Rumor: The All Encompassing Trevor Zegras Thread

[Danarqhy]

Zegras scored 60 points twice but some of those points were garbage time stats acquired cheaply by playing non-existent defense. He has talent but you don't win in the playoffs with soft-as-butter unidimensional forwards like Trevor Zegras taking a huge chunk of the cap space. On top of that he's been putrid this season.

The capspace issue is the big problem because once you give up significant assets for him, you are going to have to pay him like a proper top 6 forward and make him a key part of your future (if he even wants to tie himself down long-term to a Canadian team remains to be seen). Habs will be making a huge mistake trying to speed up their rebuild by giving up a stockpile of good and cost-controlled assets for a guy who's all flash but the substance is unclear. I'm pretty surprised he has this many people on his side on this board tbh but I'm guessing many just think this will speed up a rebuild (Which might actually just prolong it).

 

[Adam Michaels]

Zegras had two 60 points + so far in his 4 years career. How many Habs players have that besides Suzuki ?

Yup. And in his rookie season, he had 13 pts in 24 games. He was on pace for 44 pts.

So in his ELC, he had two 60+ point seasons and one where he was on pace for 40+.

This year, his 4th season, is the only year where he's not produced much, and it's been an injury plagued season.

 

[HabsForHire]

Saying you are willing to trade a late first and Mesar for a star player doesn’t convince me they really want the player , its just a no-brainer.
If you “want” the player than you would choose Habs first rounder because thats what it would take.

I'd move our pick for him as long as it's not top 5. Absolutely no guarantee the player we draft is better than Zegras

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Zegras had two 60 points + so far in his 4 years career. How many Habs players have that besides Suzuki ?

Yup and he is currently 2 years younger at only 22.

Unless it's a top 3-5 pick, I'll gladly trade for Zegras. Even better would be the Jets pick +other picks, ++ players and prospects and us keep our pick

 

[Adam Michaels]

Zegras scored 60 points twice but some of those points were garbage time stats acquired cheaply by playing non-existent defense. He has talent but you don't win in the playoffs with soft-as-butter unidimensional forwards like Trevor Zegras taking a huge chunk of the cap space. On top of that he's been putrid this season.

The capspace issue is the big problem because once you give up significant assets for him, you are going to have to pay him like a proper top 6 forward and make him a key part of your future (if he even wants to tie himself down long-term to a Canadian team remains to be seen). Habs will be making a huge mistake trying to speed up their rebuild by giving up a stockpile of good and cost-controlled assets for a guy who's all flash but the substance is unclear. I'm pretty surprised he has this many people on his side on this board tbh but I'm guessing many just think this will speed up a rebuild (Which might actually just prolong it).

All valid points. The only part I disagree with is the bolded part.

Rebuilds don't only have to be through the draft. As was the case with the Dach and Newhook acquisitions, trading for young players in their early 20s who can grow with your core is part of the rebuild.

I'm not giving up Guhle or Reinbacher or Hutson, Slaf, Nick, Cole, Newhook & Dach are off the table for me. So in the end, we might not be ideal trading partners.

 

[Justin11]

All valid points. The only part I disagree with is the bolded part.

Rebuilds don't only have to be through the draft. As was the case with the Dach and Newhook acquisitions, trading for young players in their early 20s who can grow with your core is part of the rebuild.

I'm not giving up Guhle or Reinbacher or Hutson, Slaf, Nick, Cole, Newhook & Dach are off the table for me. So in the end, we might not be ideal trading partners.

Agreed. I also I don't think Zegras will be dealt to the Habs if we have to give up any of the assets you outlined.
For the right price, I would be happy if he was acquired.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

All valid points. The only part I disagree with is the bolded part.

Rebuilds don't only have to be through the draft. As was the case with the Dach and Newhook acquisitions, trading for young players in their early 20s who can grow with your core is part of the rebuild.

I'm not giving up Guhle or Reinbacher or Hutson, Slaf, Nick, Cole, Newhook & Dach are off the table for me. So in the end, we might not be ideal trading partners.

Yep. They’ll want a premium. Forget that.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Yep. They’ll want a premium. Forget that.

As they should. What do people expect? It's why 'For the right price' is always such a useless sentence. I mean, come on, if Newhook is off the table, what are we talking about here?

This has turned into a classic 'Give me your prime asset for my crap'. If Zegras had zero question marks, he wouldn't be on the market, period. He's 22. Very little is without risk in sports.

