. It's not anything about him that's bad. He's going to be a good player. Better than Ritchie, Jones and probably Comtois. And Bob seems to think he'll be a good fit. Maybe true. But man. This team is being built to be the version of the Broad street bullies. Every time this team goes out on the ice I'm gonna think " Hulk Smash!!!". Because that's what's Bob's building. And big hulking team that smashes its way through the playoffs.
- Eman87654

Tampa Bay just won the Cup because they could play skillfully or physically. There's plenty of skill in the pipeline, just watch a Gulls game. What they don't have is someone to consistently crash the net. The Ducks have a bunch of perimeter players (other than the Maxes), which is why they can't score goals. This guy will go to the net and he really compliments Zegras. You can't have all of the same players and win. Look at Colorado's defense in the playoffs, they have a bunch of great skating smaller guys back there. Vegas chipped the puck in and pounded them on the boards. Mason is that type of player.