“There’s a window of time where everyone is focused on it and if we hadn’t had those picks, I’m not sure if we would’ve been able to use one of these players that we drafted or another combination to find another player that fits into that time frame. So, I think the timing was very important for us to do it and not hope that (we could find a player later).”
Before the draft, rumors swirled around St. Louis.
One report suggested that the Blues offered Dallas three first-round picks for Jason Robertson, but Robertson did not want to sign an extension in St. Louis.
“I called one manager today and I said, ‘Wow, you and I almost made a big deal’ and we hadn’t talked in two weeks,” Armstrong said without mentioning names. “So there’s a lot of stuff out there that’s not true, but that’s just the time of year that stuff happens.”
One report said that the Blues offered the No. 11 pick to Anaheim in the McTavish deal.
“Yeah, we were not going to move 11,” Armstrong said.
McTavish has some holes in his game that have led to criticism. His skating is below average, as he did not have a single speed burst above 22 mph, according to NHL Edge. He had 29 speed bursts between 20 and 22 mph, below the league average 71.4 for forwards.
Defensively, the Ducks allowed 1.04 more goals per 60 minutes of 5 on 5 with McTavish on the ice than they did without him. That ranked 349th out of the 355 skaters with at least 900 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Asked about McTavish’s growth, Armstrong said he needed to be more consistent.
“I think that’s one thing you always want to strive to have the valley rise up closest to the ceiling,” Armstrong said. “But he’s just 23 years old, so he’s got such a wide runway ahead of him. I think when you’re drafted in the area that he was drafted to an organization (like Anaheim), he probably got into the league quicker than most. So you’re sort of learning on the fly there.”