New Flyers forward Trevor Zegras speaks with the media via Zoom one day after being acquired by the team via trade. (Screenshot by Anthony SanFilippo)
One of the things that was important for the Flyers before agreeing to trading for Trevor Zegras was finding out about the person.
Gaining that intel was easy, as two of Zegras' best friends happen to play for the Flyers - Cam York and Jaime Drysdale.
Zegras and Drysdale were roommates in Anaheim. They used to play tennis together regularly.
"He stinks at tennis," Zegras said. "I don't think he's ever beaten me at tennis."
But that's not the only sport in which they compete against one another for fun.
"He's a good golfer," Zegras said. "We got to try and get some more emotion out of him though. I don't know if you guys saw the hole-in-one that he had (last month), but he didn't even seem like he was excited. So, hopefully we can get the juices going."
HOLE-IN-ONE! 🚨🚨
Jamie Drysdale aces one at the RBC Canadian Open/NHLPA Face Off at TPC Toronto and the reactions are amazing. 😂 pic.twitter.com/WVl4vurLxi
This kind of camaraderie is a good start for a new player. Having two close friends on the team already will help with assimilation in many ways off the ice, which in turn, should allow for more of a focus on the ice.
"We're very close with our players," said Flyers General Manager Danny Briere. "We talk to them constantly. We always try to get news on some of the players they know around the league. ... It's always helpful to get input from the players because they play against each other."
So the Flyers did their due diligence. But Zegras did as well.
While he had no control over where he was being traded, he wanted to find out as much info as he could about his new hockey home. He called York and Drysdale, of course, but beyond that, he wanted to know about what it's like playing for Rick Tocchet. Zegras is close with the Hughes family. Quinn Hughes has been publicly vocal about how much he loved playing for Tocchet. So it's no surprise he was among a few guys Zegras reached out to yesterday.
"I have a couple of friends and buddies who have played for him in other places and they had really good things to say about the kind of guy that he is and the relationship that he has with his players, and that's something I'm very excited for," Zegrais said.
Zegras and Tocchet also had a phone call on Monday. They only talked about hockey at a high level, but the thought is Tocchet will give Zegras a shot at being a center again and that he will give him the freedom to be creative offensively, but there are some non-negotiables.
"There are areas I definitely need to work on," Zegras said. "Whether it's in the faceoff circle, or below the goal line or in front of the net in the defensive zone."
If Zegras commits to improving in those areas, and then has the leash to be the creative dynamo that he was in his first two seasons in the league, he can be a huge addition for the Flyers.
He knows he needs to be better in Philly than he was in Anaheim. He has been very committed to his offseason workouts in anticipation that he could be facing a change of scenery. He has been training at Prentiss Hockey in Stamford, Conn., about a half hour from his home in Bedford, N.Y. He was working out with Chris Kreider, who the Ducks acquired recently in a trade with the New York Rangers, when he found out he was being traded to the Flyers. Was he surprised? Yes and no. He knew things went sideways in Anaheim and he knew his name has been out there for a while. But why, he's not sure.
"You have to ask him," Zegras said, referring to Ducks G.M. Pat Verbeek as to why things went off the rails between the Ducks and Zegras. "I don't know. I just try to be a good teammate and do what is asked of me. I'm going to bring that same mindset to Philadelphia. My focus has kind of shifted more towards what I can do for that team and that organization. I think what's happened in the past has made me a different person. I think I learned a lot in Anaheim. It taught me how to be a pro and I'm going to bring all that stuff I learned to Philadelphia."
If he does that, alone, the Flyers win this trade.
