The Philadelphia Flyers are going to have an interesting summer as they possibly head into next season with slightly higher expectations. One of the biggest things on their to-do list is to lock up forward Trevor Zegras to a new contract.

The 25-year-old is going to be a restricted free agent this summer and should be in line to have a serious bump in pay from the $5.75-million AAV contract he’s currently on right now that he signed with the Anaheim Ducks three years ago. And ever since he made his debut with the Flyers after being acquired by the team last summer, he’s made a massive impact on the team,

Whether it was putting up a whole lot of points at wing to start the year, or now settling into a top-six center role and all the detailed responsibilities that come with that position; Zegras has been an incredible fit for the Flyers.

It certainly helps that he just scored the all-important game-winning goal in overtime against the Dallas Stars to put his team right in the thick of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference on Sunday night. But according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, contract talks between the Flyers and Zegras are happening.

Elliotte Friedman says Flyers and Trevor Zegras are talking contract extension

On Monday morning’s episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Friedman went over how Zegras and the Flyers are having these conversations surrounding a new contract and just how it might play out.

“You know, I’m watching Zegras score in overtime and, I’m looking at this and I think that the Flyers and Zegras have started talking,” Friedman said. “I don’t know how close they are, but I think they’ve definitely been talking. And, you know, I think I watched Zegras score, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, this price isn’t going to go down.’

“I know it’s 3-on-3 overtime and it doesn’t always mix in very well, but he’s been a really good player for them. And the fit has been excellent. They’ve been good for him and he’s been good for them. I think they’re working away at it and I do think it’ll get done. I don’t think there’s a question that’s going to get done, but I still think the two sides are grinding away at each other a bit here.”

It doesn’t seem like anything is imminent and we should see an announcement in the coming days, or anything, but it is good to see that the Flyers aren’t wasting any time here.

Technically, the Flyers do have some time to get this done. Zegras being a restricted free agent this summer means that Philadelphia will hold onto his rights through the summer — there’s no risk of him just walking away because they didn’t get him to sign a deal. There is a little series of soft deadlines, though. Ideally, the Flyers would want to get this contract done before July 1 so that other teams can’t send Zegras offer sheets and potentially lose him through that. And then there’s the deadline of before training camp, because Zegras has already been through the experience of missing training camp due to a contract negotiation and that set back a whole lot of that season with Anaheim and soured the relationship between the Ducks and the young center. But if the Flyers really don’t care that much about it (seems extremely unlikely), Zegras just needs to be signed to a contract by the middle of December to then be eligible to play next season.

It would be shocking to see the negotiation stretch all the way up until training camp, and seeing that the two sides are talking months before that point is certainly a good sign.

Whatever the new contract is, it’s going to be incredibly interesting. It’s possible that the Flyers want to keep Zegras in for the long haul and considering that if they sign him to an eight-year extension this summer, that he would hit unrestricted free agency at 33 years old and not be with the team through some incredibly tough years as he hits his decline. But, it’s also possible that the Flyers would be more comfortable with a five- or six-year deal because they have the upcoming Matvei Michkov contract and even thinking about the Porter Martone extension talks in just a couple years.

The bright spot is that Zegras clearly loves playing for the Flyers and being in Philadelphia. He’s surrounded by teammates that he’s grown up playing with. He’s already hinted that he wants to stay with the Flyers for a very long time, so maybe there can be a somewhat team-friendly deal negotiated here.

It will nevertheless be one of the most important things the Flyers do before next season.