The Philadelphia Flyers acquired forward Trevor Zegras this past summer in hopes he would be a shot in the arm for their offense. Albeit in small sample size, Zegras has paid dividends for GM Daniel Briere after the trade for the reclamation project.
Registering two goals and six assists (along with a shootout tally versus the New York Islanders this past Saturday) through eight games this season, Zegras has been a welcomed addition to the Flyers’ offense. Playing the lion’s share of the season with UFA signing Christian Dvorak (and recently with sophomore Matvei Michkov), Zegras has given the Flyers the secondary scoring they have needed for quite some time.
Zegras, 24, fell out of favor with the Anaheim Ducks during Greg Cronin’s stint as the team’s head coach. He also fought injury problems, playing in just 88 games over the last two seasons in California. The Flyers gave up a modest return of depth forward Ryan Poehling and two draft picks for Zegras; they paid the price of a forward in need of a rebuild, of sorts.
Aassuming he can keep up this pace, Zegras figures to be a part of the Flyers’ future long term. Speaking with a team source on Monday, the Flyers are not at the point of talking an extension with Zegras this early in the season – but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth speculating on. If I were a betting man, the Flyers would be looking to go in the six- to eight-year term with Zegras should it get to the point where the team wants to extend the player. Turning 25 before the end of the season, the Flyers would be looking to lock Zegras up into his 30s and getting cost certainty.
Looking at comparables, Dylan Cozens of the Ottawa Senators jumped out as one that makes sense in regards to Zegras. Signing a seven year, $49.7-million contract in February of 2023 with the Buffalo Sabres, Cozens locked in long term during the flat-cap era. The native of Whitehorse, Yukon has averaged 0.59 points per game during his NHL career; relatively comparable to Zegras’ 0.70. On the surface, Zegras looks like a more productive player, but Cozens has also played 372 games – almost a hundred more than the former’s 276. It is also worth noting that the two players were drafted in the same year of 2019.
Beyond the sample size, Cozens’ size, physicality and stability at the center position have boosted his value past that of Zegras, speaking with league sources. Zegras, while playing a “hybrid” center position alongside Dvorak so far this season, has not yet proven to be a slam dunk pivot in the Flyers’ top-six. The Flyers have been on the lookout for high-end centers for quite some time, and while Zegras has shown flashes of it here and there through the first eight games of the season, there are still question marks as to what position he will stick at long term in the NHL.
Cozens’ AAV is $7.1 million against the salary cap. Even though he signed the deal during the flat-cap era, the sense I get is that the Flyers wouldn’t be prepared to go that high with Zegras on a long term deal. There is still a lot of runway left before the Flyers and player’s camp get serious in negotiations, but from reading the tea leaves, I get the sense that the Flyers would be looking to go in the $6.5 million to $7 million range on a long-term deal with Zegras.
The rising cap will dictate a lot and surely help the Zegras’ camp in negotiations, along with the fact the player still has a long road to prove his worth with the Flyers. But if Zegras can’t stick as a slam dunk top-six center with the club, it may work against him during his next contract negotiation.
All this to say, the club has been very impressed with Zegras’ compete and overall play to this point, and while they aren’t prepared to engage in serious contract discussions, it is certainly something that is on the table should he continue his current point production.
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