Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Over the last two years and after two tense installments at Xfinity Mobile Arena, have the Flyers and Ducks built a real rivalry?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came in this morning; a lot of us were talking about it in the room, just remembering last year\u2019s game, how intense that was,\u201d the Flyers\u2019 Denver Barkey said. \u201cThere\u2019s a little bit more to it this year again, I think, and we\u2019re all looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Flyers and Ducks have stumbled into one of the NHL\u2019s most improbable rivalries, built across conferences and coasts. Three years ago, former No. 5 overall pick Cutter Gauthier spurned the Flyers and was traded to Anaheim for Jamie Drysdale<\/a> and a second-round pick. <\/p>\n Then, the Flyers acquired Trevor Zegras<\/a> from the Ducks the following offseason, and he put on his own revenge game, with a \u201chang up the phone\u201d goal celebration.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I\u2019ve been a part of them, they\u2019ve always been fun,\u201d Zegras said. \u201cI guess being on both sides makes it a little more interesting for me, but it\u2019s kind of, for me, getting to the point where it\u2019s just another match, and it\u2019s behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest wrinkle in the rivalry is this summer\u2019s offer sheet on the Ducks\u2019 young star center Leo Carlsson. After Carlsson signed the five-year, then-record $90 million offer sheet with the Flyers, it felt like he might suit up in orange and black. <\/p>\n But Anaheim ultimately matched the offer sheet, keeping Carlsson on the West Coast. He said directly after<\/a> that he signed because he earned a deal that no one could turn down, but \u201creally wanted them to match. I want to be an Anaheim Duck.\u201d <\/p>\n