Flyers acquire center Trevor Zegras from the Ducks: ‘We hope he can find that magic again’

Sitting on the dais next to new head coach Rick Tocchet in May, Flyers general manager Danny Brière said the plan hadn’t changed. Well, that could be debatable now.

The Flyers pulled off a big-time deal Monday, acquiring Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan Poehling, the 45th pick in this year’s draft, and a fourth-round pick next season.

Of course, a deal that had been rumored for over a year finally happened on June 23, a notorious day in Flyers history: Several Flyers have been traded on this date, including Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Brayden Schenn, and one year ago, it brought the early arrival of Matvei Michkov.

So why now?

“You don’t really decide when a trade happens until you both agree,” Brière said. “We’ve had some discussions on Trevor in the past. There’s times where it wasn’t feasible on our end, and some of the time, or most of the time, is probably Anaheim not willing to let go of him. So we just got to a point where the timing was right for both teams, and it made sense this morning to do it.”

» READ MORE: Trade grade: Danny Brière hits a home run with low-risk, high-reward move for Trevor Zegras

Drafted ninth overall by the Ducks in 2019, Zegras quickly became a star in the NHL with his talent and personality. The Bedford, N.Y., native is highly skilled and could develop into the top-tier center the Flyers have been craving for years.

But the 24-year-old has struggled recently. Across the last two campaigns under Greg Cronin, Zegras battled both injuries — Brière said there are no worries on that front moving forward — and had trouble finding his game. This past season, he had 12 goals and 32 points in 57 regular-season games while primarily playing the wing. In 2023-24, he had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 31 games, missing more than two months with a broken left ankle.

“Ultimately, Trevor, he’s been wanting to play some center, and I think that he’ll be given that opportunity in Philadelphia to play center,” Ducks GM Pat Verbeek told reporters. “When he’s more creative in the middle of the ice and having to play from the wing — we’re fortunate there’s Leo [Carlsson] and there’s Mason [McTavish], that we find that they’re two pretty good centermen — Trevor has to kind of get pushed to the wing, and that probably doesn’t suit his best attributes being able to play and create from the middle.”

But will he play center for the Flyers?

“We hope he can help in the center position, because that’s obviously an area that we could improve,” Brière said, adding that whether he lines up at center or wing is up to Tocchet. “But, at the same time, if Rick decides that he’s better suited on the wing, and there’s other guys that play better in the middle, he’s going to decide. But we certainly hope that he can help fill the void in the middle.”

Tocchet has a proven track record of developing forwards, as noted by career years from Brock Boeser and Pius Suter in Vancouver. And, there is immense talent that does lie under the surface with Zegras, as evidenced by his two 60-point seasons, that could be ready to bubble up with a change of scenery and Michkov on his wing. Zegras has one year left on his contract at a $5.75 million salary-cap hit.

Before Cronin was hired — he was replaced a few weeks ago by Joel Quenneville — Zegras scored 23 goals in back-to-back years, and saw his point total rise from 61 in 75 regular-season games in 2021-22 to 65 in 81 the following season. Across those two seasons, he combined for 13 power-play goals and 34 power-play points.

Does he play the best defensive game? No, but Zegras has also put himself on the map with his creativity inside the game. At just 24, he boasts strong vision and a high hockey IQ.

“Top-six talent is very rarely available around the NHL; we felt that was a risk worth taking for us,” Brière said when asked about Zegras’ drop in production the last two years. “We’ve seen him in the past, he had those really good seasons at 20 and 21 years old. Yes, injuries were a factor last couple of years. ... Sometimes it could be chemistry as well. ... We feel good about it because of what he’s shown in the past. And we hope he can find that magic again and then take it to another level.”

Zegras also helped popularize “The Michigan,” a lacrosse-style way of scoring, and drew the ire of former Flyers bench boss John Tortorella when he pulled an alley-oop-type move to set up teammate Sonny Milano in December 2021.

“It’s tremendously skilled,” said Tortorella, who was then an analyst on ESPN. “For Sonny Milano to even yell, ‘Michigan’ in the middle of a play, in a game, is skill. That’s a skilled play. My position, though is, is it good for the game? I hear Ray [Ferraro], like all the kids are doing it now in practice and stuff like that. I’m not so sure.

“I’m not trying to be a fool here, I’m just not so sure it’s great for the game. If you did that back in the 2000s, late ’90s, you would get your head taken off. It’s cool, it’s cool to watch and all that, but I’m not so sure it’s good for the game. And I stand by that.”

Zegras is close buddies with Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale, who was also acquired from the Ducks, and is also a friend and former teammate of Cam York with USA Hockey in 2020. He helped lead the U.S. to gold at the 2021 World Juniors.

» READ MORE: Five things to know about new Flyer Trevor Zegras and his video-game moves

Zegras finished that tournament with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) and was named MVP. His assist on the first goal of the game by Alex Turcotte tied him with Jordan Schroeder for most USA career assists in World Juniors history (20), and after the goal, tied Schroeder in points (27).

With the move of Poehling, it does appear that the plan is for Zegras to play center. Poehling was the Flyers’ top bottom-six pivot and brought speed, scoring ability, and defensive prowess since signing a bet-on-himself, one-year deal with the Flyers in the summer of 2023. The Minnesotan earned himself a two-year extension in January 2024 and posted career highs in goals (12), assists (19), and points (31) this past season.

Grabbing a guy of Zegras’ talent is a coup for Brière, who didn’t have to give up one of Philly’s three first-rounders to get him. The interesting part of this deal is that the Flyers traded the No. 45 pick, and not No. 40, which they originally got from the Ducks. That deal sent Cutter Gauthier west in exchange for Drysdale.