‘A Risk Worth Taking’: Flyers Trade for Zegras Shows Briere’s Willing to Swing

Less than a week ago, Flyers GM Danny Briere held his pre-draft media availability. It was the usual buttoned-up approach as the offseason begins, especially for Briere, who operates with his cards close to the vest.

Talks of the trade the Flyers made on Monday may have really escalated that morning, but this was a trade several months in the making. The Flyers interest in Trevor Zegras goes way back. Briere even acknowledged that at times, the Flyers were not in the right position to do a deal and at others the Anaheim Ducks were not looking to move him.

But things had turned the corner on Monday and the deal finally made it across the finish line. Zegras was a Flyer. Ryan Poehling and two draft picks were going to Anaheim. 

Zegras, 24, has delivered many highlight-reel moments over his career. After being selected ninth overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, Zegras debuted as a 19-year-old in the 2020-21 season, scoring three goals and 13 points. He followed that up with back-to-back 23-goal seasons and broke 60 points in both 2021-22 and 2022-23. 

But the last two seasons have been a combination of injury woes and challenges on the ice. Zegras’ first three seasons in the NHL were with Dallas Eakins as head coach in Anaheim. The last two were with Greg Cronin, who was just fired following the 2024-25 season. Zegras only played in 88 games in the last two seasons, scoring 18 goals and 47 points combined.

Prior to the 2023-24 season, Zegras held out during training camp and most of the preseason before signing a three-year, $17.25 million contract. During that season, he only played 31 games, missing time with a groin injury and a broken ankle. In 2024-25, he suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee and surgery kept him out for 23 games. Zegras also missed three games serving a suspension for a hit to the head.

“Everything was cleared, nothing to worry about,” Briere said of the injuries. “Nothing that could be an issue moving forward with him. Yeah, like I said, there's no issue on that part.”

Early in his career, Zegras was a center, a position of desperate need for the Flyers. Over the last couple of seasons, Zegras was used more as a winger. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek stated in his media availability on Monday that Zegras had expressed wanting to return to center. Briere hopes that will be the case, but new head coach Rick Tocchet will have the final say on that.

“That will be more a question for Rick Tocchet. He's going to decide where he fits best and what we have,” Briere said. “We hope he can help in the center position because that's obviously an area that we could improve. But at the same time if Rick decides that he's better suited on the wing, and there's other guys that play better in the middle, he's going to decide but we certainly hope that he can help fill the void in the middle.”

Whether through injury, his decline in numbers, or both, Briere found an opportunity to add some potential high-end talent to the Flyers roster. All you have to do is watch the highlights Zegras has delivered in the past to see what could possibly be from an offensive standpoint. While the struggles and injuries may present a risk, Briere noted that talent of this caliber is rarely available without these circumstances present.

“Well, that's why he was available in the first place. Top-six talent is very rarely available around the NHL. We felt that was a risk worth taking for us,” Briere said. “We've seen him in the past. He had those really good seasons at 20 and 21 years old. Yes, injuries were a factor the last couple of years. Other than that, it's tough for us to tell on the outside. We're not in the room, we're not with the coaching staff or the other players. Sometimes it could be chemistry as well. I'm not too sure. We feel good about it because of what he's shown in the past and we hope he can find that magic again and take it to another level.”

And that’s what makes this deal so appealing. The Flyers need centers. The Flyers need high-end talent. It’s been discussed for years, through several offseasons that felt like they just didn’t live up to the potential or address the biggest needs the team should fill. Briere is taking a swing on Zegras to be part of that solution.

“We're still far away. This hopefully is just one piece of the puzzle,” Briere said. “We'd like to keep getting better. If there's a chance to keep improving while fitting into the plan of growing with our young guys and giving them the chance to grow together. We're going to seriously consider it. We're never stopping there, if there's a chance to improve the team.”

And that’s the other part of the equation that should have fans excited. Briere made clear that the three first-round picks the Flyers have in the NHL Draft were “no-gos from the start.” It doesn’t sound like the Flyers are done looking for solutions at center, whether in the draft or trades or free agency. They also are reportedly looking to significantly upgrade their goaltending.

The Flyers have $15.142 million in cap space still remaining – with RFAs Cam York and Jakob Pelletier left to sign. They still have all three first-round picks and three second-round picks in this weekend’s draft. This could only be the beginning of a busy couple of weeks, especially if Briere is ready to do the work and take swings like Monday’s trade.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.