One Year Later: The Trevor Zegras Trade

By Thomas Harrington

One year ago today, the Anaheim Ducks traded forward Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second round draft pick, and a 2026 fourth round draft pick. With their second round pick, the Ducks chose center Eric Nilson. It remains to be seen who Anaheim chooses in the fourth round, 117th overall, in a few days at the 2026 NHL Draft.

The Ducks had originally drafted Zegras in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, ninth overall. He was nominated for the Calder Trophy in his first full NHL season, when he scored 23 goals and 61 points in 75 games. He followed that up with 23 goals and 65 points in 81 games. Unfortunately, Zegras missed significant time the following season, playing in only 31 games and scoring six goals and 15 points. The next season was only marginally better, as Zegras scored 12 goals and 32 points in 57 games. After an electric start to his NHL career, it felt like a Zegras trade was imminent for Anaheim that summer.

The Flyers had originally signed Poehling to a one-year deal in July 2023. After a successful start to his Flyers career, he was signed to a two-year extension in January. In his first season with Philadelphia, Poehling scored 11 goals and 28 points in 77 games. He followed that up with 12 goals and 31 points in 68 games.

Zegras is one of the most exciting players the Ducks have ever drafted. However, defensively, he isn’t a great player. Anaheim decided they wanted a player who brought more than just offense to the game. The Flyers were looking to upgrade their offense after scoring only 232 times in the 2024-2025 season. The two teams had made a major trade pretty recently, when Jamie Drysdale went to the Flyers and Cutter Gauthier went to the Ducks, so seeing them make another deal between them so soon after wasn’t shocking.

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Poehling was exactly what the Ducks needed, a fourth line center who could put up some points. He scored 11 goals and 36 points in 75 games, setting a career high in points, and was just one off his career high in goals. In the playoffs, he scored four goals and five points, including an overtime gamewinning goal in the first round against Edmonton. He was signed to a four-year extension by the Ducks in March.

Zegras resurrected his career in Philadelphia, scoring 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games. The Flyers also made the playoffs, and Zegras scored two goals and six points in 10 games, helping them advance to the second round where Philadelphia was swept by Carolina.

Nilson had spent his career playing in Europe, but came to North America this season, playing at Michigan State University in the NCAA. In 35 games, he scored three goals and 11 points. He also played for Team Sweden at the World Juniors, scoring a goal and three points in seven games. While he doesn’t have an incredibly high offensive ceiling, he could make it to the NHL someday as a second or third line center.

Final Thoughts

Despite how well Poehling has fit in with the Ducks, this deal was a loss for the Ducks. Zegras is one of the most creative offensive players in the NHL. While he’s not a perfect center, trading that kind of talent for a fourth line center and two draft picks, when neither is a first rounder, means this wasn’t a great deal for the Ducks.

The saving grace is how well Poehling has fit in with Anaheim and the fact that it opened up a roster spot for rookie Beckett Sennecke, but that’s simply not enough. Zegras scored almost 70 points this season, while Poeling had more than 30 points fewer. Sennecke had a great rookie season, but putting up 60 points was a pleasant surprise and not the expectation for him. Given how things had gone with Zegras, I was okay with the idea of him being traded, but only if Anaheim was able to get a solid return for him. A good prospect and/or a first round pick should have been the start of a deal.

This trade isn’t a disaster for the Ducks, but it’s not a good one, while the Flyers can be very happy. They traded a fourth line center and got back their second leading scorer on the season. Zegras also led Philadelphia in postseason scoring. If Nilson or whoever the Ducks choose in the fourth round become NHL stars, then the scales could tip in favor of Anaheim, but for now, this deal was a big win for the Flyers and a loss for the Ducks.

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June 13th, 2026