NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at Trevor Zegras’ renewed upside after being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
---
Trevor Zegras has been traded to the Philadelphia Flyers from the Anaheim Ducks, giving the young forward a renewed offensive ceiling on another rebuilding team.
Zegras, who is 24 years old after playing his first five NHL seasons with the Ducks, was limited by injuries (knee surgery last season; ankle surgery in 2023-24) in recent years and also saw his usage change over that span with the emergence of Anaheim’s top forward prospects.
But whether Zegras plays center or wing in Philadelphia, he has a chance to play on a line with wing Matvei Michkov, who was among the NHL rookie leaders in many categories last season. Michkov led his class in goals (26), ranked second in shots on goal (199) behind San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (236), was tied with Celebrini for the power-play goal lead (eight) and was tied for second in points (63) behind defenseman Lane Hutson (66).
The Flyers made a coaching change from John Tortorella to Rick Tocchet this offseason after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth straight season, and the trade reunites Zegras with his former teammate, defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
Here are three underlying reasons the Zegras trade could pay dividends for the Flyers:
1. Past midrange prowess
Prior to Zegras’ recent injuries, he had back-to-back 20-goal, 60-point seasons for Anaheim in 2021-22 and 2022-23. A big part of Zegras’ early success in the NHL was his midrange shots on goal and goal outputs. As a rookie in 2021-22, Zegras ranked highly in midrange shots on goal (65; 86th percentile) and midrange goals (eight; 87th percentile). Then, in 2022-23, Zegras took a step forward in midrange shots on goal (74; 90th percentile) while also having a similar midrange goal total (seven; 82nd percentile).
The Flyers ranked 28th in the NHL in both midrange goals (61) and midrange shooting percentage (9.7) last season, and Zegras’ average shot speed (57.35 miles per hour in 2023-24, 81st percentile; 56.47 mph, 79th percentile in 2022-23) gives the Flyers another scoring threat with some versatility. It's also worth noting Zegras finished last season strong with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) over his final 20 games, giving him a chance to carry over that momentum to his new team.
2. Power-play improvement
The Flyers had the third-worst power play (15.0 percent) in the NHL last season, and Zegras’ injuries and usage limited him to seven power-play points over the past two seasons combined. But Zegras performed well on the power play over his first two full NHL seasons (13 power-play goals, 34 power-play points in 2021-22, 2022-23 combined) and led the Ducks in average power-play ice time in each of his first three seasons (2:49 per game in 2022-23; 2:38 in 2021-22; 2:10 in 2020-21).
The Flyers, despite their power-play struggles, ranked highly in high-danger shots on goal as a team (633; 13th) last season but only shot 18.7 percent from high-danger areas (24th in NHL), suggesting room for improvement. Zegras, meanwhile, has been a finisher in the past, as evidenced by not only his lacrosse-style goals but also his career high 14 high-danger goals in 2022-23 (87th percentile).
