Flyers fan here. Supposedly a trade around Farabee and Zegras fell through at some point
Source:
Flyers GM Danny Briere made an early trade two weeks ago, sending Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to Calgary. The deadline is March 7th. Will he do more?
onpattison.com
Disgusting! Verbeek should be fired if he accepted that trade.
Farabee was almost a Duck
Briere and Anaheim G.M. Pat Verbeek seem to talk a lot. They obviously pulled off the surprise trade 13 months ago that sent Cutter Gauthier to Anaheim in exchange for Jaime Drysdale and a 2025 second round pick. But, they've had conversation off and on about other trade possibilities, and one name that has come up more than on one occasion is Anaheim center Trevor Zegras.
Zegras, who turns 24 in March, burst onto the scene a few years back, making the NHL All-rookie team as a 20-year-old, finishing as the runner up for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2021-22 with 23 goals and 61 points in 75 games.
The Ducks 2019 first round pick (9th overall), followed up that rookie season, with another strong offensive year with another 23 goals and 65 points, but some warts in his two-way game started to show as that season wore on. It's been a steady decline for Zegras ever since.
In 2023-24, he only played 31 games, missing time with a broken ankle and other lower-body ailments. He only had six goals and 15 points in those 31 games. Then, this season, he also missed time because of injury, sitting out the better part of two months with a knee injury. He's back now, but in 32 games played so far, he has identical production to a season ago - six goals, nine assists, 15 points.
Flyers sources told
On Pattison that Briere first checked in on Zegras at last year's deadline, but Verbeek's asking price at the time was exorbitant. Briere followed up last summer just before the draft, but still found Verbeek's ask to be way too high.
But that didn't stop Briere from keeping tabs on Zegras' availability. The thought was that if Zegras continued to struggle in Anaheim, that the price could come down, and maybe, there'd be a match. With Zegras foundering, Briere checked back with Verbeek and finally, the conversation became something a little more intriguing.
The Ducks had some interest in Farabee. The Flyers, desperately in need of a center, would be willing to basically do a salary swap of two change-of-scenery guys - Farabee for Zegras. There probably would have been a little more involved in the deal involving some non-first round draft pick compensation, but the main framework would be Farabee for Zegras.
Ultimately, Anaheim said no. They weren't comfortable taking on the rest of Farabee's contract in exchange for Zegras. It's clear that Zegras has a higher offensive ceiling than Farabee - and plays a more desirable position - so the Ducks wanted more assurances in case Farabee didn't rediscover his scoring touch in Anaheim. They wanted the Flyers to possibly retain some of his salary.
