Ducks’ Zegras learned lots of lessons in tough 2023-24 season
Trevor Zegras dealt with many obstacles in a season where he only played 31 games.
Ducks’ Zegras learned lots of lessons in tough 2023-24 seasonIt wasn’t an easy year for Trevor Zegras. Coming off a career-high 65 points in his second full NHL season in 2022-23, the then 22-year-old entered the summer as a restricted free agent. A three-year bridge deal was agreed upon, but difficult contract negotiations prolonged through the summer and into the fall, which caused Zegras to miss most of training camp and all but two preseason games.
Zegras’ start to the season wasn’t great either, as he had just two points through his first 10 games. Head coach Greg Cronin wasn’t overly concerned about the lack of production and instead shifted the conversation toward Zegras’ improved defensive play.
“You dig deeper into his game,” Cronin said. “He’s making a real conscientious effort to defend well and analytically, he’s done really well in that department. I do think it’s a matter of time.”
Unfortunately, that time would take a little longer. Two games later, Zegras would be on the shelf with a lower-body injury. In a post-season interview with The Athletic’s Eric Stephens, Zegras revealed that the lower-body injury was osteitis pubis, inflammation of the joint between the left and right pubic bones which can cause groin or lower abdominal pain.
Zegras missed 20 games due to the injury, but returned with aplomb, scoring a lacrosse-style goal in his first game back. But the injury bug would bite him once again just two weeks later. After collecting five points in eight games after returning from his first injury, Zegras “celebrated” his 200th game as an NHLer by suffering a broken left ankle against the Nashville Predators on Jan. 9.
An initial six to eight-week recovery time turned into 10 weeks as Zegras dealt with a setback and it took a couple of games to get his feet back under him. A season-low 11:05 of time on ice (excluding the game that he broke his ankle when he played 2:05) in his second game back proved to be a minor speed bump as he finished the last eight games of the season on a point-per-game rate.
“It was weird,” Zegras said before his return. “I’ve never had an injury like this before, so I kind of didn’t know how it was going to go getting back on the ice. Staff’s done a really good job of explaining through the process and what it’s going to feel like, I feel pretty good.”
Missing 51 games due to various injuries meant that Zegras had plenty of time to watch, learn and wait. He did a lot of that. He also had to rehab his ankle on his own, with Jamie Drysdale––who coincidentally was also injured at the same time as Zegras at the beginning of the season––dealt to Philadelphia the day before Zegras broke his ankle.
“I honestly think––this might sound crazy––Drysdale getting traded was almost worse (than the injury) because usually when I’m on the IR, he’s on the IR with me. So it was pretty lonely for those 8-10 weeks I was by myself."
"But we’ve got a pretty close group in here. Whenever the guys were at home, whether it was (Mason) McTavish (Ryan Strome), (Frank) Vatrano or Bo (Groulx), we’d be hanging out all day playing pool or throwing darts."
"So, as much as it sucks that I wasn’t able to be on the ice, I definitely got my time around the team, which was good, but definitely tough. I missed a lot of games this year, it sucks.”
Zegras said he spent a few days feeling sorry for himself after breaking his ankle. Once he was over that, he wanted to learn more about his body and the healing and recovery process He also said that his early-season injury was tougher for him to mentally play through than his ankle injury.
“Got into some good routines at the rink and at home and it kind of took up most of my day, whether it was recovery or different stuff I could be doing, foods I could eat. Picked up a couple of things. Learned how to play the piano, so that was good.”
Injuries were a common theme for the 2023-24 Ducks, with the expected top scorers of the team (Zegras, Alex Killorn, Leo Carlsson, McTavish, Troy Terry) playing less than 10 games together. Each player missed at some point during the season due to various injuries.
“(It) sucks because I was obviously on the trainer’s table for most of the season,” Zegras said. “How many guys would just roll in, whether it was a knee or an ankle or whatever it was? It’s really just deflating I think is the best word to use. Because you’ve only got so many guys, right? If somebody’s going down every other week, man, then it just f—king sucks the life out of the room a little bit.”
Along with Carlsson, it’s clear that Zegras has some of the best playmaking ability on the team. There are times when he pulls off a pass that his teammates either aren’t ready for or aren’t in a proper spot to receive, with the latter often resulting in a turnover.
But that kind of creativity is something that the Ducks lacked for most of the season because of how many games Zegras missed. His end-of-the-season run was a big reason why the Ducks had a fighting chance in almost every one of those last eight games.
~
Even before Zegras and Cronin took the ice together for their first practice, it was clear that the latter was going to push the former to become a stronger two-way player. Zegras’ offensive numbers were good, but his defensive play was lacking. His 70.07 expected goals in 2022-23 against (xGA) was the second-worst on the team among forwards and he led the team in penalty minutes with 88.
“He understands he has to play on both sides of the puck,” Cronin said. “He’s making a commitment to do that. He shows up over and over in the videotape working hard defensively. And I think when you have those habits, the production will come offensively in a real natural way.”
This quote came two games after Cronin benched Zegras for the third period and overtime in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in late October. Zegras said that the message was well-received and that he knows what the standard set by Cronin is: “If that’s going to be the standard, then I’ve got to play better and make better decisions and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“He’s very defensive-oriented and that was obviously something I needed to work on,” Zegras said. “So try to take what I can from what he knows in the (defensive) zone and still try and learn from other guys. Watching a lot of games this year, you pick up on what works and what doesn’t work and I feel like I’ve got a pretty good understanding of all the teams that rolled through here.”
Trade rumors have cropped up and encircled the 23-year-old ever since Drysdale was dealt to the Flyers, with speculation that Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek wanted to rid himself of two players whom he’d had tough contract negotiations with during the summer.
Verbeek was quick to shoot down any notion that a Zegras trade had been possible in his post-trade deadline availability: “It’s a situation there that everybody is speculating on. We want Z to play with us.”
It’s not the first time Zegras’ name has been in the headlines and it certainly won’t be the last. Does it bother him when he sees his name out there for a myriad of reasons?
“I don’t even think about it,” Zegras said. “Just kind of a normal guy, part of a team, do what I can to help out. It’s nothing I think about. Clearly, other people think about it.”
“Battling adversity is something that I’m going to take from this season, on the ice and off the ice,” he continued. “Keep playing the same way, try not to change who I am as a person or player, regardless of what things are said about me, you know?"
"I think that’s a big thing for me. Obviously, I have a ‘big’ personality, so to speak. I’m never losing that, never changing. So, regardless of what people think or care, just be myself.”
