Trevor Zegras Recapturing Flare Since Return from Injury

Trevor Zegras returned to the Anaheim Ducks lineup on Jan. 21, when they returned home from a six-game road trip to host the Florida Panthers.

Zegras has been under a microscope since entering the NHL in the 2020-21 season. During that time, he dazzled on a seemingly nightly basis, attempting spectacular highlight-reel plays and displaying refreshing creativity unseen in the NHL to that point.

He had been scrutinized early in his career for his lack of impact and awareness on the defensive side of the puck.

The Ducks hired Greg Cronin as head coach in June 2023. With him, he brought a new intensity and defensive standard to the organization.

After a long contract negotiation and missing the first chunk of the Ducks’ 2023 training camp, Zegras committed himself to round out his 200-foot game.

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“The one thing that I’m really proud of him that he’s done and he’s put into his value system is his ability to compete, to get on pucks, he steps into people, he’s going to the net front,” Cronin said of Zegras. “He’s not a big guy, so he’s not gonna move people off the third circle area, but he’s trying to get into those positions to attract attention, which might open up the ice for his teammates.”

Mired by injury and an adjustment period to the new systems implemented by Cronin, Zegras scored just 15 points (6-9=15) in 31 games in 2023-24. Though he added layers of defensive prowess, particularly on the forecheck, his trademark sizzle was noticeably muted. The player known for spin-a-rama slot passes and dangling defenders at will was instead opting for safe plays to get pucks deep in the offensive zone.

The defensive devotion and rudimentary offense continued into the early stages of the 2024-25 season for Zegras. After just scoring three points in his first 15 games of the season, he scored seven in his next eight before he suffered a torn meniscus on Dec. 4, requiring surgery on Dec. 12 and a six-week recovery period.

Zegras returned to the lineup on Jan. 21, hitting the ground running and displaying a newfound marriage between the two sides of his game.

He has scored three points (1-2=3) in four games and has accounted for 11 shots on goal while his team has produced 61.1% of the shots share, 58.2% of the shot attempts share, and 60.7% of the expected goals share when Zegras is on the ice at 5v5.

Shift after shift, he’s demonstrating his elite vision, creativity, and deception with the puck on his stick, consistently manufacturing high-danger looks from anywhere on the ice.

“His style, he’s not a fast-paced, hunting player,” Cronin said. “He’s a playmaker, so he likes to slow things down, and he’s one the the few guys that we have whose IQ is driven in a way that he’s trying to bait people in (so he can) create open ice (and) slip pucks into space where the attackers are coming into.”

Since his return to the lineup, Zegras has been on a line with Alex Killorn and Leo Carlsson. Killorn never misses an opportunity when talking to the media to highlight how special Zegras’ skill is.

“Playing with Z, he’s always able to open things up because he’s able to hold on to the puck and he’s able to make that one play that opens things up,” Killorn said of his linemate after one of Zegras’ high-skilled outlet passes led directly to a goal from Killorn at the other end of the ice during the Ducks’ 5-1 win over the Penguins. “That play he makes is a play that not a lot of guys can make and it’s a play that might not get talked about. Little plays like that, even though they’re small, they create a lot of space out there.”

Carlsson has been on the receiving end of countless clean slip passes coming directly off of Zegras’ stick on the wing following an outlet over the last four games.

“It’s nice. He brings some offense, of course,” Carlsson said when asked what Zegras has injected into his line. “Some, I don’t know the word. It’s like, I want to say fancy, but that’s not the word. But his energy (and) his skill plays, basically.”

Carlsson has seen his chances per game increase since Zegras’ return, but he hasn’t been able to find the back of the net of late. He’s only on pace to score 28 points this season and has just one point in his last 11 games.

If Zegras and Carlsson can continue to build on their growing connection, the points are sure to come for Carlsson and the duo could blossom into one of the more potent combinations in the NHL for years to come.

Zegras has only played 59 of the Ducks’ last 132 games since the start of 2023-24. He’s put in the work to become a 200-foot impact player and is now recapturing the flare that made him a sensation in his first few years in the NHL. If he continues this form, the Ducks franchise will benefit greatly for years to come.

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