Madden also harkened back to Friday night to discuss the possibility of Anaheim trading up or down from the No. 3 overall pick before taking center Mason McTavish. "At the draft, our job is to maximize the value of that pick," he said. "We looked at all options. Were there a ton? Not really. Were there conversations as far as trying to move up or move down? Yes, but everybody knows the top 9 in this draft was good and pretty similar in terms of upside production and talent. We tried to maximize the value, but in the end, the price that other teams put on moving up just didn't match the risk associated with us moving down, so that's why we stayed put and picked."
More from Madden:
On doing the Draft virtually for the second straight year
"I would say I miss just having the whole staff here. That was the hardest. It's nice to get the ambiance because interacting on a Zoom is not the same. I will say it was really cool to draft at Honda Center the way they had it set up. It was a great setting."
On defenseman
"He's probably closer to the way Jared Spurgeon of Minnesota*
"We had probably two guys of similar profile targeted in that spot. We tried to trade up and couldn't get it done. He's a sniper. He's got really good awareness of the ice in the offensive zone, and he's got a really good release, really accurate shot. We were looking for a player like him today for sure. He anticipates, reads the play very well. He's very aware of what the options are, very good at reading where rebounds are going to go. He gets to a lot of loose pucks, and that generates a lot of offensive zone time. All that leads to a lot of goal-scoring in his case.
We were surprised he dropped in the draft, whom the Ducks got after making a trade with Montreal for its 2022 third-round pick*
"We waited until the pick before. Another team was talking to Montreal, and we got late enough that we decided to pull the trigger, because we wanted to take Tyson. We really like the upswing in his game the last half of the year. He's lanky, mobile, athletic, still lots of room to fill out and really smart."
On center
"Josh was a good player in the USHL, but his skating has taken another step. He was outstanding for UMass in the NCAA playoffs, and he was a big part of their success this year down the stretch. He's a big body, competitive, strong on faceoffs and he's got some finish around the net. He likes to get his nose dirty. I think he fits well even though he's an older player with a 2001 birthday."
On left wing
"Talking about guys who dropped a little further than we thought, he's an energetic, skilled kid who came on really strong this year. He's another natural sniper. I think they think of him as a future captain as well. We got great references on him and we were really happy to get him where we got him."
On goaltender
"I can tell you that Sudsie (Ducks goalie coach Sudarshan Maharaj) loves him. He's huge, athletic, just on the upswing of his development. He's a year older than most of these guys and took the lead the last half of his team's schedule. He's just getting started."
On center
"I think our three American scouts are really excited about him. High character, high drive, really fast, really good skill, captain material. He's a dynamic player and he's got some upside."
