ANAHEIM \u2014 Trevor Zegras will stroll into Honda Center wearing a different shade of orange on Wednesday, and so far it\u2019s been one that has better suited him.<\/p>\n
He made reference to the brevity of the call to inform him he\u2019d been traded from the Ducks to the Philadelphia Flyers in his first meeting ever against the team that drafted him. He quickly answered and hung up an imaginary phone after one of his two goals in a win against the Ducks at Wells Fargo Center<\/a>, one he said afterward felt \u201c(expletive) amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n But in Wednesday\u2019s second meeting, and the first in an arena where he was \u201cbeloved,\u201d according to former Ducks teammate and current Flyers cohort Jamie Drysdale, Zegras is going to take his time to soak in all the fanfare.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was more of an emotional type of situation in the first (game),\u201d Zegras said. \u201cComing back to Honda Center and being back here is a little different, because obviously I lived here for so long, and the people in Anaheim were so good to me, the fans, and to be able to see them all loud and proud tomorrow will feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n Zegras ingratiated himself quickly in the City of Brotherly Love. Drysdale\u2019s presence as well as that of USNTDP and World Juniors teammate Cam York, a former Junior Duck, eased the transition. But he also found fast personal chemistry with leading scorer Travis Konecny and, more recently, speedy winger Owen Tippett.<\/p>\n \u201cTrevor has been a great addition to our forward group. He has fit right in with our guys. He knew some of our players before, so that really helped,\u201d Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said via text message. \u201cWe certainly hope that he will keep getting better and can be part of the long-term plans here. It\u2019s a nice bonus that we can use him at both center and wing as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Zegras, who has scored three lacrosse-style goals in his career and graced a video game cover but has never played a playoff game, has said he thought the move to Philly was an opportunity to reinvent his image and dispel some misconceptions. On Tuesday, he stopped just short of saying the trade was necessary to move forward in his career after two injury-plagued campaigns \u2013 he\u2019s one of just four Flyers not to have missed a single game this season \u2013 but he emphasized how content he was with every aspect of his current situation.<\/p>\n Though Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek was diplomatic in publicly discussing Zegras and Drysdale, even as their contract negotiations dragged well into training camp in 2023, it was evident that he didn\u2019t view them as core pieces in the way that his predecessor Bob Murray did. Zegras said that he and former coach Greg Cronin were on good terms, emphasizing their vibe \u201con a human level,\u201d and that he\u2019d met \u201conce or twice\u201d with new coach Joel Quenneville prior to the June trade for Ryan Poehling and a pair of Day 2 draft picks<\/a>.<\/p>\n