Late Monday afternoon Flyers general manager Danny Briere met with the Flyers beat reporters to discuss acquiring Trevor Zegras from Anaheim. While he didn’t say anything too revealing, he seems pleased that the Flyers have acquired a top-six talent that should address some of the dearth of depthness down the middle. Here’s what he had to say.
Q: Why was now the time to pull the deal?
Well why now? You don’t really decide when a trade really happens until you both agree. There’s times where we had some discussions on Trevor in the past. There’s times where it wasn’t feasible on our end and some of the times — or most of the time — it was probably Anaheim not willing to let go of him. We just got to a point where the timing was right for both teams and it made sense this morning to do it.
Q: Do you project Zegras as a center or as a winger with the Flyers?
Well that will be more of a question for Rick Tocchet. He’s going to decide where he fits best and what we have. We hope he can help in the center position because that’s obviously an area we could improve. But at the same time if Rick decides he’s better suited on the wing and there’s other guys that play better in the middle then he’s going to decide. But we certainly hope he can help fill the void in the middle.
Q: Zegras has dealt with injuries, what was the medical report like on him?
Everything was cleared. Nothing to worry about. Nothing that could be an issue moving forward with him. Like I said there’s no issue on that part.
Q: Zegras has friends in Philadelphia with former Duck Jamie Drysdale and also Cam York. Did you discuss Zegras with either player to get their feedback?
Well were very close to our players, we talk to them constantly. We always try to get news on some of the players they know around the league. We’ve talked about them along with normal conversations we had the last year. Any of us that are downstairs, whether it’s Jonesy or the coaches, sometimes we’ll go check in with the players about different guys around the league and get their thoughts. Get how they feel about certain guys. It’s always helpful to get input from the players because they play against each other. They know going into the corner, battling against someone who’s tough, who has a second, third, fourth effort, who’s annoying to play against. So we’re constantly asking our players about other players around the league. Sometimes the questions are a little more pointed and they don’t realize really. We’re just asking about some of the players they knew.
We knew Jamie and Cam York played with him as well and were close. But we never came out and asked them directly if their friend was available or anything like that.
Q: Pat Verbeek said Zegras wanted to play center again. If you’ve spoken with Trevor have you got that sense from him?
Yeah I did talk to Trevor. We didn’t dive into his playing time, his ice time or where he’s going to play or anything like that yet. It’s not a secret we’re thin in the middle and hopefully he can help us out. But at the end of the day Tocchet is going to have a say and he’s going to be the one making that decision on Trevor and his position.
Q: Zegras’ production has dipped the last few years, and has had injuries. What explains that decline and why wasn’t it something that deterred you from making the trade?
Well that’s why he was available in the first place. Top six talent are very rarely available around the NHL. We felt that was a risk worth taking for us, we’ve seen him in the past. He had those really good seasons at 20 and 21 years old. Now I’m not sure, injuries yes were a factor the last couple of years. But other than that it’s tough for us to tell on the outside. We’re not in the room, we’re not with the coaching staff, we’re not with the players. Sometimes it can be chemistry as well. So I’m not too sure. We feel good about it because of what he’s shown in the past. And we hope he can find that magic again and take it to another level.
Q: How important was it to keep your first-round picks and not lose any of them in this trade? Do you like Trevor’s contract also?
Obviously the first-round picks for us were a no go from the start. We spent a lot of time and frustration in acquiring those first-round picks so we’re trying to be extra careful with that. As far as Trevor, time will tell where he can take his game.
Q: Losing Ryan Poehling opens up a spot on the fourth line. Do you expect to fill that spot internally with Karsen Dorwart or Jacob Gaucher or even Jett Luchanko?
There’s possibilities internally but we’re also going to look on the outside. We’ll see on Free Agency Day (July 1) or on the trade front if there’s anything that makes sense. Losing Ryan wasn’t easy. He’s a good bottom six player who was very serviceable for us the last couple of years. Really well liked in the room too. So we’re aware of that. But the chance to acquire a top six player made the difference in this case unfortunately. You’ve got to give something up to get those guys. Internally you mentioned Jett Luchanko, Dorwart, ,there’s Abols that played for us. There’s also Jacob Gaucher who we signed to an NHL deal who also played some games last year and he keeps getting better and better. There’s options internally but we’re going to keep looking.
Q: One of the storylines was the team’s weakness in the middle. With this trade, do you still hope to address the center position in the draft or the rest of the offseason?
Well what I can tell you is we’re always looking. We finished fourth worst last year in the NHL so we constantly need to keep improving. We’re still far away. This hopefully is just one piece of the puzzle. We’d like to keep getting better if there’s a chance to keep improving while fitting into the plan of growing with our young guys and giving them the chance to grow together. We’re going to seriously consider it. We’re never stopping there. If there’s a chance of getting better.
