NHL trade grades: Ducks cut bait on Trevor Zegras, selling low to the Flyers

New York Times

5 days ago

By Corey Pronman, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman
Philadelphia Flyers get: F Trevor Zegras
Anaheim Ducks get: F Ryan Poehling, 2025 second-round pick (No. 45), 2026 fourth-round pick
Corey Pronman: Zegras' time in Anaheim was tumultuous. After a sterling rookie year where he dazzled, he hit some bumps and had frustrated his coaching staff over the past few years. He's a player with elite skill and hockey sense. NHL scouts have wondered if he can be a consistent 70- to 80-point player with how ridiculously skilled and creative he is. He can be a legit top-six forward and benefit a power play. But he also has noticeable warts in his game. He's a below-average NHL skater who takes too many shifts and games off and rubs people the wrong way. Philadelphia has been searching for a center, and while Zegras has played center before, it's questionable if he can pivot in a major role on a good NHL team.
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It's a dramatic decline in value as well for a player Anaheim was hoping to get a high first-round pick or major young asset in return for when it first put him on the market. Zegras supporters will argue it's a potential buy-low scenario for the Flyers, given his massive potential, NHL track record and reasonable contract. His critics will say he's not a 'winner' and it's addition by subtraction for the Philadelphia while opening up opportunities for the Ducks' plethora of talented young forwards. I understand the latter argument, but the caliber of player plus the low price paid for him seems a little off. This is a nice gamble by the Flyers, who gave up very little, and if it doesn't work out they could simply move him again in a rising cap environment. Owen Tippett had similar issues in Florida, and the Flyers did good work turning him into a useful NHL forward.
Ryan Poehling is a 2026 free agent. He's a hard-working center with good skill, but he's not dynamic in terms of his pace or creativity. He's a bottom-six forward.
Flyers grade: A-
Ducks grade: C+
Sean Gentille: In the summer of 2023, Zegras was 22 years old and coming off his second straight season with at least 20 goals and 60 points — one in which he shared the cover of EA's NHL 23. Not bad.
Around that same time, Ryan Poehling was non-qualified by the Pittsburgh Penguins, the equivalent of a team saying 'thanks, but no thanks.' Not good.
Now, somehow, three years later, Poehling was the primary player the Ducks brought back in a trade that, on their end, was more about dumping Zegras' salary than anything else.
The fact that Anaheim moved on from Zegras — Michigan goals and all — shouldn't surprise anyone. He's been too frequently injured and too frequently ineffective for most of the past two seasons, killing his momentum on and off the ice. Playing for Dallas Eakins and Greg Cronin probably didn't help; Zegras is an imperfectly electric player, and ditching too much of that on the road to two-way responsibility feels like it was a Pyrrhic victory. Zegras' name has been part of trade rumors for years. If this is what he's worth, one line of logic goes, this is what he's worth.
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Still, if you assume that to be true, the question for Anaheim should be, 'why bother?' Why bother moving a 24-year-old with high-end offensive upside and (dampened) star power if the return is a decent fourth-line center, the 45th pick in one draft and a fourth-rounder from another?
The best argument is that Zegras counts $5.75 million against the cap for one more season and future contract talks, given his career arc, could get bizarre. The Ducks also have extensions for other young forwards — namely Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish — to consider down the line. On the other hand, they're still more than $36 million under the salary cap, according to PuckPedia. With only Pittsburgh starting the summer in traditional 'seller' mode, why not wait and see how the market looks in a week or two? It's hard to imagine it being worse. That fact alone makes it impossible to give Anaheim anything other than a mediocre mark here. It's not just about the underwhelming return; it's about the road that brought them to it.
The Flyers, meanwhile, got themselves a lottery ticket with solid odds. If Zegras' health holds up, his worst-case scenario probably lands him as an offense-only middle-six winger with power-play utility. His upside: the exact sort of high-end, top-six center that they've been unable to add during their rebuild. The Athletic, pre-trade, put their center depth chart at second from the bottom in the NHL. No matter what, Philadelphia desperately needed another potential offensive star to pair with Matvei Michkov, maybe on the same line, maybe not, and Zegras has a shot at filling the bill.
Those sorts of players are best added through the draft. If that's not an option — and for the Flyers, it doesn't seem to be — then it's time to seek a different route. There's plenty to like about the one they've chosen. It's not just about the player; it's about the fit.
Flyers grade: A
Ducks grade: D+
Shayna Goldman: The big question around Zegras over the past few years is whether he has the chops to be a true franchise cornerstone to build around. At this point, it doesn't seem to be the case. But that doesn't mean the Ducks should have shipped him off in an imbalanced deal.
Zegras has his flaws — he isn't a perfect play-driver and has some real defensive gaps in his game. After making some improvements in his own zone in a condensed 2023-24, he took a step back this past season with the Ducks, allowing 0.26 more expected goals against per 60 relative to the rest of the team. And unlike years past, the offense wasn't enough to make up for it. Defense is a team-wide problem in Anaheim, and it seems to be overwhelming Zegras at this point. Pair that with some of the comps for Zegras at 25 years old — from Robby Fabbri and Chris Tierney to Sam Gagner — and there is reason to worry about his trajectory from here.
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But even if Zegras isn't worth the same hype that he once was, it doesn't make enough sense to sell this low. Even if management wanted a deal done sooner than later, to go into next season with a clean slate, there is still an entire offseason ahead. Ryan Poehling addresses the Ducks' bottom-six need for more defensive upside, but him plus a second-rounder doesn't thread the needle enough. Because even if Zegras isn't meant to be the No. 1 center of a contender, his offensive strengths can be worth betting on in a different top-six capacity. Playoff teams still need complementary talent around their big guns, and there are signs that Zegras can be that. His creativity and puck-moving ability, which still tracks well according to AllThreeZones, are worth investing in.
Even though Zegras' value has declined, it makes sense for a rebuilding team like the Flyers. Philadelphia has defensive structure and strong two-way forwards, like Noah Cates and Sean Couturier. What they need is more high-octane offensive skill around Michkov and more depth down the middle, so he checks both of those boxes. No matter what, this is still a gamble for the Flyers. But it's a low-risk, high-return bet worth investing in.
Flyers grade: B+
Ducks grade: C-