Ducks’ Brock McGinn Out For Season Following ACL Surgery, Trevor Zegras Activated
Jan. 22: The Ducks announced later Tuesday that forward Trevor Zegras, who’d missed the last six weeks after undergoing right knee surgery, was activated from injured reserve. McGinn was already on IR and Anaheim had an open roster spot, so there was no corresponding transaction. Zegras suited up in last night’s game against the Panthers, recording a minus-two rating and four shots in 15:48 of ice time. His point totals remain at a sluggish four goals and six assists through 25 appearances.
Jan. 21: Ducks winger Brock McGinn underwent successful ACL reconstruction surgery in Los Angeles last week, the team announced. McGinn has a seven-to-nine-month recovery window as a result, ending his 2024-25 campaign and putting his availability for the start of the 2025-26 regular season in jeopardy.
McGinn, a pending unrestricted free agent, last played on Dec. 23 against the Golden Knights. The 30-year-old left that game in the first period after awkwardly twisting his knee while attempting to throw a check. It didn’t appear he’d miss too much time after skating off under his own power and initially being termed day-to-day by the club, but he’ll now finish the season hurt for the third time in his three seasons in Anaheim.
A second-round pick of the Hurricanes back in 2012, McGinn’s tenure in Southern California has been riddled by injuries. He first missed the final four regular season games of the 2022-23 campaign with an upper-body issue after being acquired from the Penguins at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. McGinn then missed over half of the 2023-24 season due to various injuries, including season-ending back surgery in March.
The 6’0″, 187-lb forward also missed seven games earlier this season with a lower-body issue. It’s unclear if the two are related or if a cumulative/re-aggravated knee issue led to such a major procedure being required.
Understandably, the once productive bottom six piece’s production has taken a hit in Anaheim due to his health and the team’s underwhelming roster. He’s managed only seven goals and 14 points in 65 appearances as a Duck since the 2023 trade, averaging 11:38 per game. His eight points in 26 games this year was on pace to be his best offensive showing since posting 22 points in 64 games with Pittsburgh in 2021-22, however.
While McGinn was already going to need to take a pay cut on his expiring $2.75MM AAV on the open market this summer, the injury likely locks him in as a candidate for a PTO in September. He likely won’t be cleared to resume contact until around then, so any interested teams will likely be wary of giving him a guaranteed contract earlier in the summer.
For the Ducks, McGinn’s continued absence leaves a permanent hole in the bottom six. That opening should mean more playing time for fringe youngsters like Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko in addition to veteran AHL call-ups like Jansen Harkins.
Trevor Zegras Sustained Torn Right Meniscus, Out Six Weeks Following Surgery
Ducks forward Trevor Zegras underwent surgery today to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’s estimated to return to the lineup in six weeks.
Zegras has already missed three games with the injury, which he sustained on Dec. 4 against the Golden Knights. The 23-year-old fell awkwardly following a faceoff in the defensive zone, collapsing on his leg while skating backward away from the dot. He did not return to the game and landed on injured reserve shortly thereafter.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported Tuesday that Zegras was seeking a second opinion on how to move forward from the then-undisclosed lower-body issue but evidently quickly decided on surgery. As such, he’ll likely miss a tad more than if he opted to try and rehabilitate the tear without a surgical procedure, but carries far less risk for re-injury. The team anticipates his knee will return to full strength when he’s back in the lineup shortly before the season pauses for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Eric Stephens of The Athletic relays.
Zegras will now miss significant time for the second season in a row with a lower-body issue, even if it’s not as long of an absence as initially feared. The 2019 ninth-overall pick missed 20 games in the early going last year with an undisclosed LBI before undergoing ankle surgery in January that cost him another 31 contests.
Those injuries largely offered an explanation for Zegras’ poor production last season, even when he was in the lineup. His 15 points in 31 games worked out to a 40-point pace over a full season, a stark downturn from the career-best 23 goals and 65 points he’d put up the year before. It’s been more of the same in 2024-25, managing just 10 points in 24 games before landing on the shelf. He’s averaging 16:57 per game as he’s bounced around the top nine, the lowest since his rookie season, and he’s also logged a career-worst 45.5 CF% at even strength.
