The fallout of the Trevor Zegras-Ryan Poehling trade takes center stage as the two players face their former teams for the first time on Tuesday.
Trevor Zegras couldn’t hide the look on his face when queried about why things went sideways in Anaheim, eventually leading to him being shipped out to Philadelphia in exchange for Ryan Poehling and a pair of draft picks.
"You'd have to ask him,” Zegras said, referring to Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek. “That's a good question. I just try to be a good teammate, do what was asked of me and I'm gonna bring that same mindset to Philadelphia."
After two consecutive years of injury-riddled campaigns, Zegras’ stock was at its lowest. The hope was that new head coach Joel Quenneville and the addition of longtime friend Chris Kreider via trade would help get Zegras back on the right track.
That reality never came to fruition as just two weeks after Kreider was acquired by the Ducks, Zegras was gone.
"From a production standpoint, it's obviously not what I expect out of myself,” Zegras said during his introductory Flyers conference call. “I think it gets kind of lost a little bit because I felt like I was doing all the right things and everything that I was asked to do. You need a couple good bounces and it's a really hard league. There’s a lot of really good players and there's going to be ups and downs throughout a season. I think I definitely learned a lot over the last two years, more about myself and what I'm capable of."
A Timeline of Trevor Zegras' Tenure with the Anaheim Ducks
A fan favorite in Anaheim, Zegras burst onto the scene with consecutive 60+ point seasons in his first two full campaigns as an NHLer. But while his offensive contributions were high, much was to be desired on the defensive end. Enter Greg Cronin, who was installed as the new head coach after Dallas Eakins’ dismissal in 2023 and entrusted with turning Zegras into a 200-foot player. Prolonged contract discussions between Verbeek and Zegras delayed the latter’s start to the 2023-24 season and an injury just 12 games into the regular season (later revealed to be osteitis pubis) further exacerbated matters.
All the while, trade rumors swirled around as external media hypothesized whether Verbeek viewed Zegras as a long-term piece for the Ducks’ young core. The rumors were never refuted by Verbeek, who following the trade said that there was never a gauge of how much value Zegras had because there were very few discussions with teams in the past. Flyers general manager Daniel Brière said in his post-trade conference call that the two teams had discussed Zegras in the past.
"It would be hard for me to say it didn't,” Zegras said of the trade rumors that appeared sporadically during his time in Anaheim. “I think there's definitely ups and downs with that stuff. For the first time in my life, in my career, that started coming up and because it's never really happened before, you don't really know how to handle it. There's high and lows that come with it. With the whole contract thing and the trade rumors, it definitely gets your head spinning a little bit, but definitely not an excuse or anything like that."
While Zegras had expressed a desire to play center again after spending most of his final two seasons with the Ducks on the wing, he has spent most of his time as a Flyer playing more wing than center. However, he has been a much stronger player defensively at 5v5 and is producing at a near point-per-game rate.
There is a sense of irony that the Ducks could use a player like Zegras this season, someone who can help inject the offense with creativity and provide support on the power play, one of the areas where the Ducks have struggled lately. His 12 power play points would be tied for first on the Ducks, alongside Leo Carlsson.
Poehling has been no slouch for Anaheim either, though. He has been one of their best forwards defensively and has proven to be a staple in Quenneville’s lineup as part of both the bottom-6 and the penalty kill. Eric Nilson, one of the players drafted by Anaheim from the picks acquired in that trade, is developing in a dependable, two-way center at Michigan State University and also recently won gold with Sweden at World Juniors. There is also an additional pick in next year’s draft left to use.
"At the start, it's different,” Poehling said on joining a new team. “I've been used to it, though. I've played on many different teams and at the end of the day, I think a lot of teams are very similar in the fact that everyone's got great guys. Here is fun. It's a great city to play in. The fans have been great to us and I like where this team's at and where it's headed. We've got so many young guys that are just gifted and for me, it's fun to watch and be a part of, just seeing them slowly grow their success. At that age, I was in the NHL and working on my game. To see those guys being so young and having so much success so early is exciting."
Poehling will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. He didn’t give much when asked about his long-term future, instead choosing to keep the focus on the present.
"It bounces in and out of your head, but like I said, I've been everywhere in the sun. For me to just kind of focus on the present helps me a lot. Just playing my game, and then I think everything else should fall into place."
Tuesday’s game will be the first time that Zegras faces the team that drafted him, with former Duck and current teammate Jamie Drysdale telling The Athletic’s Kevin Kurtz that “It’s Z’s stage this year.” Drysdale had his own revenge game of sorts last season when the Ducks played the Flyers, ending a goalscoring drought in a 6-0 win.
“It will be cool,” Zegras said to Kurz after Tuesday’s morning skate. “I have no hard feelings with any of the guys on the team. Got to know them and play with them for a big part of my life. It will be cool to play against them.”
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