Flyers Acquire Trevor Zegras: Immediate Reaction

The Philadelphia Flyers sent a message on Monday when they acquired Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks—that message: Danny Briere is not messing around.

Zegras is one of the more interesting young players out there. There are many reasons why teams were trying to acquire him, just as there were reasons to avoid it. Pros and cons are real, but in my own opinion, the good outweighs the bad.

It will be an interesting yet exciting fit having Zegras in Philadelphia.

So, before the dust even settles, here is my immediate reaction to the Trevor Zegras trade.

Initial Reaction to the Trevor Zegras Trade

The Flyers Got Away With Highway Robbery

Look, Trevor Zegras may not have the same value that he did after his first two full seasons in the league. A brilliant young player with high levels of skill and two 60+ point seasons to start a career would cost a ton to acquire.

However, as mentioned earlier in the day, injuries have plagued the early career of Zegras, causing him to miss significant time the past two seasons. He has not quite returned to his former form.

However, that does not mean that the high-skilled, electrifying player is not still there. In fact, the potential is still very much there, and that is known. I thought it would have taken a late first to start the conversation. Instead, the Flyers landed the young forward for a bottom-six role player, a mid-second-round pick, and a future fourth-round pick. To me, that feels like a fleece job.

Putting things into perspective–a second-round pick does not have as much value when you are sitting on four of them. It is very easy to part with that. A future fourth is not a needle mover either.

With that, all things considered, this was an absolute steal for the Flyers.

Zegras is a Low Risk, High Reward Player

These are the sort of trades GMs dream about. You take a very low risk on a player who could pan out to be a very high reward player.

As we touched on earlier, it did not cost a whole lot to trade for Trevor Zegras. He did not cost the Flyers a top prospect or even a first-round pick. The Flyers traded assets that they had a surplus of.

To further mitigate the risk, Zegras is not under contract beyond this year, so if the move does not pan out, the Flyers can let him walk and receive the RFA compensation. If he does pan out, then the Flyers can extend him. If they’re unable to extend him, they can always match any offer sheet he receives. Pretty low risk contract-wise as well.

If the change of scenery can help bring Zegras back to what he was, a 60-point center with untapped potential and high skill, that is everything the Flyers have been looking for. The skill has never been a question with Zegras. The potential has always been there–the sky is still the limit for this kid.

This was an absolute masterclass for Briere.

So, the Flyers Got a C BEFORE the Draft

Here is where things get fun.

The NHL Draft is four days away. With what the Flyers have down the middle, it seemed pretty sure that a center would be the top priority for the No. 6 pick, even if he wasn’t the best player available.

With the Flyers trading Ryan Poehling, it seems pretty likely that they will return Trevor Zegras to center, where he primarily played during his two 60-point seasons. So, with that, the Flyers now have a new top-six center, likely to play 2C minutes.

Does that mean it grows even more likely that Porter Martone could be a real possibility with the No. 6 pick? Zegras fills the immediate need for a center, which could open the door for the Flyers to go BPA at No. 6, and select a center that needs more development time with No. 22, or trade up.

With the organization getting Zegras, unless they view him as a winger, it opens the door pretty wide to draft a player like Martone.

Completing the Gauthier Trade

Now that the Flyers have made yet another deal with the Ducks, we can look at it like Briere completing the Cutter Gauthier Trade. So, all together, it looks like this:

PHI Gets: Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, 2025 2nd Round Pick (40) (ANA)
ANA Gets: Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Poehling. 2025 2nd Round Pick (45) (CBJ), 2026 4th Round Pick (PHI)

In all honesty, that makes trading Gauthier a lot more manageable, and the return looks a heck-of-a-lot more even now.

Overall Feeling

Overall, Flyers fans should be feeling pretty good about the trade.

For one, it shows that Danny Briere is not sitting around, letting the rebuild naturally occur. He is taking calculated risks to make the team better in the near future. To me, it was a very good trade.

The Flyers still have plenty of cap space to have some fun this offseason and have the chance to legitimately compete for a playoff spot next year. Keeping all three first-round picks and only trading one second-rounder will not limit the team’s ability to continue its aggressiveness in the draft or even in the coming days. I would not expect Briere to be done wheeling and dealing.

If this is the first trade that the Flyers make, I will be interested to see how Briere can top this.

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Flyers Acquire Trevor Zegras: Immediate Reaction

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