Trevor Zegras is a Philadelphia Flyer. They fleeced the Ducks in a trade, sending Ryan Poehling, a second round pick in 2025 and a fourth rounder in 2026 to Anaheim for the 24-year-old forward.
Zegras has 268 games of NHL action to his name over the course of five seasons. Injuries have ravaged the last two years for the player, but at one point, he seemed like one of the brighter stars in the NHL.
So let’s take a look at the pros and cons the Flyers have with their newest addition!
Pros
He’s a big name
Whether his play can bounce back is still a valid question, if the Flyers are looking for sheer name value this summer in the hopes of some viral moments next season, there are few better options than Zegras. His entire gimmick was taking the league by storm with his creative offense and viral video plays. If they can get on-ice wins, at least they can get a bunch of likes on Instagram. I’ll let you decide which one is more important.
His contract
Zegras has one more year left on his contract at a $5.7 million cap hit, and is still a restricted free agent in 2026. Absolute worst case scenario is the Flyers pick him up for a year, he’s a disaster and they can walk away next summer. Sure, there’s a risk for giving up assets for that, but considering the Flyers love to lock everyone up long-term, having one guy they can pull the rip cord on is a potential positive, however low that bar is.
The Flyers aren’t the Ducks
Much like most players that enter the trade scene from the basement dwelling NHL teams, the theory is that leaving a putrid Ducks team to head to a slightly more lively Flyers squad would spark his play back to his early-career levels. If he can get back to 60+ points, especially if he does so as a center, it could be a smart investment.
Cons
Is he a center?
Zegras started his NHL journey as a center, but hasn’t played the position much over the last few seasons, which defeats the entire purpose of acquiring him in the first place. The Flyers don’t need another “why aren’t you better than you are?” winger, they need a competent center. They could roll Zegras in a top six center spot and hope for the best, but it’s a crapshoot, not a sure thing.
Injuries
Zegras technically hasn’t actually played a full season in the NHL yet. He did suit up for 81 games during the 2022-23 season, which was his best production wise with 23 goals and 65 points. Since then, he’s only played 88 games over the last two seasons, posting 18 goals and 47 points. If they goal is to add him for the purposes of being a top guy, at center or wing, it’s going to be hard to do that if he’s missing half the season.
Conclusion
If you’re a long-time reader, you know we’ve been advocates for acquiring Zegras in the past. But after another season of injuries and slightly disappointing play, he isn’t quite the commodity he was a year or two ago.
But in terms of value, it’s a HUGE win for the Flyers. Poehling and a pair of picks is virtually nothing. Briere actually did something of note! Even if Zegras remains a lesser player, it was virtually no risk in the assets given up.
As we’ve stated before with guys like Maxim Shabanov, the Flyers really aren’t in a position to turn their noses up at anybody that could be perceived as an upgrade. While Zegras may fall more into the gamble category these days, if he bounces back, he’d easily be one of their best forwards on the team.
There are some familiar faces for Trevor Zegras already members of the Flyers. He played alongside Cam York and Bobby Brink at the 2020 and 2021 World Juniors. And he’s also best friends with Jamie Drysdale, and the third of their friend group? Anaheim native Cam York. If the Flyers are really all about culture, building a young nucleus that are friends on and off the ice could lead to above average chemistry.
Zegras was also drafted by then-GM Bob Murray, who is currently employed by the Flyers in the front office as a senior advisor, and was apparently a major reason for the green-lit Drysdale trade.
Quite frankly, it’s too bad we’re not going to get the hit rom-com of the winter of Zegras and former head coach John Tortorella trying to coexist. The latter has buried the former on live TV multiple times for his innovative scoring because he’s a geriatric curmudgeon who doesn’t like fun.
But that could work out well in the Flyers intend to actually build around the guy. Torts would’ve smothered him. At least Rick Tocchet has somewhat of a history when it comes to letting skilled players play.
Can Zegras bounce back on a new team? We’re just going to have to wait and see. There’s no reason why a young guy with untapped upside couldn’t blossom in a new environment that isn’t Anheim, but there’s more than enough evidence to be skeptical of this one too. As long as the price tag isn’t outrageous, go ahead and take a chance, but it’ll be up to Zegras to prove whether or not he’s a top guy in the NHL.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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