Their upcoming journey to the Golden State will be their first. Mason McTavish and Brandt Clarke have had longer, stranger trips.
In search of hockey in less COVID-19 friendly territory, McTavish spent part of last season in Switzerland. Clarke and his brother went to Slovakia, and then his brother left.
They played against professional veterans, coped with the language as best they could and came out unscathed. They even adjusted to the surroundings in Frisco, Texas, home of the World Juniors, which they helped Canada win.
On Friday, the Ducks crossed up most of the mock drafters and used their No. 3 overall pick on McTavish. Five slots later, the Kings made the predictors look good when they picked Clarke.
Top-10 picks are supposed to play long years in the NHL. No one knows when those years begin for McTavish and Clarke. Simply by walking through the door they make the Ducks and Kings more interesting. Harder tasks await.
McTavish and Clarke live maybe 15 minutes apart, in the Ottawa Valley. They play golf together. McTavish is a slab of a centerman, 6-foot-1 with a hard shot and a veteran’s build. Clarke needs to develop more, but he’s a right-hand defenseman with the vision to find the right play and make it. They were quite a sight on the same Team Canada, but for the next few years they might develop some contemptible familiarity, like Ryan Getzlaf all these years with Drew Doughty.
“I get compared to Brayden Schenn, Ryan O’Reilly,” McTavish said. “I like that.”
“I’m not an established player yet,” Clarke said. “I don’t like it when players try to jump the gun and say they’re going to be NHL legends. I’ve been watching Drew Doughty for a long time. I have the utmost respect for him.”
In both L.A. and Anaheim, torches have hit the floor and fizzled before young hands could pick them up. And McTavish and Clarke aren’t being asked for immediate greatness. It wouldn’t be the worst thing for the Ducks to play a little better next season and still wind up in the lottery for what some expect will be the best draft since 2003, with Shane Wright, the 17-year-old captain of that Team Canada, at the top.
The Kings think they’re closer to the playoffs, and they’ll signal how close by how hard they try to make a stop-the-presses deal. But they have frequently spoken to Clarke during this process and clearly think he’s a keeper.
McTavish’s dad Dale played nine games for Calgary, five years in Finland and eight in Switzerland, all the way to age 39. Mason was born there. His little brother Derian also played but, perhaps in search of something more concussive, is now an MMA combatant.
“He has a lot of charisma,” said Ducks general manager Bob Murray, who was swayed by McTavish’s play for a World Junior team that outscored its opponents, 51-12. “We’ve been looking for somebody like that, with a little more oomph in his game.”
“He’s a leader by example,” Clarke said of McTavish. “Anaheim got a good player there.”
The Ducks knew they were on the right track when they heard the only knock on McTavish was his skating. They heard the same thing about Corey Perry in the 2003 draft, and Perry is still scoring in the Stanley Cup Final.
McTavish had 11 points in 13 games for Ohlten-EHC in Switzerland. Clarke had 13 in 26 games and was plus-6 for Nove Zamky Mikron in Slovakia. The OHL, where McTavish had played in Peterborough and Clarke in Barrie, was shut down.
“I had to grow up,” Clarke said. “I had to cook and do grocery shopping, go to bed at the right time, get up at the right time. I’m just grateful that I got to play. I had to learn that any mistakes you make are going to end up in your net. I think I got better in my own end.”
In the OHL Clarke’s Barrie Colts went 0-8 against Quenton Byfield’s Sudbury Wolves. Then he realized that Byfield wears the No. 55 that he customarily wears.
“I thought it looked good on me,” Clarke said. “I guess I’ll wear something else. But at least when he scores now, I can cheer for him.”
There used to be cheers and scores and playoffs, right here. Two kids, free of nostalgia and boosted by winning, are welcome to land anytime.
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