 

[Sorinth]

Saying you are willing to trade a late first and Mesar for a star player doesn’t convince me they really want the player , its just a no-brainer.
If you “want” the player than you would choose Habs first rounder because thats what it would take

Is that what it took for LA to get PLD or VGK to get Eichel or STL to get O'Reilly, or SJ to get Thornton, etc...

Outside of trading an unprotected 1st that that ends up being a top pick it's pretty rare for a top-10 picks to be traded, and it would be a huge overpayment to do so for Zegras since if you are interested in Zegras you might as well just keep your pick and draft Eiserman. The most likely trade is for another young star having problems with his team, but failing that then a 1st round pick, a prospect that either was or in a re-draft would be a 1st round pick, and a young middling NHLer is probably what they should expect. Though that option wasn't really on the list.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

As they should. What do people expect? It's why 'For the right price' is always such a useless sentence. I mean, come on, if Newhook is off the table, what are we talking about here?

This has turned into a classic 'Give me your prime asset for my crap'. If Zegras had zero question marks, he wouldn't be on the market, period. He's 22. Very little is without risk in sports.

I’m not saying they shouldn’t ask a premium. Of course they should.

I just don’t want to pay it. Let someone else pay for him.

 

[durojean]

Mesar doesn't have a future here so i would easily give him up

Why ? Could we at least let him develop before making a judgment. Isn't he 19 years old.

 

[_vivelequebec_]

Why ? Could we at least let him develop before making a judgment. Isn't he 19 years old.

He's actually 20... still has a couple years left to show what he can do but so far it has been more cold than hot.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I'm not too concerned about the willingness for Zegras to start playing defence if he were traded here. The MSL and Caufield connections, the general motivation that comes from a team giving up on you, and the team culture of the young guys who are focused and work hard on becoming better, on top of him dropping down a rung or two on the hierarchy of the teams best players should make buying in pretty much a given at least to start with.

But for it to be worth it to trade for him it has to be more then an initial change then he reverts back to his offensive only focus. For it to really sink in and become belief he'd probably need to see some immediate team/personal success and that's hard to predict. If he starts playing D but he's struggling to put up points and the team is still bottom-10 then he probably stops believing that a2 commitment to playing proper D is the right way for him to play.

Speaking of MSL and Cole, Caufield's defensive game has improved. He's getting his stick in the right spots and creates turnovers. He wasn't doing that last year. So if Cole can be taught to improve on the opposite side of the puck, what makes anyone think Zegras can't? Especially in the same environment that helped Caufield get better on that aspect of the game.

It's not like Zegras is 28 years old, he's 22 (he'll be 23 end of March). Kid's still got room to grow. He's not a finished product.

 

[Miller Time]

As they should. What do people expect? It's why 'For the right price' is always such a useless sentence. I mean, come on, if Newhook is off the table, what are we talking about here?

This has turned into a classic 'Give me your prime asset for my crap'. If Zegras had zero question marks, he wouldn't be on the market, period. He's 22. Very little is without risk in sports.

Agreed.

Though the point of adding a Zegras is to improve our fwd group, so sending Newhook back as part of that deal would reduce the net upgrade Zegras may/likely represents.

A late 1st + 2nd (cost to acquire Newhook) + another piece of value (Strubble or Xhekaj? another later 1st or high 2nd?) is imo reasonable "quantity" for a "quality" piece like Zegras.

If they want more of a quality for quality deal, we aren't good trading partners.

Speaking of MSL and Cole, Caufield's defensive game has improved. He's getting his stick in the right spots and creates turnovers. He wasn't doing that last year. So if Cole can be taught to improve on the opposite side of the puck, what makes anyone think Zegras can't? Especially in the same environment that helped Caufield get better on that aspect of the game.

It's not like Zegras is 28 years old, he's 22 (he'll be 23 end of March). Kid's still got room to grow. He's not a finished product.

And his draft profiling & coach feedback prior to landing in Anaheim suggested a highly competitive athlete with good work ethic and team first attitude...

We saw, with PK, how certain team environments can create friction & storylines that are less a reflection of the individual and more a reflection of the crappy environment

 

[26Mats]

Speaking of MSL and Cole, Caufield's defensive game has improved. He's getting his stick in the right spots and creates turnovers. He wasn't doing that last year. So if Cole can be taught to improve on the opposite side of the puck, what makes anyone think Zegras can't? Especially in the same environment that helped Caufield get better on that aspect of the game.

