Trevor Zegras reportedly ‘in play’; Senators could trade Jakob Chychrun as ‘seismic moves’ loom in NHL: Around the League

I’ve got my eyes on Trevor Zegras. In speaking with teams around the league, they suggest that Zegras’ name has been out there, and in play. And while that may be a bit of a surprise for a guy who was a cover athlete on NHL 23 and has scored some incredible highlight reel goals, I think the truth is I don’t know many people believe Trevor Zegras meshes with the ultimate view of how (Ducks GM) Pat Verbeek wants to see the Anaheim Ducks play and their style. That loss could be someone elses gain.

Certainly not saying that anything is immenent, but the fact that Zegras’ name has been out there, the fact they opened training camp this season and they didn’t have Trevor Zegras there because this conract dispute was ongoing, which at times I think probably got pretty nasty, he’s got two years left on this bridge deal at $5.75 per. He’s hit 60-plus points in back-to-back years.

I think there’s some question to whether he’s truly a center or a wing in the NHL, but I think another team would be pretty happy to find out what tha answer is and grab him.
Again, not predicting or projecting that there’s a move before the deadline, but the fact his name is in play — and now that you add another piece in Gauthier — it certainly kind of feels like after Drysdale, another guy who went through a contract dispute this past summer and took a long time to sign, he’s gone, maybe Zegras is next.

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It probably would’ve been really best to do it last summer before the contract dispute, before this season got off to a rocky start with just one goal in his first 12 games, the start before the injury. Before all those things, and not to say it spiraled, but it certainly has been a pretty tough start to the season for Trevor Zegras that probably would’ve been in the Ducks best interest and his to get a clean start elsewhere.

There’s no question the Sens have been active. I think really the key question they’re trying to deliberate at this exact point in time is: who is going to be part of our key core moving forward?

I don’t anticipate them moving out any young players, but one player that has generated a pretty significant amount of interest on the market is Jakob Chychrun. We know it isn’t all that long ago that he ended up arriving in Ottawa from Arizona, but when you take a look at the left side of their defence — and yes, I know that Chychrun can play on the right-side, but he is still a left-shooting defenceman — you’ve got Thomas Chabot making $8-million bucks, and Jake Sanderson making $8.05-million with a deal that kicks in next season.

If you throw Chychrun there on the left side, you’re talking about north of $20-million a year, nearly $21-million a year, on just the left-side of your defence. It strikes me as a situation where they probably don’t have enough minutes to go around for everyone, and if they’ve identified Chychrun as someone — they haven’t yet — but if they identified Chychrun as someone that is not part of that core moving forward, it makes sense to have and engage in that conversation now and make a move, and you could do it in the summer as well, but two playoff runs with Chychrun at a pretty reasonable $4.6-m before whatever his next deal kicks in at.

He’s pretty happy in Ottawa. I think there’s been a lot of frustration this year with how this season has gone for everyone with this team carrying up the rear of the Atlantic Division. They haven’t met expectations, and I think they’re ready to make some seismic moves. Chychrun could certainly be one of those guys that is part of that changeover.

I think with the way Chychrun has played to date, I think he’s been a lot better than he was in Arizona. I think he’s certainly been a lot steadier. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t get not just that type of future value, but also maybe a piece they find more usable for what they’re trying to accomplish.

They want some more experience, some vets, some pros, which Jakob Chychrun is all those things, even at the young age of 24 he’s still at, but they got some things to sort out there.