New Flyer Trevor Zegras: ‘I’ve Always Felt More Comfortable’ at Center

Danny Briere’s most recent move was made to potentially address a glaring weakness on the roster. The lack of center depth and high-end talent made the risk worth taking on a player like Trevor Zegras. After roughly two seasons of being in trade rumors and the Flyers being at least interested, they finally landed the 24-year-old offensive showman on Monday.

Zegras, who was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks at ninth overall in 2019, felt mixed emotions at the news of the trade.

“It’s a little bit of both. You’re really excited when you hear the team, but then you also think about the time you spent in Anaheim with your teammates and friends there,” Zegras said in a Zoom press conference on Tuesday. “Once I heard it was Philadelphia, it was really cool because I’m best buddies with Jamie [Drysdale] and Cam [York]. I lived with Jamie for two years in Anaheim and spent a lot of time with him. It’s exciting when you have a familiar face like that in a new place and a new home.”

Zegras is coming off of two seasons where injuries and lacking production have plagued his on-ice performance, which a contract holdout and trade rumors were also present. Zegras admitted that dealing with rumors can play with your head as he navigated the experience for the first time in his career.

“It would be hard for me to say it didn’t. I think there’s definitely ups and downs with that stuff. I guess for the first time in my life and my career, it started coming up,” Zegras said. “Because it’s never really happened before, you don’t really know how to handle it. The whole contract thing and the trade rumors, it definitely gets your head spinning a little bit. Definitely not an excuse or anything like that. Now that’s all behind me and moved on and I’m excited as heck for a new start in Philadelphia with some awesome people and a new organization, so I’m definitely pumped.”

The plan seems to be that Zegras will get a chance to be back at the center position. Zegras was a center upon entering the league and played the position in Anaheim under head coach Dallas Eakins. For the last two seasons, with Greg Cronin behind the Anaheim bench, Zegras was moved to the wing. Zegras stated that he prefers the center position.

“I’ve played center my whole career up until two seasons ago,” Zegras said. “I’ve always felt more comfortable there. I think there are definitely areas that I need to work on, whether it’s in the face-off circle or below the goal line or in front of the net in the D zone. I think it was good to play the wing and learn that position and the responsibilities. We’ll see where it goes with the new coach and the new team, but it would definitely be exciting to be back in the middle for sure.”

On Monday, Ducks GM Pat Verbeek stated that Zegras’ desire to play center was a factor in trading the young forward, that the move will give him that opportunity again. Early in his career, Zegras was viewed as a long-term part of a rebuild in Anaheim. Now he’s on the move to Philadelphia. So what happened?

“You have to ask him. I don’t know,” Zegras said. “I just tried to be a good teammate and do what was asked of me and I’m going to bring that same mindset to Philadelphia. My focus has kind of shifted more towards what I can do for that team and that organization. What’s happened in the past has made me a different person and I think I learned a lot in Anaheim. It taught me how to be a pro and I’m going to try to bring all that information to Philadelphia.”

A new opportunity in Philadelphia also presents some new faces. Zegras will be the most recent addition to Rick Tocchet’s lineup. Zegras said he had spoken to Tocchet briefly and has also had conversations with friends in the game about the new Flyers head coach. 

“I talked to him on the phone yesterday. It was a good conversation. He seems like an awesome guy, somebody I’m very excited to play for,” Zegras said. “I have a couple friends and buddies that have played for him in other places and had really good things to say about the kind of guy that he is and the relationship he has with his players. That’s definitely something I’m very excited for.”

Another piece to the puzzle is Matvei Michkov. The Flyers rookie sensation possesses similar offensive skills to Zegras, leaving many to wonder what the two of them could be like on the ice together. Zegras doesn’t know much about the young Russian, but is excited to get a closer look at Michkov and more of his new teammates.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to watch too much of him, but from all the clips and highlights you see, he seems like a really smart, skilled forward,” Zegras said. “A lot of creativity and a really good nose for the net. I think there’s a ton of guys on that roster that are amazing hockey players and I’m excited to just get there and meet everybody.”

As the offseason progresses, Briere is continuing to look for ways to improve the Flyers in the midst of a rebuild. Once thought of as part of the solution in Anaheim, perhaps now Zegras will be a key part of the Flyers finding success in the process. 

“I think that’s the goal. You want to come in to a new team and help them win in any way possible,” Zegras said. “Personally, I’m very excited and have always had really good games with the Flyers over the years. I think we could be a really good team.”