IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Center Mason McTavish is not in training camp with the Anaheim Ducks amid a contract dispute, and general manager Pat Verbeek says it's ”disappointing" to begin preparations for a new season without the key forward.
The 22-year-old McTavish is a restricted free agent, but he has not been able to agree on a long-term contract or a bridge deal with the Ducks over months of negotiations. He was skating with his teammates in Orange County earlier this week, but he had gone home to Canada when the Ducks held their first full practices under new coach Joel Quenneville on Thursday.
“It’s disappointing that he’s not here, obviously,” Verbeek said. “We have virtually a whole new coaching staff, and the group is really excited like I’ve never seen before. There’s a new system that’s getting implemented. There’s a lot of things to learn, and it takes a lot of reps to get it under each player’s belt. So when Mason gets here, he’s got a lot of catching up to do.”
McTavish has spent the past three full seasons with the Ducks, who drafted him third overall in 2021. He has 60 goals and 80 assists in 229 games for Anaheim after posting career bests of 22 goals and 30 assists last season.
Anaheim expects McTavish to be its second-line center for the foreseeable future, and Verbeek traded away Trevor Zegras this summer in part because of his long-term belief in McTavish and Leo Carlsson as the team’s top two pivots. But the Ducks and McTavish's representatives are still locked in a dispute that is now jeopardizing McTavish's ability to contribute in a new structure under Quenneville, Verbeek said.
“I mean, I’ve been through this scenario, OK?” Verbeek said. “It’s not easy to join mid-camp, or miss the whole camp. Camp is a very, very important part of a player’s preparedness to go into the season. And so from that aspect, it’s disappointing.”
During his playing career, Verbeek was reportedly the first player in New Jersey Devils history to hold out in a contract dispute — although it lasted just one day in 1991.
Verbeek has had a few prolonged contract standoffs with young players since taking over the Ducks' front office in February 2022. Defenseman Jamie Drysdale and Zegras both held out of training camp in 2023 as restricted free agents, but both eventually signed three-year deals — only for Verbeek to trade both players to Philadelphia 17 months apart.
Verbeek and forward Troy Terry also had a lengthy negotiation before they agreed on a seven-year, $49 million deal in August 2023 for the four-time 20-goal scorer.
Verbeek said his talks with McTavish's camp are active, and they've “made a lot of progress over the summer, but we're not there yet. Until we get there, he won't be here. ... We're closing in, I would say, but we're not there yet.”
The Ducks have missed the playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons, but they made a 21-point improvement in the standings last year. Verbeek on Thursday reiterated his expectation that Anaheim will make the playoffs this season under Quenneville, the second-winningest coach in NHL history.
But that would be tough without McTavish, whose two-way play and scoring acumen seem vital to the Ducks' chances of success. He was Anaheim's second-leading scorer last season with 52 points.
“We all understand what situation he's in,” Ducks captain Radko Gudas said. “Obviously we would love to have him here. He's a huge part of this group. We love him as a guy. ... Unfortunately, they haven't been able to get the deal done, but we can't wait to get him around here and get him up to speed. He's very important for us, but we're all hoping this is going to get resolved as soon as possible.”
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FILE - Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish celebrates after scoring a goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers, April 7, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea, file)
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Conservative Party, which governed the country from 2010 until it suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat two years ago, was plunged into fresh turmoil Thursday after its leader sacked the man widely seen as her greatest rival for apparently plotting to defect from the party.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said in a video and statement on X that she sacked the party's justice spokesperson Robert Jenrick due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" in a way that was “designed to be as damaging as possible” to the party. Badenoch also ejected Jenrick from the party's ranks in Parliament and suspended his party membership.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”
Though Badenoch did not specify which party Jenrick was planning to switch to, Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, said he had “of course” had conversations with him.
In the past 12 months, the Conservatives have suffered a string of defections to Reform UK, including some former Cabinet ministers.
Farage said in a press briefing in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, that coincided with Badenoch's statement that, “hand on heart,” he wasn't about to present Jenrick as the latest Conservative to defect to Reform, an upstart, anti-immigration party.
“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” he said. “I might even buy him a pint, you never know.”
The Conservatives are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right.
Reform, which only has a handful of lawmakers in the House of Commons, is tipped to make a major breakthrough in an array of elections this May, including those to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, at the expense of both the Conservatives and Labour.
Jenrick, who continued to attract speculation about leadership ambitions despite being beaten in 2024, has appeared more open than Badenoch to the prospect of some sort of deal between the Conservatives and Reform to unite the right in the run-up to next general election, which has to take place by 2029.
Jenrick has yet to respond to the news of his sacking.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose favorability ratings have fallen sharply since the general election following a series of missteps, questioned why it took Badenoch “so long” to sack Jenrick given all the speculation that he was looking to either challenge her or to defect to Reform.
Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate, has shifted the Conservatives to the right, announcing policies similar to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, including a promise to deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year.
Her poor poll ratings and lackluster performance in Parliament had stirred speculation that she could be ousted long before the next election.
However, she has been making a better impression in Parliament in recent weeks, particularly during her weekly questioning of Starmer, in a way that appears to have cemented her position as leader.
The party is no stranger to turmoil, having gone through six leaders in the space of 10 years, five of them serving as prime minister. Widespread anger at the way the Conservatives were governing Britain led to their defeat at the general election in July 2024, when they lost around two-thirds of their lawmakers, their worst performance since the modern party was created nearly 200 years ago.
Robert Jenrick speaking at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Robert Jenrick with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a Reform UK press conference in Westminster, London, where it was announced the former Conservative MP has joined Reform UK, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Reform Party leader Nigel Farage addresses protesters outside the Iranian embassy, in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
Kemi Badenoch with Robert Jenrick before being announced as the new Conservative Party leader following the vote by party members at 8 Northumberland Avenue in central London, Nov. 3, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