It's not like Zegras is 28 years old, he's 22 (he'll be 23 end of March). Kid's still got room to grow. He's not a finished product.

I don't know a ton about Zegras, and I don't know what it would cost to get him. But at the right price, I'd be pretty psyched about having the following as a top 6 next year, and then knowing our 1st from this year may be a top 6 forward joining this top 6 and potentially bumping Newhook to the 3rd line:

Caufield - Suzuki - Slaf
Zegras - Dach - Newhook/[2024 1st/Demidov?]

 

[Habs]

Draft Iginla, target anyone but Zegras save some money for more trades

 

[CoopersFalls]

Zegras + MSL would be a dynamite combo. But I think we can forget about it. There's no room with Suzuki/Dach/Newhook and I can't see HuGo going after another C when they've acquired two. And not one legitimate source has linked Montreal to Zegras.

 

[vokiel]

Zegras + MSL would be a dynamite combo. But I think we can forget about it. There's no room with Suzuki/Dach/Newhook and I can't see HuGo going after another C when they've acquired two. And not one legitimate source has linked Montreal to Zegras.

You make room, Dach & Newhook aren't critical pieces on this team. I don't think they'll ever be. Think Eller & Desharnais, and that's a fair comparison.

Besides, Dach plays better on the wing with Suzuki...

 

[JianYang]

Would be a puzzling target if hugo are actually considering this.

 

[Miller Time]

You make room, Dach & Newhook aren't critical pieces on this team. I don't think they'll ever be. Think Eller & Desharnais, and that's a fair comparison.

Besides, Dach plays better on the wing with Suzuki...

I hadn't even thought of it, but perhaps Z is a C longterm...

CC Zegras Slaf
Dach Suzuki Newhook

vs

Slaf Suzuki Newhook
CC Dach Zegras


Both options look pretty good to me

 

[vokiel]

I hadn't even thought of it, but perhaps Z is a C longterm...

CC Zegras Slaf
Dach Suzuki Newhook

vs

Slaf Suzuki Newhook
CC Dach Zegras


Both options look pretty good to me

Sure, I feel if we get 3 tweeners (Dach, Newhook, Zegras) who can all play center, we can adjust who plays wing based on performance.

 

[The Great Weal]

If we aren't in a position to draft Celebrini/Lindstrom/Demidov, are the other forwards in that area projected to be much better than Zegras if at all? I'm still not totally sold on Zegras but I can't deny the talent. The Kane/Kucherov comparisons are ridiculous, you're hoping Zegras can work on his flaws like how William Nylander did.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

You make room, Dach & Newhook aren't critical pieces on this team. I don't think they'll ever be. Think Eller & Desharnais, and that's a fair comparison.

Besides, Dach plays better on the wing with Suzuki...

Dach and Newhook are important pieces to the rebuilt team (assuming Dach can stay healthy). Another long term injury and they should plan the rebuild without him. Ridiculous comaparison. Eller and Deharnais were garbage compared to Dach/Newhook.

 

[Draft]

If we aren't in a position to draft Celebrini/Lindstrom/Demidov, are the other forwards in that area projected to be much better than Zegras if at all? I'm still not totally sold on Zegras but I can't deny the talent. The Kane/Kucherov comparisons are ridiculous, you're hoping Zegras can work on his flaws like how William Nylander did.

Catton is pretty comparable in terms of both upside and playing style, Iginla and Helenius play very different hockey and have the skills to produce 60pts in a top-6 role in the NHL… so it might depend on what role/style you’re looking to fill and whether you think Zegras has more upside than what he is now.

 

[The Great Weal]

Catton is pretty comparable in terms of both upside and playing style, Iginla and Helenius play very different hockey and have the skills to produce 60pts in a top-6 role in the NHL… so it might depend on what role/style you’re looking to fill and whether you think Zegras has more upside than what he is now.

I don't really see the point in gambling on a prospect that could produce 60 points as opposed to trading the pick for a soon to be 23 year old who already has 2 60+ point seasons with little to no help. As you mentioned, some of the prospects may bring that same production as Zegras while also bringing other factors that Zegras lacks, but they also aren't guaranteed to score 60 points a season like Zegras did twice already. I'm not 100% on the get Zegras at all costs boat because it's hard to overlook all his flaws, but to say that you'd prefer a forward with 2nd line upside over the guaranteed 2nd liner doesn't make much sense.