Player Discussion Trevor Zegras : Part III

[AngelDuck]

Lundestrom, Comtois, Terry, Kase, Rakell, Wild Bill. Sam Steel. Can’t say on the last 4 years just yet. About 1 per 2 years, that’s not that bad.

Not many teams CAN consistently hit on skilled forwards outside the top 10 because players outside the top 10 have somewhat to very low chances of being NHL players period. The Ducks have suffered from having top 10 or bottom 10 picks in the first round, easier to hit on an NHL player in the 10-20 range.

But yeah, he ain’t getting traded.

Whether you think the ducks are below average or not drafting forwards outside of the top 10 is not really my point though. Even if they’re “fine” at it, which is guess you can argue, they still have problems moving forward and need Zegras. since there’s a chance we never pick in the top 10 again with this group

I think we agree overall

My opinion on the Zegras slow scoring start in order of relevance.

1. Playing out of position
2. Focusing more on defense
3. Low shooting %
4. Missed some camp time

New coach too.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

My opinion on the Zegras slow scoring start in order of relevance.

1. Playing out of position
2. Focusing more on defense
3. Low shooting %
4. Missed some camp time

1. It is a significant change going to wing, he’s prob playing off the puck a lot more than he’s comfortable with
2. His defense has looked miles better this year, so kudos to him
3. Very unlucky, he’s created chances on powerplay and even strength…. Just unfortunate at this point.
4. Missing camp while trying to learn a newish posistion under a new coach with a new system/style is pretty significant.


People to quick to jump on him, also not shocking it’s the same people that wanted to comment on his defense all last year. I think there is a lack of chemistry between him and terry too…. And I think we really need to consider moving off the pairing. Something like

Henrique carlsson terry
Vatrano mctavish strome
Killorn zegras silf/mcginn
Johnston carrick leason


We do have a bit of an issue with too many forwards…. Jones and mcginn seem kinda like odd man out at this point, when drysdale returns I think we’ll see a trade off waive of someone

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

First of all, I want Zegras to succeed, not so much for his sake, but for the team’s benefit. I am hoping that we don’t have another season of goal drought.

Not scoring a single goal again net Pittsburg, with a backup goalie in the 3rd, conjures up nightmares of the past.

And it’s not just Zegras. When I see McTavish’s helmet getting ripped off, which should have been a game misconduct to Petterson, I’m thinking where’s everyone else?

My comment about Zegras off-season training is being hopeful that it is not a mindset. I see Brayden Point as an undersized center that has the mindset to do what he has to do to produce. Right now I don’t see it in Zegras. I don’t know how much hating to lose translates into actions to prevent it.

John

Your comments are mostly made up, or imaginary.

He’s played pretty well, no one scored a goal that game but you seemed to zero in on zegras. Zegras according to most sources is working hard on fixing his flaws…. And you don’t see any coaches/teammates saying he’s not putting in the effort, it’s the exact opposite.

He’s also stopped taking bad penalties this year. It’s a developmental year and he’s developing…. Patience

 

[Deuce22]

To cut to the chase, Zegras had almost 6 months to work on his game, get stronger, come into this year with much more than he left with last season.

If a player wants to be a franchise player with salary to match, he has to work during the off-season and make real improvements, not play better defense but can’t score. Show Mgmt he is serious. He didn’t. That is my biggest disappointment.

I see McTavish and think, now that’s someone who is taking his career seriously.

John

I don't get the leap from Zegras isn't scoring points to he didn't take the offseason seriously. Any evidence that the two things correlate? Or just guessing?

 

[KyleJRM]

The fact is the Ducks can’t draft skilled forwards outside of the top 10 in the draft really. They NEED Zegras to work out and honestly trading him is not really an option

Troy Terry was drafted outside the top 10.

I don't see why it's that dire. If anything, Zegras is extremely expendable.

He's not more important than Carlsson, McTavish, Terry, or Mintyukov. If Drysdale could ever stay health for a month he might shoot up that list too. And we have a lot of interesting young talent on the next level down.

I just don't see Zegras as all that specal. His defensive effort has gotten better but he's not actually good at it and probably never will be. He's an offense-only forward who needs to be protected with lots of OZ starts and PP time, and he's still only going to give you 0.75 PPG.

Do I think Zegras has a place on a good team? Absolutely, as a second-tier contributor. If he can accept being paid like that, I'll be glad to keep him around.

But someone's probably going to pay him like an EA Cover Superstar, and when that day comes, I'll wish him well and shake his hand before letting him to go that new team.

 

[AngelDuck]

Troy Terry was drafted outside the top 10.

I don't see why it's that dire. If anything, Zegras is extremely expendable.

