As we continue our season preview series, it’s time to single out one of the newest and most important x-factors added to the roster, Trevor Zegras.
What did we see from Zegras last season?
From a Flyers perspective? Nothing. And that is a good thing. This is Zegras’ fresh start after five seasons in Anaheim, with the team that drafted him ninth overall in 2019 finally sending him to Philly after a meteoric rise to start his career.
After his first two NHL seasons, it was not an exaggeration to say that he looked like one of the best young players in the league. However, last season was an injury filled struggle, with the Ducks once again finishing under .500, and Zegras’ relationship with his Head Coach, Greg Cronin, becoming increasingly frayed by the game. Still, when he was able to play, Zegras put up 32 points in 57 games and still flashed some of the patented skill that he was known for in the years leading up to the last.
A torn meniscus in his right knee stopped his season abruptly in early-December, but up until that point it had been a relatively quiet season, with just 10 points in that 24 game span. Once he returned in late-January, Zegras actually picked up the pace a little bit, tallying 22 points in the remaining 33 games and looking a bit more like his old self.
He was able to finish out the year uninjured, but that makes it two straight years of Zegras having some sort of serious injury trouble that took a chunk of games, after a combination of ankle and lower body injuries stole another 51 games from him in 2023-24.
What type of role do we expect Zegras to play this season?
The sky is the limit for Zegras’ Flyers career. For the time being, he will more than likely slot in behind Sean Couturier as the 2C, with additional power play time incoming. But if he comes out of the gates hot, there will be nothing stopping him from taking over the top center spot and becoming the main offensive driver down the middle. Zegras has that special something offensively that the other three centermen that should start with the Flyers (Couturier, Noah Cates, Christian Dvorak), just simply do not.
Whoever Zegras plays alongside will be expected to have some sort of offensive jump, regardless of who it is, because he has shown himself to be a high-level playmaker when he is at his best. With a new situation and a healthy start to the year, Zegras will be expected to be, at least, amongst the top five in points on the team, if not in the top three.
In addition, he should help in order to start repairing whatever is left of the Flyers’ previously wretched power play. Zegras is another puck mover who is confident in holding onto possession and seeking out the most decisive play, which was something that most of the other Flyers seemed to lack on the PP, despite having the man advantage.
Zegras’ poise and patience, combined with his unbelievable puck control, should help the Flyers grab more of a foothold in the offensive zone, and be able to create sustained pressure without utilizing the dump and chase, or relying too much on loose-puck cycles.
Numbers-wise, it would be a positive to see Zegras play 70~ games, and put up somewhere in the neighborhood of 55+ points and 20+ goals. He is capable of more, of course, but a season like that would be a good first step to re-envigorating his career in a new environment.
