{"id":323017,"date":"2025-12-03T16:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323017\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T16:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:27:08","slug":"change-of-scenery-has-energized-philadelphia-flyers-trevor-zegras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323017\/","title":{"rendered":"Change of scenery has energized Philadelphia Flyers’ Trevor Zegras"},"content":{"rendered":"

A change of scenery seems to have paid off for Trevor Zegras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Drafted ninth overall by the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> in 2019, Zegras burst onto the NHL scene as one of the best young players.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot centre recorded 23 goals and 61 points in his first full NHL season in 2021-22 and followed it up with 23 goals and 65 points the following year.<\/p>\n

Zegras made a name for himself with his remarkable puck handling skills, including a remarkable lacrosse-style assist on a Sonny Milano<\/a> goal in 2022.<\/p>\n

His popularity rose to the point where he, along with women\u2019s hockey player Sarah Nurse, were the cover athletes of EA\u2019s NHL 23 video game.<\/p>\n

But injuries and inconsistency derailed Zegras\u2019 tenure with the Ducks.<\/p>\n

The Bedford, N.Y., native only appeared in 31 games in 2023-24, registering six goals and 15 points. He then registered 12 goals and 32 points in 57 games last season.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia acquired Zegras from the Ducks last off-season in exchange for forward Ryan Poehling<\/a> and two draft picks. He has found new life with his new team, leading the Flyers with nine goals and 25 points in 25 games and feels that his game has matured since he was in Anaheim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel better than that guy,\u201d Zegras told NHL.com on Wednesday.<\/a> \u201dNot that that guy wasn\u2019t great, just different. I see the game differently. I look for things that I wasn\u2019t looking for back then. [I] played more off of adrenaline [in Anaheim] and how cool it was to play in the NHL, whereas now there\u2019s a right way to play the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think there are so many little different things that I do now that I would have never done back then. So, I think it\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zegras joined a Flyers team that finished 33-39-10 last season, tied for the fourth-worst record in the NHL.<\/p>\n

He has helped the Flyers rocket up the standings to start this season, currently tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> and New York Islanders<\/a> for the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference and two points behind the New Jersey Devils<\/a> for third place in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n

Zegras\u2019 change of attitude has not been lost on Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet<\/a>, who is also in his first season behind the bench in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when he\u2019s going good, sometimes the coaches will leave him alone,\u201d said Tocchet. \u201cBut you also want to show him something when he\u2019s doing good stuff. For me, there\u2019s a couple of keys with him when he\u2019s on his game and when he\u2019s not. [It\u2019s] just reminders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe likes to hear the information, and he\u2019ll come up with some plays. He\u2019ll talk [and ask], \u2018What about this?\u2019 I like that. It\u2019s not just a one-way conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zegras pointed out that he feels he\u2019s been able to collaborate more with the Flyers coaching staff compared to some of his previous coaches while in Anaheim<\/p>\n

The fact that Tocchet was an 18-year NHL veteran that has won a Stanley Cup both as a player and a coach really helps the coaching messages hit home for Zegras.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s somebody that you can listen to because they\u2019ve lived it,\u201d said Zegras. \u201cA guy you can trust with what he\u2019s saying, and what he says works. I think the team\u2019s had success in a lot of the aspects that he\u2019s been preaching this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Flyers also feature defenceman Jamie Drysdale<\/a>, who played with Zegras in Anaheim. Drysdale saw both the highs and lows in Anaheim from Zegras and now believes this is the best he\u2019s ever seen him play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s just having fun,\u201d said Drysdale. \u201cI think that\u2019s kind of just the bottom line. He\u2019s enjoying himself. I think he\u2019s found himself at home here. The group is amazing. He\u2019s been a great fit for the group, and when he\u2019s having fun, being creative, he\u2019s going to produce, he\u2019s going to play well and make stuff happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A change of scenery seems to have paid off for Trevor Zegras. Drafted ninth overall by the Anaheim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[712,49,48,448,76913,82,143081],"class_list":["post-323017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-philadelphia-flyers-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-4","tag-sports","tag-trevor-zegras-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8481533"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}