Zegras is the second Ducks forward to undergo meniscus surgery in the first few months of the campaign, joining fellow top-nine piece Robby Fabbri on IR. While neither had been particularly productive in the early going – Fabbri had only two goals in 14 games before getting hurt – it’s still not an easy thing to swallow for a Ducks team scoring 2.37 goals per game, second-worst in the league.
A six-week return timeline puts Zegras back in the lineup on Jan. 23 against the Penguins, meaning he’s slated to likely miss another 20 games while recovering. The New York native is in the second season of a three-year, $17.25MM deal.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Trevor Zegras Seeking Second Opinion On Knee Injury
The Ducks will be without the services of forward Trevor Zegras for the foreseeable future after suffering a knee injury last week. After undergoing testing recently, it appears there is still some potential ambiguity regarding how much time he’ll miss. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that Zegras is seeking second opinions on what the best process will be to treat the injury, adding a more concrete timeline for how long he’ll be out for could come in the next day or two.
Last season was a rough one for Zegras. Contract talks dragged out, causing him to miss most of training camp and the preseason and he got off to a slow start that he never really recovered from. The 23-year-old missed considerable time with two significant injuries, limiting him to just 31 games where he underwhelmed with six goals and nine assists.
Nonetheless, after a summer of trade speculation, there was optimism that Zegras would be able to have a bounce-back year in 2024-25. Unfortunately for both him and the Ducks, that hasn’t really happened. Through 24 games this season, he has four goals and six assists in a little under 17 minutes a night of playing time.
With this report, it seems likely that Zegras won’t be adding to those numbers anytime soon. Often in these instances, the second opinion sought will be in the hopes of rehabbing an injury over undergoing a surgical procedure that would take considerably longer to recover from.
It’s worth noting that Zegras only has one year left on his bridge deal after this one, an agreement that carries a $5.75MM cap charge and qualifying offer along with arbitration eligibility. If his absence winds up being a long-term or season-ending one, there will be even more question marks around him heading into the 2025 offseason.
Ducks To Place Trevor Zegras On IR, Activate Brock McGinn
12/7: Zegras will undergo additional testing on Monday to determine how long he’ll miss, per Sporstnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Saturday Headlines. This could be a chance to learn more about what seemed to be a low-contact injury. Zegras underwent surgery in January to repair a fracture in his left ankle – the same ankle that he seemed to injure on Wednesday – though it’s unclear if the two injuries are related in any way.
12/6: Trevor Zegras‘ game-ending injury from a few nights ago will now extend over at least a week. The depth chart manager for The Hockey News and PuckPedia reported that the Anaheim Ducks would place Zegras on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and activate Brock McGinn (X Link).
Zegras quickly left partway through the second period of Wednesday’s contest and couldn’t put any weight on one of his legs. The Anaheim youngster finished the game with a -1 rating over 6:08 of ice time.
There have been no further updates regarding the severity of Zegras’ injury. Still, it was expected he wouldn’t play in the Ducks’ next game after Derek Lee of The Hockey News reported he wasn’t at practice this morning. Zegras will only miss two games should he miss the minimum seven days on the injured reserve. It may be a chance for him to reset on the season as the former 65-point scorer only has four goals and 10 points through 24 contests this year.
McGinn’s return to the active roster might not be Anaheim’s only positive injury development. Lee also shared that Robby Fabbri was back on the ice for the team’s practice this morning despite being on week three of a six-week recovery timeline. Lee’s fellow writer at The Hockey News, Patrick Present, additionally reported that Leo Carlsson was back on the ice in a non-contact jersey.
Anaheim has had a fair number of injury concerns through the first quarter of the 2024-25 NHL season but that appears to be ending soon. The Ducks are on a pathway toward a fully healthy lineup in the coming weeks combined with today’s acquisition of defenseman Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers.
