Anaheim losing patience with Trevor Zegras: An opportunity for Allvin?

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Cooper Godin
June 3, 2024 (1:55 PM)

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The Vancouver Canucks could be in the market for a top-six forward this summer and an opportunity to trade for Trevor Zegras could be presented to General Manager Patrik Allvin.

Trevor Zegras' name has been brought up in trade rumours for months now, but he was never moved prior to the deadline in March and for now, remains a member of the Anaheim Ducks.

On the DFO Rundown podcast recently, insider Frank Seravalli said that he thinks the Anaheim Ducks aren't convinced that Trevor Zegras can add more dimensions to his game other than being a creative offensive player. He added that Zegras had a lot of what Seravalli described as 'pain points' throughout the 2023-24 season.

Some of those 'pain points' included having his best friend Jamie Drysdale traded to the Philadelphia Flyers and injury issues he dealt with. Zegras was reportedly also one of the player Anaheim pressured to work out in Florida, which the team got fined $50,000 by the NHL for.

"There's been a lot of pain points for Trevor Zegras so far on his end. He was injured last year, he was ground down on the RFA negotiations, his best friend was traded. He was pressured to, was one of the players that was pressured to work out in Florida under team control, which ultimately earned the Ducks a $50,000 fine." Seravalli said.

He went on to add, "Then on the other end, we've heard you mention, not glowing, like Pat Verbeek, I don't think he's gonna say it publicly, I think internally, the talk has been that they have real reservations as to whether or not he can add additional dimensions to his game. Is he a talented, creative, offensive force? Yes. Are there other things that he needs to add to his game? Yes. And when you have, you know, a bunch of young, burgeoning prospects, the need to try and force square peg into round hole, if that's how you view him, isn't really there."

Zegras, 23, would be a solid fit for the current core the Vancouver Canucks have. He has two years remaining on his contract that he signed last summer, which carries an average annual value of $5.75 million. He's set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season. Zegras' AAV would be more than manageable for Patrik Allvin to add, but it may require the Canucks to send someone back to the Anaheim Ducks with a similar cap hit.

Injuries limited Zegras to only 31 games this season where he had 15 points (six goals, nine assists), 30 penalty minutes and was a minus-one. In his first two years in the National Hockey League, 2021-22 & 2022-23, Zegras put up 61 and 65 points respectively. The potential and talent is there when it comes to Trevor Zegras, there's no doubt about it. If he's able to stay healthy for the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign, he could hit the 70-point mark for the first time in his career.

Should Patrik Allvin and the Vancouver Canucks trade for Trevor Zegras? Let us know what you think in the poll below!