Trevor Zegras Was Never a Pat Verbeek Guy
The Anaheim Ducks are moving on from forward Trevor Zegras as General Manager Pat Verbeek moves out a player he inherited from the previous regime, indicating that, despite his private and public statements, Zegras was never his guy.
Zegras, the ninth overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft, was drafted by then-General Manager Bob Murray. Murray is currently a Senior Advisor with the Philadelphia Flyers, the team to which Zegras was traded.
So, it made sense when the Ducks hired Verbeek; there might have been some preconceived notions about a player he had not drafted. There are other players currently on the team who were not Verbeek draft picks, but Zegras was the second one, along with Jamie Drysdale, who were Murray guys and traded to Philadelphia.
So when Pat Verbeek met the media on Monday, he didn’t dismiss the notion about the player not being his guy. Though he was never asked the question upfront, in his explanation of the trade, it was clear Zegras was never his guy.
Well, I think first of all, I want to thank Trevor for this past six seasons and his contributions to our club, Verbeek said to media. Obviously it was a difficult trade to make from that perspective, but I think as we gather with our group, and I think the big thing is we're trying to retool the roster in a way that all the pieces fit cohesively and to where you have different players on different lines to complement each other. So I think from that aspect, that's ultimately the decision that we came to is just kind of reshaping and retooling our roster.
Again, it is never what the general manager says; it is how he says it. However, what stands out is that Verbeek believed his group and roster needed to be retooled with bigger and tougher players to compete against. That is why Chris Kreider was brought in, and Ryan Poehling was a part of this deal.
Verbeek wanted responsible two-way players, and he never believed Zegras was one of them. This was despite what he said publicly and privately about how he thought the player improved and did everything he was asked to under former head coach Greg Cronin.
There had always been rumours circulating in the media that Verbeek and Zegras did not get along. When Zegras was a restricted free agent and signed his three-year bridge deal a couple of seasons ago, it was done after training camp and just before the start of the season.
Not to mention bringing in a head coach like Joel Quenneville and wanting to make the playoffs, there was no time for teaching a talented offensive player to play and adapt to a grinding style, as seen in Florida with the Panthers. And while Verbeek said the coach did not have any input on the trade, you know Quenneville did not have time to change Zegras into the type of player he needs to be successful.
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Who knows if the coach even wanted him on the team to begin with? We know the GM certainly didn’t. People will wonder what Zegras would have looked like under Quenneville. We all saw what Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were. And it's not as if Kane’s defensive game has improved.
These issues run deeper. It stems from the negotiation process. Those negotiations were contentious, as the player and general manager disagreed on how much he could be paid and what type of player he could be. Although they said he was on a three-year deal worth $5.75 million per season, the next contract would be even tougher if he stayed with the Ducks long-term.
And the minute Zegras signed his current contract, his name was out there in trade rumors. The Ducks and Montreal Canadiens were trying to swing a deal at the 2024 NHL Draft for Zegras in case Montreal couldn’t get Ivan Demidov. So the Ducks had been looking to move him.
And while Verbeek pointed out that Zegras wanted to play center over wing and Mason McTavish didn’t want to be a third-line center, thus making it impossible for Zegras to play third-line center due to his salary, it was a way to make the trade make sense.
If you look at the return, Ryan Poehlin, a middle to bottom-six forward and two draft picks (45th overall (2025 2nd rounder) and a 4th-round pick in 2026) for a player that scored 60 points in his first year in the league, that shows he was looking to get rid of Zegras.
Now, players like Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Mason McTavish did pass him by on the depth chart, but Zegras finished with 17 points in the final 25 games. He also had, despite his injuries, the third-best points per game on the team at .56 points per game.
So for a team that needed offense, it was clear Verbeek wanted him out of Anaheim. Even though again Verbeek told the media he was unsure of his value, despite the Flyers and Ducks having trade talks about him for most of the season.
Even Flyers GM Daniel Briere said during his media availability on Monday that the Ducks were willing to give him up.
However, Pat Verbeek and the Anaheim Ducks traded him when his value was at its lowest. His ceiling was higher during the season, and they could have gotten more. Verbeek wanted to get rid of him and make changes for the sake of change.
What it boils down to is that Trevor Zegras was never a Pat Verbeek guy. However, the parties will never come out and say so. However, it is as plain as day that these two parties just never saw eye to eye.
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