The Anaheim Ducks traded forward Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers today, in exchange for forward Ryan Poehling, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, and a fourth-round pick in 2026.
Zegras was originally selected ninth overall by the Ducks in the 2019 NHL Draft. Upon becoming a full-time NHLer in the 2021-22 season, Zegras made an immediate impact, and went on to post back-to-back seasons of 20-goals and 60-plus points. However, Zegras struggled to replicate those numbers in the following two years under head coach Greg Cronin, and also missed quite a bit of time with injuries. He had one more year remaining on his contract, at a $5.75M cap hit.
Poehling closed strong but it didn’t seem to mean much
Coming back the other way, Poehling is 26 years old and has spent the last two seasons with the Flyers. In his time in Philadelphia, Poehling has managed 23 goals and 59 points in 145 games, representing an 82-game pace of 33 points. Poehling has one more year remaining on his deal at a $1.9M cap hit, and can become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. Following the trade that sent Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to Calgary, Poehling saw an expanded role with Philadelphia. He took advantage of the opportunity and played the best hockey of his NHL career down the stretch.
Keep in mind that Poehling’s hot run in March and April came in largely meaningless games for Philadelphia. The Flyers were already out of the playoff race. John Tortorella was fired. It was clear changes were coming. Poehling’s big run was a lot like a baseball player on a non-contending team suddenly having a red hot September. It probably won’t mean much moving forward.
Zegras is a risk/reward player with high reward potential
Zegras is the real intruiging name here. His career could either way at this point.
On one hand, a Zegras trade isn’t necessarily unexpected. His name was mentioned quite a bit as a possible trade candidate over the past two seasons, and it seemed like he may not be a fit for the team general manager Pat Verbeek was trying to build. Still, the Ducks moving on from Zegras while his value was at an all-time low is a questionable move.
Despite Zegras’ production decline over the last two years, there were certainly reasons to think he could bounce back, given his age, and the fact that he could’ve benefitted from Joel Quenneville taking over behind the bench.
With Zegras still under contract for another year and only becoming a restricted free agent in 2026, there wasn’t a reason to rush a trade. If this was the best return the Ducks could’ve gotten, it seems like it would’ve been a better move to just hold onto him, and see how the 2025-26 season went. Even if the decision was still ultimately that he wouldn’t be a long-term fit, he could’ve greatly improved his trade value with a bounce-back year. Plus, it’s not like the Ducks needed additional cap space to take a big swing at some external upgrades this summer.
Poehling could be a good fit as a bottom-six center, and he’s young enough to factor into long-term plans. At the same time, there’s not even any guarantee he’ll stick around past next season, given that he’ll be a UFA next summer. Even if Poehling does remain in Anaheim though, his ceiling is still much lower than what Zegras can be at his best, and the draft picks that Anaheim got back weren’t substantial enough to make the swap worthwhile.
Ultimately, this is a low-risk, high-reward move for the Flyers, and one that could end up looking very bad for Anaheim. Zegras has the skills to be a legitimate top-six forward, and will likely get the opportunity to play down the middle in Philadelphia. There’s always a chance Zegras can’t find his game again and the Ducks made the right bet, but it seems like a more likely chance that the forward recovers his game with a change of scenery, and Anaheim has just given up on Zegras too early.
