After his Team Canada won gold last night at the much-delayed 2022 World Junior Championships in Edmonton, Anaheim Ducks prospect Mason McTavish was named the tournament’s MVP by the IIHF. He also took home the IIHF Directorate Award for Best Forward, while Florida Panthers prospect Kasper Puutio won Best Defender and Minnesota Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt won Best Goalkeeper.
This World Juniors team was the seventh different team McTavish played on in the 2021-22 season if you count the canceled WJC in January as a separate team. He saved his best performance of the year for last, leading the tournament with an astounding 17 points in just seven games. As captain of the squad, McTavish led the team in goals with eight and tied his future Ducks teammate, Olen Zellweger, for the team lead in assists with nine.
McTavish’s next stop will be Ducks training camp next month. While not a guarantee, it would be a shocking development at this point if McTavish was not a full-time member of the Ducks next season.
In the WJC playoffs, McTavish played at least 20 minutes of every game Canada played, including a whopping 26:50 in their gold medal game overtime win — not to mention his game-saving save just seconds before the eventual winner.
McT and Zelle gonna look good in black and orange!
@NativeAmerican – When they were interviewing him (listened on TSN 1050), I was picturing a guy that sounded like he’s in his mid-late ’20s (he’s obviously not). This kid’s got a future, and then some! Super impressive.
Play him with top 4 to 6 and see him win Rookie of the year this season..
That stick swipe that kept the puck out of Canada’s net in OT is worthy of the MVP award on its own.
Can anyone think of a more skillful clutch play than the one he made in OT?
I have maybe seen more clutch and maybe seen more skillful (maybe) but never both at once quite like that.