-
Greg Wyshynski
VOORHEES, N.J. — Trevor Zegras owns a large-scale version of his EA Sports NHL 23 cover, the one where he’s crouched in shorts and an Anaheim Ducks jersey, looking like he’s about to play some street hockey against Team Canada’s Sarah Nurse.
What does Zegras see when he looks at that cover today?
“The same guy.”
Yet many around the NHL have wondered what happened to that version of Trevor Zegras.
The first three seasons of Zegras’ NHL career were brilliant. He tallied 139 points in 180 games with the Ducks. He became the face of a generation of young players who grew up filming themselves attempting trick shots, scoring multiple “Michigan” lacrosse-style goals.
His masterpiece was on Dec. 7, 2021, when Zegras sent a “Michigan” ally-oop pass over the Buffalo Sabres net to teammate Sonny Milano for a goal. High school and college players started to tag the 20-year-old on social media with their own attempts at “The Zegras.”
He was one of those players where the question wasn’t if he’d become a star, but how brightly he’d shine. But his last two seasons in Anaheim all but extinguished that star.
They were nightmarish, filled with injuries, criticism of his defensive game, conflicts with Ducks management and statistical decline: His 0.77 points-per-game average over his first three seasons plummeted to 0.53. They were also filled with trade rumors, which Zegras said caused him “awful” anxiety, and eventually a trade to the Philadelphia Flyers in June.
“The guy hasn’t liked his last couple of years. He has his doubters,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “He’s in-house now. He knows this is his sanctuary.”
The move to Philadelphia offers Zegras the reset he’s needed. A chance to play center after the Ducks forced him to the wing. A chance to vibe with other young stars like Matvei Michkov. A chance to “recapture some of the magic that he had in his first few seasons,” as Flyers GM Daniel Briere put it.
What does Zegras want people saying about him after his first season in Philadelphia?
“I want them to go from saying ‘he’s good at hockey’ to ‘he’s a hockey player,'” Zegras told ESPN last week.
“I think there are a lot of guys that are good at hockey. After the season, I’d rather be known as somebody who is a hockey player.”
WHAT WENT WRONG in Anaheim?
“Seasonal depression. Let’s go with that,” Zegras deadpanned, sitting in the media room at the Flyers training facility. “I need winters. Every day felt the exact same for five years. It was weird. Seasonal depression. It’s a real thing. I swear to God.”
Despite the monotonously gorgeous weather, things weren’t always sunny for Zegras in SoCal.
After leaving Boston University in 2020, Zegras joined a Ducks team coached by Dallas Eakins and managed by Bob Murray, who drafted Zegras ninth overall in 2019. Murray resigned on Nov. 10, 2021 following an investigation into his professional conduct. After Jeff Solomon served as interim general manager, Pat Verbeek was hired from the Red Wings to take over as general manager in Feb. 2022.
Zegras had his two breakout seasons under Eakins: 23 goals and 38 assists in 75 games during 2021-22, when he finished second to Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider in the rookie of the year voting; followed by 23 goals and 42 points in 81 games in 2022-23.
Eakins was fired in April 2023 after four seasons. Verbeek replaced him with Greg Cronin, who arrived from the Colorado Avalanche‘s AHL affiliate with a reputation for developing young players. Zegras, a restricted free agent, missed Cronin’s first training camp. He signed a three-year bridge contract with Verbeek that paid him $17.25 million total through 2025-26. After his first practice with the new coach, Zegras was asked what he and Cronin discussed on the ice.
“He was telling me how to play defense,” Zegas quipped, a nod to his reputation as a one-dimensional player.
Cronin gave Zegras some tough love during that 2023-24 season, benching him for his in-game decision-making. Zegras had a sluggish start, with just a goal and an assist in his first 12 games.
“I think when you have a new GM and you’re bring in a new coach, I think they want things done their way. And not to say that I wasn’t OK with doing everything their way, but I think there were things that maybe we didn’t see eye to eye on a ton of the time and maybe they viewed that as a negative thing,” Zegras said.
“The contract stuff played a role, too,” he continued. “That was hard, just from a mental standpoint. That was a year with the new coach and then you kind of come in behind the 8-ball. You get off to a slow start and then that combined with the contract and with the [trade] rumors, it’s just not fun. But I’ve gotta keep playing.”
Not helping matters: Cronin moved Zegras from center to the wing, making room for other young centers like Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish.
“And then it’s, ‘You’re moving over here, you’re moving over here, you’re moving over here.’ And you’re like, ‘I’m doing everything you want me to do,'” he said.
It ended up being a dreadful campaign for Zegras health-wise, as a lower-body injury and ankle surgery limited him to just 31 games. But the real nightmare was on the stat sheet: Zegras tallied just 15 points, including six goals, well off his offensive pace of the previous two seasons.
He had another slow start in 2024-25, tallying four points in 17 games. Then, just as his offense started to heat up, Zegras needed surgery in December for a torn meniscus in his right knee. He finished with 32 points in 57 games — an improvement, but still not up to previous standards.
Zegras believes he wasn’t given a proper chance by Cronin and Verbeek to prove his worth as a center. That left him “overthinking things” and feeling unsupported by his team, which impacted his mental health.
“The last thing I was thinking about was actually playing hockey at times. That was hard for me. And then you throw in the injuries and then the rehab and the recovery and then getting back to, I guess, the place that you were before. Little things become big things in your head, and it makes it very hard to play against the best players in the world on a night-to-night basis,” Zegras said.
