The Flyers traded 26-year-old center Ryan Poehling to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday in exchange for 24-year-old center/winger Trevor Zegras. The Flyers also included two Draft picks: a second-round pick (45th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round selection in 2026.
Zegras is one of the NHL’s most skilled and flashiest players. However, he’s coming off back-to-back down seasons marred by injury and reduced production. He is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next summer. Zegras will enter the 2024-25 season on the final year of a three-season, $5.75 million average annual value (AAV) bridge deal signed with Anaheim in 2023. In 2024-25, Zegras posted 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 57 game
]Zegras had a seesaw relationship with now-former Ducks head coach Greg Cronin. The hard-nosed coach got on the player frequently for defensive awareness issues and excessive risk-taking. Subsequently, they ended up in a better place and tried to find a middle ground.
This past season, Zegras underwent surgery to repair a torn knee meniscus sustained on December 4. He missed 24 games. Meanwhile, the Ducks went 8-13-3.
Poehling has been a fourth-line forward for most of his NHL career despite being a first-round pick by Montreal in 2017. However, he came on like gangbusters in the latter part of 2024-25 after being moved up in the lineup. He found success centering Jakob Pelletier and Owen Tippett on a speedy line with two big-framed (Poehling and Tippett) forwards. Poehling has one season remaining on his current contract ($1.9 million AAV) and is an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Even with trading the 45th overall pick, the Flyers still have six picks within the top 48 of the 2025 Draft.
I don’t love Zegras as a player but at that price I’ll take him.
Good acquisition
like the swing, replacing the bottom Center is much easier, plus the Flyers internally already have candidates. Funny Hockey Buzz, all comments on Flyers thread are from other teams. They intentionally blew that thing up.
There is almost no one there it’s dead.
Like this trade. Even if he has one of his “down” years, we did not give up much for him. If the deal hits and he plays well with a talented forward, then we struck gold.
I still want a center at #6.
I have been banned 3 times now on Hockeybuzz. The first time was for saying Torts deserved to be fired, the second time was for saying I hate the Tocchet hiring, and the third time, a poster called me a woman, and I said I wasn’t, but Ek’s spelling and grammer is horrendous, and that’s how I missed the period. None should have been bannings, and I am done wasting my time there. It’s almost as if he blames Flyers fans for Bill leaving.
Love this trade for Zegras…good job Danny.
Welcome to HHS
Thanks Mike
Not sure what’s going on here a hhs. I keep losing my comments. I’ve been trying to comment on Trevor Nuefield’s blog, it says log in to comment, I log in, go back to comment and it says I’m logged out. Can someone explain what’s happening.