Anaheim Ducks' 2024-25 Bounce Back Candidates: Trevor Zegras – The Hockey Writers – Season Preview

Trevor Zegras is one of the most divisive players in the NHL. The 22-year-old Anaheim Ducks center has made a name for himself since entering the league in 2021. His style of play has resulted in highlights of spectacular goals, deft puck movement, and jaw-dropping passes of just over 200. NHL games. If the league is trying to sell itself to television viewers, Zegras is at the forefront. However, the NHL 23 joint athlete doesn't have the career of the league's stars, so most of the attention on him has turned negative. A recent anonymous player poll ranked him as the best player in the NHL (from, “Anonymous NHL player poll 2024: Who's the best player? Most overrated? Best goaltender? Worst city,” Athletic, January 31, 2024).

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After being held out of contract for most of his first season and preseason, Zegras had a disappointing 2023-24 campaign. It was a Murphy's Law season for the 2019 NHL Draft-ninth overall pick, which started with some luck on the score sheet and was combined with 51 games lost to two injuries. With a clean bill of health and a full year under head coach Greg Cronin's system, a bounce-back season is expected — and needed — from the young player.

What's Wrong With Zegra?

2023-24 was a season to forget for Zegras. After recording just two points in the first 12 games of the season, he was sidelined for nearly six weeks with a hamstring injury. He returned for eight games before going down with a broken ankle that kept him out for another 11 weeks. At the time of the renewal, the Ducks had only 10 games left in the season. In total, Zegras finished with 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 31 games. After hovering around 0.8 points per game in his last two seasons, going under half a point per game, even in a losing season, is disappointing.

To add to the frustration, Zegras' campaign came after being held out of training camp for nearly two weeks. Cronin wasn't shy about suggesting a lack of uptime contributed to Zegras' early season injury.

Bright Signs in a Bad Time

While much of the focus will be on what went wrong for Zegras last season, there were plenty of positives to take away. First will be more focus on defensive play. This was a major point of emphasis for Cronin in his first season in Anaheim, as he wanted to see Zegras improve his 200-foot game. While it's hard to quantify defensive gains in a losing season, he did have an uptick in some statistical metrics. Natural Stat Trick gave him 15 assists, more than half of his total last season in just under 800 minutes. His 15 blocked shots would also have tied a new career best in a full season.

Additionally, while Zegras' scoring is low, his subpar numbers suggest he hasn't been playing badly. Cronin defended Zegras by citing the number of scoring opportunities he was getting. Through 12 games, he was fourth on the team in scoring chances, most dangerous scoring chances, and expected goals, but had just two points (one goal, one assist) before missing 20 games due to an injury.

At several points in the season, Zegras looked like he was going to be “fine” after his slow start. After his first injury, he scored a Michigan-style lacrosse goal in his first game back on the roster. He registered five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games between his injuries — a tick below his scoring rate but significantly better than his early season sample size. While his broken ankle prevented him from building on any consistency he had been working on, he returned in late March with a career-high scoring streak. In the last eleven games of the season, he recorded eight points (two goals, six assists).

Ducks Need Zegras Bounce Back

When discussing Anaheim's next captain's decisions earlier in the season, I referred to Zegras as the beating heart of this Ducks team. Injuries aside, a lot went right for Anaheim last season. Frank Vatrano exploded for 37 goals. Radko Gudas set a career high in points. Mason McTavish has shown that he can put up a goal line. Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov, and Lukas Dostal all showed bright futures. Despite all of this, the Ducks were the bottom team from mid-November until the end of the season. It would be hard to argue that they are a playoff team with Zegras on that 51 game list, but he provides energy that could save the team from some lackluster efforts.

Zegras has been in trade rumors for months, but general manager Pat Verbeek isn't tipping his hand. Trading him now would be selling him at a very low price, and Verbeek's asking price is probably too expensive for teams who see him as a replacement for a rising star. As one of the lowest-scoring teams of the 2020s, the Ducks shouldn't entertain the struggling Zegras. He's one of the few young players who's proven they can hit at a decent clip in the NHL, and at 22 there's an argument to be made that he still has another level to hit.

If Zegras bounces back, Anaheim's rebuild will be in a good spot. With McTavish, Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, Cutter Gauthier, and, finally, Beckett Sennecke, the Ducks have an inspiring top-six for the future, and they could benefit even more from Zegras's do-it-all playmaking ability. That's a lot of talent around him since he arrived in Anaheim, and he should be able to produce some quality Ducks fans and the NHL's marketing department are eager to see. He is a free agent eligible for compensation after the 2025-26 season; both sides will want an ending before another long hold, and what Zegras does on the ice will go a long way toward securing a long-term deal in Southern California.

Salary cap information courtesy of PuckPedia.