Pacific Notes: Zegras, Terry, Kartye
The Anaheim Ducks are looking for a bounceback year from forward Trevor Zegras after an offseason of trade rumors surrounding the youngster. In a lengthy interview with James Murphy of RG.org Anaheim’s head coach, Greg Cronin publicly called out Zegras to add another level to his game.
“It’s like anything. You learn to ride a bike, and you’ve never ridden a bike before, and you get up, and you gotta keep riding it until you learn how to conquer it. The competition for him hasn’t been at the top of the value system – and I don’t mean he doesn’t compete at all – but does he compete in those areas where he’s not really comfortable competing? Like net-front battles or wall battles. He’s so skilled and talented that he can use his stick as a tool to create offense. So, we’re just asking him to be a little stiffer in those areas I identified“.
It may be a make-or-break year for Zegras as the young forward has struggled to respond positively to Cronin’s system. Zegras was limited by injuries in the 2023-24 season but only scored six goals and 15 points in 31 contests. The 2024-25 season will mark a transitionary period for the Ducks as the organization’s young prospects are fully expected to carry most of the responsibility. Zegras’ competition level in the upcoming season, or lack thereof, may lead Anaheim to pull the trigger on a trade.
Other Pacific notes:
- The Ducks will be without their first-line right-winger for the next few days as Derek Lee of The Hockey News reports Troy Terry is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. There shouldn’t be any concern about his availability for Anaheim’s regular season opener but he has not been on the ice for the past few days. Terry has been one of the most consistent forwards for the Ducks during their rebuild finishing first or second on the team in scoring over the last three years.
- There are no concerns for Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye who took a maintenance day this afternoon while dealing with a minor ailment (X Link). Kartye is developing into a strong depth scorer for the Kraken after winning the AHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2022-23. He finished his rookie campaign last year with 11 goals and 20 points in 77 games and is again expected to fill an important role in Seattle’s bottom-six.
Snapshots: Draisaitl, Zegras, Lee, Preseason Schedule
Leon Draisaitl‘s recent eligibility to sign a contract extension will be one of the bigger storylines late in the offseason, but it doesn’t appear there’s much of anything new to report since Stan Bowman took over the reins as general manager a couple of weeks ago, the executive said to NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.
“I had a good conversation (with Draisaitl’s agent Mike Liut) and we’re starting things off and the timing on that will be what it will be,” Bowman said. “I don’t have an update of where it’s going to be or the timing on that, but there is nothing negative to report, certainly.”
The initial contact between Bowman and Draisaitl’s camp reignites extension talks that began back in June with acting GM Jeff Jackson. Draisaitl’s European-based agent, Jiri Poner, told a German news outlet early last month that the ball was in Edmonton’s court to make a competitive offer. Things seem on a slow but positive track for the German superstar, who’s coming off a 41-goal, 106-point campaign in 2023-24.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has continued to draw trade interest from around the league this summer, and some speculated a return to his New York home could be in the cards. That doesn’t appear to be the case, though, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic said in a recent mailbag that he doesn’t “think the Rangers have ever been interested in Zegras, much as the local kid would love to be a Ranger.”
- There have been questions about Islanders captain Anders Lee‘s future with the club after a trying campaign that saw him limited to 20 goals and 37 points in 81 games, his lowest offensive output in a healthy season since 2015-16. But it appears the 34-year-old is here to stay for the final two years of his contract at a $7MM cap hit, GM Lou Lamoriello told Staple. “You’re talking about a consummate pro: high integrity, high character, team first,” Lamoriello said. “I’d say he was one of our better players in the playoffs. That should answer any questions you might have — how he responded to whatever role he was asked to play.”
