The Flyers and Ducks have made several trades over the last few seasons. They have former first-round picks that are often injured and underachieving. Jamie Drysdale came at the cost of Cutter Gauthier, but to be fair, that was realistically the best they could get for a guy who wanted out of Philly before he got here. The Trevor Zegras for Ryan Poehling trade has the potential to be an average trade or a huge win.
Zegras was the ninth overall pick in 2019, the same year that the Flyers selected Cam York. In his first full season with the Ducks, he scored 23 goals with 38 assists and was second to Toronto's Michael Bunting's 65 points for rookies. He finished in second place in the Calder Trophy voting behind Detroit's Moritz Seider. In his follow-up year, he again scored 23 goals with 42 assists.
Then the injuries started to hit. First, it was an inflammation of his pelvis, called osteitis pubis. There were knee and ankle surgeries over the next two seasons, limiting him to 31 games in 2023-24 and 57 games in 2024-25. Despite past production, there were concerns that the best days of the 24-year-old forward were far behind him.
Zegras Becomes a Flyer
Just before the 2025 NHL Draft, the Flyers traded forward Ryan Poehling and some draft picks for Zegras. Poehling was a popular guy in the Flyers clubhouse and had eked out an important role as a fourth-line center. In two years in Philly, Poehling had put together two career years, scoring 23 goals and possibly shedding his label as "first round bust".
For Zegras, this is an opportunity for him to shed the "bust" label. Whereas Poehling started slowly and found his footing in Philly, Zegras started strong in Anaheim and has just had a bit of bad luck as of late.
Poehling was good as a fourth-line guy. If the Flyers want him back, he is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next year. However, his ceiling isn't as high as Zegras's could be.
If Zegras can recapture what he was and was projected to be, that would be great. You can always use a guy who scores 20+ goals. Being left-handed, he can play left wing, but the hope is that he can be a center. If he can center one of the top two lines effectively, that would help the Flyers out a lot. However, in the past, he's struggled in the faceoff circle. Where Poehling was at a 50% clip in the faceoff circle in his two years, Zegras has a career faceoff win percentage of 40.1.
If he can't cut it at center, he could slide over to left wing and still be a valuable sniper there. Perhaps having him fly up the side of the ice with Matvei Michkov or Owen Tippett on the other side could lead to a lot of problems for other teams.
If Zegras works out, he could be extended this year as he will be an RFA. If he doesn't, the Flyers can let him walk or trade him at the deadline and hope that one of the young prospects can step up instead. If he gets hurt for extended periods, the Flyers can see if he is worth investing in or giving up on.
Worst comes to worst, Zegras is gone next year. The best-case scenario is that he becomes another 20+ goal scorer on a team that is starting to rack up that kind of talent. This could make the Flyers a very dangerous opponent to face this year. We'll just have to wait and watch.