Trevor Zegras was in the gym back at home in New York, then checked his phone to see he was a Flyer.
It happened quick.
The Flyers made the trade for him with the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, in exchange for the 45th overall pick in the NHL Draft on Saturday and then a fourth-rounder in 2026.
Then on Friday, ahead of the draft’s first round and the Flyers’ own watch party for it at the Hard Rock hotel in Atlantic City, he made the drive down to be a part of it.
“It’s funny,” Zegras told reporters in the media room of the Flyers’ makeshift draft HQ. “I spent, what was it? Two and a half hours with my mom in the car, then the closer we got, I was like ‘Oh, it’s pretty cool, it’s draft night! Somebody’s gonna be pretty fired up tonight!'”
Whoever goes to the Flyers at No. 6, No. 22, and No. 31 can join the club with him.
Zegras joins the Flyers as a bit of gamble on general manager Danny Brière’s part, but one worth taking for where the team’s at in their rebuild.
They need a center. He’s a very skilled one, as his highlights can attest, but is also one who has struggled through injury and inconsistency in the past couple of years with the Ducks. Plus, he’s in the last year of his contract at age 24.
He has something to prove, and if he can, then the Flyers suddenly have that top-of-the-line center they’ve been looking for.
“Absolutely,” Zegras said. “I think coming to a new team, I’ll do whatever I can to help the guys win, and try and win over some respect in the locker room and with the fans. It’s always good to put a good foot forward, for sure.”
He’ll be closer to home and in familiar company trying to do it.
Zegras is from Bedford, New York, so the trade to Philadelphia puts him much closer to home. He also became good friends with Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale while they were both in Anaheim, and was already longtime friends with fellow blueliner Cam York when they were both junior teammates skating for Team USA.
Zegras’ family is stoked for the move to Philadelphia, he said, his dad especially. So are Drysdale and York.
“I waited a little bit to reach out to those guys, just because it’s a bit of a whirlwind couple hours,” Zegras said. “I definitely texted Cam and Jamie first, and then called those guys.”
“Jamie doesn’t show a ton of emotion, but he was pretty happy after I called him,” Zegras cracked.
They’ll be skating together again soon enough.
Zegras said he’ll be visiting Philadelphia on Saturday and has already had a number of new Flyers teammates reach out.
He added that he plans to spend the rest of the summer at home in New York, then report to Voorhees in early September ahead of camp to get acclimated.
It’s a lot happening quick, and for him and the Flyers, hopefully for the better.
Why 46?
Zegras will be wearing No. 46 for the Flyers.
It was his original number with the Ducks when he first made it up to the NHL, and obviously, he can’t take the No. 11 he switched to as Travis Konecny has it.
So he went back to what former Ducks GM and current Flyers senior advisor Bob Murray assigned to him.
Or as Zegras put it: “Bob Murray drafted me at Anaheim and slapped that on my back my first year. So, obviously, coming back here and having him with the organization, I thought that was pretty cool.”
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