- We’re just 46 days away from NHL hockey returning to laptops, radios and TVs. The league announced its complete composite preseason schedule today, which will kick off on Sep. 21 with a trio of games involving the Penguins and Sabres, the Blues and Stars, and the Wild and Jets. The Utah Hockey Club will take the ice for the first time in preseason action the following day, hosting the Blues for a neutral site game in Des Moines, Iowa. The preseason will run for two weeks, drawing to a close on Oct. 5.
Offseason Notes: Trade Board, Canadiens, Stars
TSN’s Chris Johnston published his annual offseason trade board in The Athletic in the middle of last week which sees a surprising name at the top of the list. At the top of the board, Johnston indicates that Mitch Marner is the top name on the trade block, even after cold water has been dumped on the likelihood of a Marner trade in recent weeks.
The rest of the names on Johnston’s list are unsurprising, as Boston Bruins’ Linus Ullmark, Carolina Hurricanes’ Martin Necas, Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers, and Ottawa Senators’ Jakob Chychrun round out the top five. Although the movement of any of these players is far from a guarantee, the NHL is expected to see a major shakeup in the summer months.
Nevertheless, the reality of a Marner trade is becoming less and less possible by the day, even after a dismal playoff performance and the President of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan, indicating that “everything is on the table” with Toronto’s roster this summer. Marner holds a full no-movement clause in his contract; allowing him to control his destiny with the Maple Leafs’ organization. Marner can ride out the last year of his contract on Toronto’s roster and become an unrestricted free agent next summer if he chooses to do so.
Other notes:
- Another day has passed, which means another team has been directly linked to Martin Necas. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported yesterday that the Montreal Canadiens are looking to add a scoring forward before next Friday’s NHL Draft, and have been looking into Necas and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks. There are several options available to General Manager Kent Hughes heading into the offseason, outside of just Necas and Zegras. Throughout his tenure as General Manager of the Canadiens organization, Hughes has dived much more into the trade market to improve his club rather than bring in free-agent talent.
- The Dallas Stars received solid news on the injury front as General Manager Jim Nill stated that no injured member of the club requires surgery in the offseason (Article Link). During the Stars’ postseason run in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, all of Jani Hakanpää, Chris Tanev, Tyler Seguin, and Roope Hintz dealt with varying levels of injuries throughout the playoffs but should have an entire offseason to train and recover. Surprisingly, Hakanpää will not require a procedure this summer as a lower-body injury kept him out of the entirety of the postseason as his season concluded on March 16th.
Ducks’ Trevor Zegras Offers Lucrative Trade Value
The 2024 summer is gearing up to be dramatic, with Vezina Trophy goaltenders and young top scorers headlining a very active trade market. The Anaheim Ducks may be positioning themselves as the team of the summer amidst it all, as star Ducks forward and former top-10 pick Trevor Zegras is once again facing trade rumors. Trade speculation is nothing new for the former USNTDP standout, who faced plenty of uncertainty entering the season – missing both training camp and preseason action while holding our for a new contract. He ultimately settled on a three-year, $17.2MM bridge contract – though Zegras would regardless end up missing most of the season with a broken ankle. He returned from an 11-week absence in March and ultimately totaled 31 games on the year, scoring just 15 points. But despite the down year, Zegras’ age, scoring upside, and cheap contract offer rare and incredibly lucrative value on the trade market.
It seems Zegras’ scoring upside has been shrouded behind a down year this season – but there’s no doubting his place among the best young scorers in the league. Zegras posted an impressive 23 goals and 61 points in 75 games as a rookie in 2021-22 – being named the runner-up to Moritz Seider‘s 2022 Calder Trophy. To boot, Zegras proved consistent in his sophomore year, managing 65 points and again scoring 23 goals in 81 games. Combined with his modest scoring this year, Zegras has totaled 55 goals and 154 points across his first 211 games. That equates to a 0.72 points-per-game pace, ranking Zegras among the most potent young scorers in the game, and situating him ahead of players like Seth Jarvis, Lucas Raymond, and Cole Caufield.
