In many sports, trades that don’t occur can be just as captivating—if not more so—than those that do. A recent example of this involves the Montreal Canadiens, who were reportedly close to acquiring Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks during the 2024 NHL Draft, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his column 32 Thoughts.
Friedman writes in his column that he’s never received clarity on why the deal didn’t take place, but he believes it had to with Ivan Demidov falling to the Canadiens as the fifth overall pick. Friedman asserted that Montreal wasn’t offering their fifth overall pick for Zegras, but he filled their immediate need for a younger top-six forward.
Although it’s hard to say with certainty, it’s easy to think Zegras would have fit in nicely with Martin St. Louis’s system in Montreal. St. Louis has been regarded as an offense-first coach and is credited for allowing sniper Cole Caufield to blossom when he took over behind the bench in 2021-22.
Zegras isn’t as highly praised as Caufield for putting pucks in the net, but he has been known as a capable point-producer when healthy. He’s scored 67 goals and 185 points in 265 games with Anaheim, including back-to-back 60-point campaigns from 2021 to 2023.
Unfortunately, his ability to stay healthy has been an issue for the past few years. Since the 2023-24 campaign began, Zegras has appeared in 85 games for the Ducks, equating to 52.79% of potential contests. Furthermore, his defensive shortcomings haven’t meshed well with Greg Cronin’s system, leading to a flurry of trade rumors during that stretch.
Still, it could be a trade that the Canadiens revisit this off-season. It is widely recognized that Zegras, Caufield, and Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils share a close friendship that dates back to their time with the U.S. National Team Development Program. It would be an interesting storyline to see at least two of them reunited on the same team.
Depending on how their postseason run turns out, Zegras would be an interesting candidate to usurp Alex Newhook as the team’s second-line center. That would give Montreal a bona fide top-six, taking some pressure off their first line, who has carried them on their shoulders this season.
There’s no truth to the rumor that Elliotte found his notes on that while looking for the restaurant receipt for his parking validation.
The prise?
You would probably see Zegras’ full potential if he played with Caufield, wouldn’t be a bad move for the Canadiens. The Ducks just wouldn’t be able to command the return he was worth a couple of seasons ago.
The Ducks play so much better when he’s in the lineup, hard to see him getting moved unless the return is unreal.
Please keep Zegras in Anaheim. He is quickly becoming a playmaker. He has amazing vision on the ice and makes quick quality passes like no other on the team. The team needs to be better at anticipating these passes and they will pay off.
His offensive forechecking has much improved and he’s isn’t whining to the refs any longer.
As a season ticket holder I think he is an underrated asset and hope he gets the chance to continue to grow his game along with the other young players that are similarly improving.
I honestly think this team makes the playoffs next season. Some real bright spots this year.