“It almost felt like you were alone, when they didn’t believe in you.”
Not helping Zegras was the noise surrounding his situation in Anaheim. He became a mainstay on NHL trade boards during his two underwhelming seasons under Cronin.
“It was awful. When it has never happened to you before, it’s awful. The second year it was easier to deal with, but that first year was tough,” Zegras said. “It was everywhere. It was every day. It was this and that, and this and that, and then it was another little thing that becomes a big thing. You’re not thinking about it, but you’re seeing it everywhere, and it just sucks.”
Reality stopped the rumors on June 23: Zegras had been traded to the Flyers for Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick. Verbeek said Zegras no longer fit within the Ducks’ lineup.
“Ultimately, Trevor has been wanting to play center, and I think that he’ll be given that opportunity in Philadelphia. Trevor to kind of get pushed to the wing, and that probably doesn’t suit his best attributes being able to create from the middle,” Verbeek said. “I want to thank Trevor for this past six seasons and his contributions to our club. Obviously, it was a difficult trade to make from that perspective, but we’re trying to retool the roster in a way [where] all the pieces fit cohesively.”
The Flyers, like other teams, had checked in on Zegras’ availability over the past two seasons. Sometimes the timing wasn’t right for Philadelphia. Most times the Ducks weren’t ready to part with him. Briere believes that Zegras’ production had dipped to a level where he finally became available.
“Top-six talents are very rarely available in the NHL. We felt this was a risk worth taking. It’s not a secret: We’re thin in the middle, and hopefully he can help us out,” Briere said. “We hope he can find that magic again and take it to another level.”
LUKAS DOSTAL HAS SEEN that magic firsthand.
When he wasn’t starting, the Ducks goalie would be the guy between the pipes on breakaway drills. He recalls Zegras pulling out his video game moves during their friendly competitions.
“I didn’t like them. Sometimes he did his YouTube tricks and I told him, ‘Man, just be serious about it. Come on!'” he recalled, with a laugh.
Dostal believes Zegras has been misunderstood, especially when it comes to criticism of his defensive game.
“A lot of people maybe didn’t see it, but he really understood how to play two-way hockey. He was really working hard on it in the last year,” Dostal said. “He probably didn’t put up as many points as he wanted, but his more responsible way of hockey got much better. I love him as a guy. I hope he’s going to do well in Philadelphia.”
Brady Tkachuk trained with Zegras in Connecticut during the offseason. He also hopes a fresh start in Philadelphia will help him find his form again.
“It’s going to be great for him, especially under [Tocchet]. I know they have a great culture there and I think he’s just going to do a good job of fitting in there,” Tkachuk told ESPN recently. “I’ve always thought playing against Philly that they play super hard, but they have a lot of great players with skill and kind of play that hard way as well. So I think that is going to be the best thing for him. So I’m excited to see how the change affects him. I bet that’s it’s going to be for the good.”
Tocchet is in his first season as Flyers head coach after three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. He played 11 seasons in Philadelphia, forging a reputation as a rugged, no-nonsense winger. Many know him simply as “Tock.” Hence, he was amused when Zegras gave him a different nickname as Flyers camp started: “Taco.”
“Yeah, that’s what he’s calling me,” Tocchet said. “He smiles. His personality is great for a room.”
Where did “Taco” come from? Zegras said it was inspired by his friends and fellow NHLers Jack, Quinn and Luke Hughes.
“I’m good buddies with the Hughes [brothers] and they always ask me how ‘Taco’ is,” he said.
Zegras spent time with the Hughes brothers during the summer, including on the golf course, where Zegras proudly states he’s the best golfer of the four NHL players. He offered the following scouting report on the Hughes’ approach to golf:
“I like Jack’s game because he is the quickest, fastest golfer player I have ever seen in my entire life. He will have a full conversation with you while he’s putting the tee in the ground, and then he’ll swing quick and then finish his conversation. Whereas Quinn is the exact opposite. He’ll take 10 practice swings and then hit one.”
Zegras said he’s happy to be in the same division with Jack and Luke Hughes, because it means he’s no longer in the same division as their brother.
“I never want to play Quinn ever again. He’s the best hockey player of all-time,” he said.
The Flyers aren’t looking for Zegras to be an all-timer. They’d settle for having that creative spark from his early years, combined with a solid two-way game that makes him an answer at center.
“There are certain parts of his game that he knows that he has to clean up. He’s willing to learn,” Tocchet said. “He’s coachable. He’s been in the office watching video. He’s on the ice listening to the other coaches. He’s a great kid.”
Briere sees Zegras as a player who can grow with the young talents on the Flyers, who are seeking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
“He’ll be a motivated player. If you look at his age, he can grow with many of the young players we have here,” he said. “We believe in him and believe he can recapture some of the magic that he had in his first few seasons.”
When Zegras hears Briere talk about “recapturing the magic,” it only means one thing to him. It’s the same thing that 20-year-old on the video game cover represented.
“Have fun. Just. Have. Fun. And I’m having a great freaking time. It’s awesome. Matvei’s fun to play with. The guys in the room are awesome. Getting to the rink early, just hanging out with everybody’s been a blast,” Zegras said.
“Not that I didn’t have a blast in Anaheim. It’s just different. It’s way different. Everything’s new again. Everything is fresh.”
