Trevor Zegras discusses return from injury

The Ducks have returned from their six-game road trip, during which they had some of their worst performances of the season. They allowed six goals twice and were shut out in three games.

A 3-2 win in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes was the only salvageable performance and even that was mostly thanks to heroics from Cutter Gauthier––who had two goals, including the game-winning goal––and a steady performance in net from Lukáš Dostál.

Head coach Greg Cronin said the road trip got off to an awful start, with 12 goals conceded in the first two games against the St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers.

Cronin noted that the team was still in a celebratory mindset for Cam Fowler––who was honored pre-game for reaching 1,000 NHL games played––in the game against the Blues and did not come out with the right mentality. An intense atmosphere in Philadelphia for Gauthier precluded the Ducks from getting any momentum going, resulting in a 6-0 defeat.

"I hadn't seen a game like that (in terms of atmosphere) since the late 90s, early 2000s," Cronin said. "Their fans were whipped up and I think we got stage fright. It was a circus and (the Flyers) fed off of it and they got those late goals to blow the game out."

Better performances ensued in Carolina and Tampa, with the Ducks collecting three of four possible points. But the offense was nowhere to be found against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Flordia Panthers, who handily dispatched them once they went up a goal.

"(These are) high-end teams," Cronin said. "Those are benchmark teams. If we get through that (road trip) at 3-3, I'd be happy. So, I'm not very happy that we only had three points out of a possible 12."

Get Connected

The connectivity that the Ducks had shown in parts of November and December after a rough patch at the beginning of the season was nowhere to be found on the road trip. Multiple players on the team have expressed a need to return to being predictable, with a meeting held in Tampa and another meeting held today after practice.

"We talked about it," Cronin said. "The players know exactly where we failed and where we need to get better. It's a really hard league to win in if you don't score. We do a fairly surgical approach to postgame data. Analytics say one thing. The analytics had us winning the game against Florida, but I didn't think we played that well.

"We're a rush team. We haven't established an offensive zone, puck possession personality yet. A lot of it is from the younger guys that don't maintain possession. They're not confident with bodies on them (yet). Other teams that are more mature, playoff teams, they're okay with people on them. More importantly, they'll invite people to come at them so they can make plays under pressure. We're not there yet. When you look at these games that we're not winning, we're not scoring on the rush.

"We need to get what I call a ground game where we can get possession, keep the puck in the offensive zone and give a sense of offensive energy throughout the game. It's a work in progress. We work at it. We have skill development coaches that work with the guys on puck possession techniques and it just hasn't become a natural part of our personality (yet)."

Defensive rotation is still in the works

The addition of Jacob Trouba followed by the departure of Cam Fowler-–both via trades made the defensive logjam a wash with one young defenseman still forced to sit out on a game-to-game basis as a healthy scratch.

First, Drew Helleson took his turn being the long-man in the press box before Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger took turns watching from up above. Lately, it's been Zellweger tasked with being the healthy scratch for long periods. He has sat out seven of the last 12 games.

"It's frustrating a bit," Zellweger said. "You've got to be ready to play when they call on you and you've got to be able to bring your best to stay in the lineup, to regain that trust to play more minutes. There's things that I can improve on and I think that goes for every player."

Jan 12, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger (51) comes off the ice after the warmups before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

Previously, Cronin has spoken about how the approach varies in letting a player know they're out of the lineup for a game because of the difference in personalities between players like Zellweger and Mintyukov.

"We try to be transparent with what's going on," Cronin said. "You've got seven (NHL-caliber) defensemen, it's a luxury for us. Both of those guys are going to be really good defensemen in the NHL. They're 21-year-old kids and they're finding their way. They're trying to find that core identity that's going to allow them to be reliable players. And I don't want them sitting. (General manager) Pat (Verbeek) doesn't want them sitting. So, they're not going to sit for long periods of time because we don't want them getting rusty, they understand that."

"Both of them are very different people. You've got a Russian on one side and you've got a Western Canadian on the other and they handle it differently. (We've been) trying to design a conversation that's going to work for them, they've kind of figured it out. They've accepted it and they know they have an opportunity to play. And when they play, they're going to give us 100% and when they don't play, they're going to support the team. That's the ideal situation."

"I just have to bring my game every time and put in 100% effort," Mintyukov echoed. The Russian defenseman recently played in his 100th NHL game and noted how things don't get any easier even as the game totals increase. "It's a hard league. Players adjust for you every time, so I just have to go out and put 100% effort every time."

Helleson mentioned some of those same sentiments came from the coaching staff during his long stay in the press box. He was a healthy scratch for seven consecutive games in mid-December, finally drawing back in on Dec. 23 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"Just keep working in practice every day," Helleson said. "Every day here is a special one. It's a dream come true to be here. Obviously, you want to be playing, but it's the NHL and it's the best league in the world. I'm just doing everything I can, learning from coaches and the older guys."

"(Mintyukov) sat out a couple of games and he's going through his own learning curves," Cronin said. "(Tristan Luneau) is going through it and now he's down (in the AHL). Jackson (LaCombe) went through it. We're in a situation where we had to play these younger guys in the NHL and it's a different type of development for them when they're in the NHL. And it's more difficult when there's not as much practice. So, I think it's nice to be able to have defensemen here if somebody does need to sit a game or two to kind of reboot."

Zegras return imminent

Looks like Trevor Zegras will make his return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Panthers. He was a full participant in today's practice and skated on the wing with Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn, a line that had some familiarity prior to Zegras tearing his meniscus on Dec. 4.

"Leo's got a ton of speed with his head up," Zegras said. "Playing the left side, try and get (the puck) to him with speed. (Killorn) is going to go to the right spots, (he's) such a smart player. Just kind of reading off of those guys and trying to make a play."

While Zegras has shown success down the middle, Cronin has opted to keep him with Carlsson and shift Mason McTavish––who displayed positive underlying numbers on the wing with Carlsson in the past two games––back to the middle and reunite him with Gauthier and Robby Fabbri.

"(Zegras and Carlsson) had good chemistry before (Zegras got hurt)," Cronin said. That line was driving the team. We've got (Isac Lundeström) out right now and I did like (McTavish) at the wing in those two games he played. I'm going to revisit that when (Lundeström) comes back. But, right now, with a big, heavy team like Florida, having (McTavish) back in the middle is going to help us."

Zegras said the rehab for this injury compared to his broken ankle last season felt like a breeze and that he could have potentially played on the recent road trip.

"There are people in place to make sure (I'm ready) or maybe (they're) a little bit cautious, which I'm very thankful for. During the process, it's a bit frustrating. You want to play, you want to get back out there. You hate missing games, (especially) after last season. I feel good. I feel confident and strong (in my meniscus) and (I'm) ready to go."

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