And unlike many young players, Zegras offers the flexibility play both center and winger at an NHL level, with Anaheim mentioning adapting Zegras to center as a key priority in his early development and time in the AHL. He was frequently used down the middle through his first two years in the NHL – though he posted a dismal 40.6 faceoff percentage. The arrival of Leo Carlsson this season was enough to bump Zegras back to the wing, where he struggled to work off the boards in a Ducks system built more on physicality than finesse. His struggles at the faceoff dot make him a hard sale as a full-time center, though his flexibility makes him a match for even more teams.
Zegras’ reputation may be unruly, but he’s been in elite scoring talent since breaking out with the NTDP’s notorious 2019 lineup. With so much consistency between his first two seasons, it seems much more likely that his down year was more the result of a shaky start to the year, marred by prolonged contracting negotiations and injury, than it was an indication that he’s fallen off course. At a spry 23, Zegras is just kicking off his career, already carving out a consistent top-six role and strong scoring pace before many players earn a daily lineup role at all. His offensive upside has vindicated Zegras’ draft spot – as he sits fourth among the 2019 class in NHL scoring – but it also makes him substantially harder to price on the trade market. There simply aren’t previous trades situated around a player as high-scoring or young as Zegras.
It, in a way, harkens back to Larry Murphy‘s move from the Los Angeles Kings to the Washington Capitals in 1983. While the swap differs in a lot of ways – Murphy most notably being a high scoring defenseman, and a player significantly closer to the league’s greatest at the time of his move. But there are plenty of similarities as well. Murphy also carried top-10 draft pedigree, vindicated by star scoring, and was moved before his 24th birthday. In that case, the Kings received stout top-four defenseman Brian Engblom and Ken Houston as he neared retirement. Zegras’ trade rumors are occurring over four decades later – so there’s like not much to be gleaned from Murphy’s move – though precedent could suggest that the Ducks may need to settle for impactful depth in any move featuring such a young star.
The Ducks will find much more present, and realistic, guidance in the trades of Martin Necas and Nikolaj Ehlers, two other potent scorers on the trade market – though Necas, the younger of the two, is still three years Zegras’ senior. Speculation around what the pair of wingers could fetch has been all over, with Carolina rumored to be interested in top prospects, though even a swap of the pair has been mentioned as a possibility. With Zegras under contract for the next two seasons, and expiring as a restricted free agent, Anaheim has plenty of time to wait and see how the Necas and Ehlers situations pan out. Whatever deal they put together for their young star will undoubtedly be a blockbuster, bringing in the pieces to boost Anaheim into a new era – one led by Carlsson, adorned by new jerseys, and hopefully bound for the playoff consistency the Ducks were once known for.
John Gibson, Trevor Zegras Still Drawing Trade Interest
Ducks starter John Gibson and developing center Trevor Zegras are still the subject of trade inquiries, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun during the ongoing scouting combine.
Both players have been the subjects of trade rumors in the past, especially Gibson, who seems to be on the block nearly every summer since his eight-year, $51.2MM extension began in 2019. Zegras also found his name in trade speculation last year after a lengthy contract battle that saw the restricted free agent miss most of training camp and preseason, finally putting pen to paper on a three-year, $17.25MM deal on Oct. 2.
Gibson, who will be 31 next month, has likely never had a lower trade value. In 2023-24, he posted career-worst numbers with a .888 SV% in 46 appearances while conceding 9.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck.
He’s long been given the benefit of the doubt due to the paper-thin defense in front of him for most of the Ducks’ recent rebuild, but he was significantly outplayed by the younger Lukáš Dostál this season. There’s a strong argument that Gibson wouldn’t even be Anaheim’s opening-night starter in October.
To be fair, Gibson’s numbers were tanked by a horrid end to the season that saw him fail to put up an SV% above .900 in any of his final eight showings. The beginning of the season was some of the best hockey we’d seen from him in quite some time, logging a .904 SV% in 24 games before New Year’s Day.