He's not more important than Carlsson, McTavish, Terry, or Mintyukov. If Drysdale could ever stay health for a month he might shoot up that list too. And we have a lot of interesting young talent on the next level down.

I just don't see Zegras as all that specal. His defensive effort has gotten better but he's not actually good at it and probably never will be. He's an offense-only forward who needs to be protected with lots of OZ starts and PP time, and he's still only going to give you 0.75 PPG.

Do I think Zegras has a place on a good team? Absolutely, as a second-tier contributor. If he can accept being paid like that, I'll be glad to keep him around.

But someone's probably going to pay him like an EA Cover Superstar, and when that day comes, I'll wish him well and shake his hand before letting him to go that new team.

You had already given up on Troy Terry in 59776378 different threads on here when he was Zegras’ age

You using him as an example here is comedy gold

I think it’s very likely that his best years are still to come so capping him at 0.75 PPG player is pretty hysterical.

 

[KyleJRM]

You had already given up on Troy Terry in 59776378 different threads on here when he was Zegras’ age

You using him as an example here is comedy gold

I never gave up on Troy Terry. I said that it was highly unlikely he would turn out like he did, and it was. I don't regret it.

If Zegras turns out better than the path he's on now, then I'll change my opinion on him too.

 

[AngelDuck]

I never gave up on Troy Terry. I said that it was highly unlikely he would turn out like he did, and it was. I don't regret it.

If Zegras turns out better than the path he's on now, then I'll change my opinion on him too.

“The path he’s on now”. You have already capped him out as a .75 PPG player. That’s the problem. Players hit bumps like this in their early 20s and recover from it. Clayton Keller had a really rough stretch at Zegras’ age and is now a borderline star - I think that’s a reasonable comparable at this point. Sebastian Aho being a high end comparable if everything goes perfect from here on out

And you 100% HAD given up on Terry despite their being obvious signs that a high level of talent existed based on his track record at other levels(AHL included). I remember you saying things like “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to like about Terry”. And “his body has been the issue for years now”

 

[KyleJRM]

“The path he’s on now”. You have already capped him out as a .75 PPG player. That’s the problem. Players hit bumps like this in their early 20s and recover from it. Clayton Keller had a really rough stretch at Zegras’ age and is now a borderline star - I think that’s a reasonable comparable at this point

I didn't cap him out at anything. I described how he is now.

Clayton Keller isn't a bad value comp. If Z wants to let us buy some of his free-agent years for $7m/year, I'll take that deal.

“The path he’s on now”. You have already capped him out as a .75 PPG player. That’s the problem. Players hit bumps like this in their early 20s and recover from it. Clayton Keller had a really rough stretch at Zegras’ age and is now a borderline star - I think that’s a reasonable comparable at this point. Sebastian Aho being a high end comparable if everything goes perfect from here on out

And you 100% HAD given up on Terry despite their being obvious signs that a high level of talent existed based on his track record at other levels(AHL included). I remember you saying things like “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to like about Terry”. And “his body has been the issue for years now”

I also said that I wouldn't care if we lost Terry, because the odds of him becoming significantly better were slim. That's still not the same as "giving up." Saying "slim" odds isn't the same as saying "no chance." It was extremely unlikely that Terry would turn out the way he did, but he did, and that's cool. I don't regret saying it was extremely unlikely.

Although you're remembering a bit wrong. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to like" and questions about the body were Steel. With Terry, I said that there were flashes to dream on and even if I thought it was unlikely he would hit the ceiling, the ceiling was there in a way it wasn't for Steel.

 

[KyleJRM]

Speaking of Steel, he's still eating some healthy scratches, but he's getting 60 NHL games per year, which is a bit ahead of where i expected him to be at this point in his career.

 

[lwvs84]

Hopefully today is the slump buster. I'm taking my fiance to the game and Z has scored in every game she's gone to

Edit never mind looks like he's out

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Hopefully today is the slump buster. I'm taking my fiance to the game and Z has scored in every game she's gone to

Edit never mind looks like he's out

Plus side is you get to see Killorn-big Carl-Terry as a first line!

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I don't understand the rash impatience on Zegras. He's got a good track record for scoring in the NHL, but missing training camp affected his play. Look at Drysdale, he missed training camp and he's been out for a long while due to injury. Even Mac missed some of training camp and it took him a few games to start looking dominant.

