The Philadelphia Flyers traded for Trevor Zegras in a deal with the Anaheim Ducks over the summer. The trade represented a fresh start for Zegras after some injury-riddled campaigns in Orange County. The former ninth-overall pick certainly seemed to have Tuesday's game against his former team circled on his calendar, as he put on a show against the Ducks.
Zegras scored twice in the first period to help Philadelphia take Anaheim down by the score of 5-2. He played with the confidence and swagger that made him an early face of Anaheim's rebuild not long ago. After the game, he made it clear how much this game meant to him, and how good it felt to stick it to his former team.
“‘F***ing amazing. F***ing amazing. Yeah, oh yeah,” Zegras told Flyers analyst and former player Scottie Upshall after the game, via team reporter Brandon J. Sommermann.
One part of the game that caught some attention was one of Zegras's goal celebrations. He appeared to mimic quickly hanging up a phone call after one of his goals. The Flyers forward confirmed the celebration was a reenactment of his phone call with Ducks management at the time of the trade.
“I don't know, but that's about how quick the phone call was before. I thought it'd be good,” he told Upshall on Tuesday night.
Zegras has been a leading player for Philadelphia throughout the season. In fact, the former ninth-overall pick leads the team with 41 points in 41 games this year. His 41 points this season are the most he's scored since 2022-23, when he scored 65 points with the Ducks.
The Flyers are charging toward a playoff spot this year. Zegras is a big reason why Philadelphia has seemingly turned a corner. If he continues this level of play, they could be a tough team to beat in the postseason.