While Gibson was once considered one of the best young goaltenders in the league, he hasn’t had an above-average season since his extension kicked in, even considering Anaheim’s porous defense. His last season saving more goals than expected was 2018-19, the first season of the Ducks’ current playoff drought, when he logged a .917 SV% in 58 games for 13.3 GSAx.
With three seasons left at a $6.4MM cap hit and a 10-team no-trade clause in place, it’s fair to wonder if the Ducks would even net a first-round pick in return for his services. Especially in a summer when the trade market is dominated by names with much better recent history, such as Jacob Markström, Juuse Saros and Linus Ullmark.
They also wouldn’t be dealing from a position of strength with Zegras. He was plagued by injuries this season and mustered just six goals and 15 points in 31 contests.
There’s obviously less of a long-term fit for Zegras as their prospect pool continues to bolster itself, especially after they acquired 2022 fifth-overall pick Cutter Gauthier from the Flyers this season and signed him to his entry-level contract. But there’s still a solid chance for rebound potential in Anaheim next season, and given he’s a restricted free agent at the end of his current deal, there’s no lost trade value by holding onto him for another year. Even if they decide to pull the trigger on a Zegras deal, they’re much better off waiting for a better platform season preceding the deal.
Of course, receiving trade interest in players and actively shopping them are two completely different beasts. If Verbeek’s being transparent, only the former is at play here. With no rush to recoup value for either, as their signing rights are controlled for at least a few more seasons, this summer doesn’t seem to be the right opportunity for a move.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
USA Hockey Announces Final 2024 World Championship Roster
May 5: USA Hockey has invited nine more players to join their upcoming World Championship roster, including college hockey standouts Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Trey Augustine. The roster now carries 21 skaters and two goaltenders, one shy of the limit for both positions. There’s been no indication of who could round out Team USA’s roster, or if the team will look for additional hands at all.
It has also been announced that Dylan Larkin will no longer be able to participate due to injury, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Larkin has been removed from the official roster.
Apr. 24: USA Hockey announced the first 15 players named to their roster for the 2024 World Championship on Wednesday. The remaining eight-ish players will be announced before tournament action begins on May 10.
Only players on the 16 NHL teams who missed out on the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs are on the initial roster. Others will join in as their clubs are bounced from postseason action, even after the World Championship begins.
Early on, it’s clear that the promise of potential spots on the United States roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics is making this a more well-attended World Championship than in years past. Some big-ticket stars like Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and Blue Jackets stars Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski highlight the initial roster. The full slate is as follows:
F Matt Boldy (Wild)
F Cole Caufield (Canadiens)
F Michael Eyssimont (Lightning)
F Joel Farabee (Flyers)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Blue Jackets)
F Kevin Hayes (Blues)
F Luke Kunin (Sharks)
F Ryan Leonard (Boston College, Capitals)
F Brock Nelson (Islanders)
F Shane Pinto (Senators)
F Will Smith (Boston College, Sharks)
F Brady Tkachuk (Senators)
F Trevor Zegras (Ducks)
D Luke Hughes (Devils)
D Seth Jones (Blackhawks)
D Jake Sanderson (Senators)
D Alex Vlasic (Blackhawks)
D Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets)
D Jeff Petry (Red Wings)
D Matthew Kessel (Blues)
D Michael Kesselring (Utah HC)
G Alex Lyon (Red Wings)
G Trey Augustine (Michigan State, Red Wings)
This year’s Worlds will take place in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia, although some pre-tournament action is taking place across the border in Bratislava, Slovakia. The U.S. is the highest-ranked country in Group B, which will play its round-robin schedule in Ostrava’s 10,004-seat Ostravar Aréna.
Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson is at the helm of this year’s men’s national team before Wild GM Bill Guerin takes the reins for the truly best-on-best 2025 and 2026 tournaments. The Americans have won bronze medals in four of the last 10 World Championships (2013, 2015, 2018, 2021) but haven’t won gold since 1960, as part of that year’s Winter Olympics in California. Wild head coach John Hynes will be behind the bench.