​

Zegras​	NHL​	Career​	​	​	​	​	​
Season​	Year​	Games​	Goals​	Assists​	Points​	PPG​	Comment​
D+2​	2020-21​	24​	3​	10​	13​	0.54​	11th in team scoring​
D+3​	2021-22​	75​	23​	38​	61​	0.81​	2nd in team scoring​
D+4​	2022-23​	81​	23​	42​	65​	0.80​	Lead team in scoring​
D+5​	2023-24​	12​	1​	1​	2​	0.17​	missed training camp​

We know Z can score. He just needs time to adjust and he'll be right at it again.

As for working out over the summer, here he is with Prentiss Hall for the past two seasons:

Two summers ago


This past summer


Maybe we can stop making fallacies about Z not trying to improve, which includes working out.

 

[70sSanO]

“The path he’s on now”. You have already capped him out as a .75 PPG player. That’s the problem. Players hit bumps like this in their early 20s and recover from it. Clayton Keller had a really rough stretch at Zegras’ age and is now a borderline star - I think that’s a reasonable comparable at this point. Sebastian Aho being a high end comparable if everything goes perfect from here on out

And you 100% HAD given up on Terry despite their being obvious signs that a high level of talent existed based on his track record at other levels(AHL included). I remember you saying things like “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to like about Terry”. And “his body has been the issue for years now”

Keller is interesting. One our sons, big Ducks/Perry fan, has lived in AZ for over 10 years and is also a big Coyotes fan. He works for ASU.

He can talk volumes about the Yotes, but he credits the big jump to the coaching change from Tocchet to Tourigny. Tourgny has gotten Keller to play how everyone expected. There is a chance that Cronin and Zegras will not mesh.

John

 

[Quack Shot]

So let’s put Zegras first 12 games in perspective.

He missed training camp, he’s playing a new position, has a new coach with a new system, and has a lingering injury.

I think we can cut him some slack.

 

[Leonardo87]

So let’s put Zegras first 12 games in perspective.

He missed training camp, he’s playing a new position, has a new coach with a new system, and has a lingering injury.

I think we can cut him some slack.

Yeah he has been snake bitten to start the season and as of late looked a step behind. Now we know why. Really need him to get going.

 

[QuackAttack90]

So let’s put Zegras first 12 games in perspective.

He missed training camp, he’s playing a new position, has a new coach with a new system, and has a lingering injury.

I think we can cut him some slack.

This is the internet. This is no place for that type of rational thinking

 

[KyleJRM]

If anything, my opinion on him is slightly up this season.

I don't expect him to ever be a good defensive forward, but he's adapting to be less of a black hole faster than I expected. He's even tried to be physical occasionally.

His shots per game is right in line with his career averages, maybe even a slight improvement.

He has always been prone to long goal-scoring slumps. Last year, he had a stretch of one goal in 14 games while shooting 2.7%. When he broke that, he scored 7 in his next 8 games. He had another slump of one goal in 16 games towards the end of the season.

It's a little more unusual that he's not getting assists, but those can be even more flukey and streaky than goals.

 

[70sSanO]

My greatest fear in Zegras being day-to-day is that he will join Jamie Drysdale somewhere in the bowels of Honda Center where he is given a daily allotment of chalk and a blackboard and has to write...

I will not holdout
I will not holdout
I will not holdout...

This will continue until Pat Verbeek determines their daily purgatory has been fulfilled.

John

 

[Ducks DVM]

My greatest fear in Zegras being day-to-day is that he will join Jamie Drysdale somewhere in the bowels of Honda Center where he is given a daily allotment of chalk and a blackboard and has to write...

I will not holdout
I will not holdout
I will not holdout...

This will continue until Pat Verbeek determines their daily purgatory has been fulfilled.

John

 

[duckpuck]

So let’s put Zegras first 12 games in perspective.

He missed training camp, he’s playing a new position, has a new coach with a new system, and has a lingering injury.

I think we can cut him some slack.

You left out playing with a bunch of new players.

I posted this in another thread on the main board, but historically, players who hold out tend to have poor seasons and get hurt. Particularly poor starts. I was hoping that wouldn't be the case with Z, but it is.

 

[DuckDuckGetz]

This may be an unpopular opinion but I hope we give Z a shot next to McTavish.

I know we've tried it before but both of them seem like totally different players this season and I'd like to give it another shot.

 

[DavidBL]

This may be an unpopular opinion but I hope we give Z a shot next to McTavish.

I know we've tried it before but both of them seem like totally different players this season and I'd like to give it another shot.

I'd be okay with this actually. I'd prefer him on McTs wing if he's going to play wing.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

He needs to sit until healthy. He has always produced in the past no reason to think he won't get back to it again soon, I just think Missing as much camp as he did with a new system and staff was incredibly dumb and you can't be surprised a player who was late to camp suffers one of these LBI things

 

[Rasp]

Its a bit clickbait but there is some smoke.