Pat Verbeek can be a tough negotiator with RFAs, and there are questions with Connor Zary’s injuries
Bleacher Report Youtube: Frank Seravalli on restricted free agent forwards Mason McTavish in Anaheim and Connor Zary in Calgary.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“What about Mason McTavish and the Anaheim Ducks, this projection here, six years times $6.7 million is a hot topic on a few streams ago, when we were talking about a guy who I think could potentially use a change of scenery.
I don’t think that’s ultimately going to happen, and I also don’t see him as an offer sheet candidate, because the Ducks have so much cap space. But nonetheless, he seems like a guy that I view as such a big part of the future for the Ducks.
He’s, I think Mason McTavish has a lot of Ryan O’Reilly in his game, if you watch him really closely. And I’d be real curious to see how he develops. And he was a very consistent and steady producer for the Ducks. That’s going to be a very important contract.
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But we know what some of those contracts have been like for Anaheim, it’s kind of been like pulling teeth at times with Pat Verbeek, and they haven’t been afraid to let guys go into the start of training camp without a new deal. That would just probably ratchet up the temperature on a situation that I think has been a quiet simmer around the rest of the league.
And that leaves us finally with Connor Zary with the Calgary Flames. Look, I think such an incredibly talented player who I believe is just beginning to scratch the surface. But I wonder how they feel, and I wonder how he feels about those close calls with the knee injuries that probably leave some significant question marks for Zary moving forward, that I wonder how the Calgary Flames are going to react.”
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