Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras may be on the move out of Southern California before the start of the 2024-25 season and his preferred destination has been revealed.
In an article on The Athletic on Tuesday, Peter Baugh is reporting that Trevor Zegras has had the New York Rangers as his preferred destination for 'a long time'.
Baugh also mentioned that another Metropolitan Division team, the Philadelphia Flyers, had decent interest in acquiring Trevor Zegras, but the return Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek is seeking is very expensive.
"What we can say is that Zegras, who trains in the offseason at Prentiss Hockey Performance alongside Chris Kreider, has had the Rangers as his ideal destination for a long time. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has had some decent interest from at least one team — believed to be the Flyers — but is asking for a very expensive return for Zegras, who had an injury-plagued 2023-24 and finished with 15 points in 31 games." Baugh said.
Zegras has been linked with a move out of Anaheim for quite a while now with a number of teams reportedly interested in him according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, including the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks, among others.
Injuries limited Zegras to just 31 games during the 2023-24 season where he had 15 points (six goals, nine assists), 30 penalty minutes and was a minus-one. Despite dealing with injuries, Zegras still provided some great moments and returned in style in late-December, scoring a 'Michigan' goal during a game against the Seattle Kraken.
The 23-year-old grew up just over an hour north of The Big Apple in Bedford, New York and playing for the closest NHL team to his home would be a dream for any individual in the league. His salary of $5.75 million for the next couple of seasons is quite manageable for teams to add as well, including the New York Rangers who currently have $12.8 million in cap space and will likely open up more in the coming days if they're able to offload a contract or two.
With the NHL Entry Draft and free agency coming up in a matter of days, it's going to be interesting to see if trade talks surrounding Zegras begin to heat up. A player with his skill and age don't become available very often, so it's understandable that the price to acquire him is very high and that there's a ton of interest in him.
