The Philadelphia Flyers notably tried to make a big splash in the offseason, as evidenced by their attempt to pry center Leo Carlsson away from the Anaheim Ducks with an offer sheet. Besides that, the Flyers had to retain some key players on their roster. One of them was forward Trevor Zegras, who proved to be one of the best additions of last offseason, and was a restricted free agent this summer.
Over a week ago, the Flyers and Zegras agreed to terms on a four-year, $36.5 million contract extension. With that, Zegras is set to be a pivotal player for the Flyers during the duration of that contract. Now, he slots in as one of their top centers along with Christian Dvorak. Zegras had previously played wing before making the switch during this past season, and there were some growing pains.
While speaking with reporters after signing his contract extension, Zegras said he is looking forward to the challenge of taking on a top center role, but knows he needs to be better. Zegras felt that with more reps, he'll only get better.
Trevor Zegras prioritizing improving at center after contract extension
"I think some of it starts in the gym and just getting bigger and stronger," he said, h/t NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "But I think a lot of it was reps and repetition and taking a ton of face-offs, even against your own guys in practice or after practice, and just picking up on little things that maybe guys against you do. All things that I'm always thinking about. So I'll try and definitely be better than I was last year."
One has to wonder if plans would have changed if the Ducks did not match the five-year, $90 million offer sheet for Carlsson. Would Zegras have been pushed back over to the wing? We'll never know, and probably won't know since it seems the Flyers are content with the roster as currently constructed heading into training camp.
It's no secret that in the regular season, Zegras struggled with face-offs. On 384 face-off opportunities, Zegras only won 131 of them, giving him a win percentage of just 34.1. That's not ideal, especially for a player expected to be one of the top two centers on the team. In the playoffs, his numbers improved, winning 44 percent of face-offs.
Even as he triese to improve his skills in the face-off circle, he will be relied upon to put the FLyers on the board scoring-wise. In his first season in Philadelphia, Zegras put up 26 goals and 41 assists for 67 points in 81 games. His goals and points totals are the most he's put up in a single season in his entire career.
With a new contract, Zegras knows that there will be higher expectations for him, especially with how he performed in his first year outside of Anaheim. The Flyers wouldn't have gotten as far as they did without him. We'll see how he performs in the face-off circle throughout the preseason and the regular season and determine if there has been growth and improvement, or if that continues to be an area of concern.
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