This time last year, it was an open question whether Trevor Zegras would successfully revitalize his career in Philadelphia with the Flyers.
Today, he has the highest cap hit on the roster.
Late on Wednesday night, the Flyers announced that they had locked up Zegras — a restricted free agent in need of a new contract — to a four-year, $36.5 million extension, giving Zegras a team-high $9.125 million contract. That’s $375,000 more than the Flyers’ previous cap hit leader, Travis Konecny.
“Obviously, Trevor is a big part of our team, a big part of our future as well,” general manager Daniel Briere said in a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday morning. “Since we’ve acquired him, it’s been extremely positive.”
The statistics back up Briere’s assertion. After two consecutive down seasons in Anaheim removed him from the Ducks’ future plans, Zegras bounced back in a big way with the Flyers last season, finishing with career highs in goals (26) and points (67) while not missing any time due to injury (an issue which had plagued him in recent seasons). Only Travis Konecny finished with more points among Flyers players than Zegras, who quickly established himself as one of the club’s most dangerous offensive weapons.
And now, he’s locked up for four more seasons, due to a contract that covers his final two years of RFA control and then two UFA seasons as well, lasting until Zegras is 29 years old. Barring a trade — the contract provides Zegras limited no-trade protection in Years 3 & 4 — Zegras will be part of the Flyers through the rest of the 2020s.
Let’s break down the details of the deal that keeps him in the Orange & Black.
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18 Comments (8 conversations)
MarioD
Agree. My first reaction was they are actinng like a team with a window to contend that closes in four years.
Which makes absolutely no sense because it hasnt opened yet and they have no reasonable plan to opening it.
They should be spreading out at least two of those UFA years over the life of the deal now that they have at least this year as another non contending season anyway.
They just continue to refuse to efficiently use cap space in these non contending seasons.
jonas
Please go away. No one is interested in hearing your opinions.
guadzilla
The good news is, when the team is playing well, he’ll not be seen. He’s only here to moan and second-guess things. Which is a very strange way to be a fan, atleast to me.
Matt
I’m gonna disagree with you here. I find Mario D to be pretty astute, if somewhat pessimistic, fan. You dorks who constantly reply to his comments with “don’t post here” or “always so negative” never really offer any alternative. You sound like people who can’t come up with a good retort so you go to bullshit replies.
jonas
There’s no point in meaningful engagement with a troll. If you find him to be astute, please meet up with him in real life and let him bombard you with his negativity. Maybe you can be the outlet valve that keeps him from spewing his bile all over the comments section.
jimmyb
Good article as always Charlie. Totally sensible deal for both sides. If I were Zegras, I wouldn’t want to lock in at say $10.5M for 6+ years and then have that be the going rate for lesser players in 2030.
I may be in the minority, but I love this offseason by DB. High on the Woll and Acciari moves, and excited by Soko and the other picks made in rounds 2/3. DB didn’t miss out on any obvious opportunities, and the offer sheet showed a willingness to make a bold move for a cornerstone player.
guadzilla
On the length of the contracts, Charlie – I agree that i would have preferred them to sign Zegras for an 8 year term. Based on my own “reading between the lines” when you (I think it was you) asked him that question, I think he tried and Zegras’s team didnt go for it. Given the way the cap is going to rise, i wonder if the long term contract would have been closer to 13-14MM/year, as opposed to 10-11? That would certainly have clogged up their cap in there here-and-now.
But on further review, i am not all THAT fussed about it. Let’s say they give him a 7 year contract at 29 at fair market value and the salary cap keeps increasing. That contract is going to be under-valued by the time he turns 33-34 and it wont be that difficult to move him.
Similarly, with Dvorak’s contract, i have never been that fussed. He’s a bargain for a low-end 2C right now and in 2-3 years time, he will be a bargain for a decent 3C. Getting rid of his contract will never be an issue, I feel.
Vladar’s contract does have me a little worried – but at some point, as a team, you have to take a plunge and get ahead of the cap by signing key players early (Roseman does the same in football). You just need to be good with your projections on the player. Let’s see how that goes.
guadzilla
PS – Have you heard anything about Risto being moved? All chatter seems to have died down for now.
Could it be for the “between the lines” move or are we more likely to see traction come training camp?
Marc
I think I will now be surprised if they trade Risto. His play in the playoffs and his health/off-season now should give us a good Risto season. And they will be a better team with him this season, versus a future late 1st. Acquiring John Carlson would have changed things, but he chose TB.
And I am a fan of the way they are managing their cap, as well as how they designed the Carlsson offer. If that’s Hanrahan’s doing, give him a raise.
guadzilla
Risto has played well, yes – but i would rather they give Bonk playing time this year. He looked pretty good when he got ice-team. Jiricek will also make the team as he cannot be sent to the minors. And Seeler needs to stay as a veteran 3rd pair partner for a developing younger D-man. That leaves only Risto’s spot.
So while I agree that losing Risto will result in a small step back this season, i think the that 1st round and Bonk’s development are probably better for the team in the long run.
Randy
So, what do the d-pairings look like then, w/ only the guys who are left? And remember the L vr R shooting issue. Surely you’re not putting Bonk on the top pairing and runining his career. Move York back up, then you have two righites, Bonk & Drysdale, on the 2nd pair. Gonna move Drysdale onto top pair? And play York w/ Bonk, and bottom pairing of Seeler & Jiricek?
I don’t like any of those options, unless somehow Bonk comes to camp and simply dominates, which I don’t expect.
Charlie O'Connor
AuthorAt this point, I’m expecting Risto to be in the lineup for Game 1. The Flyers likely won’t trade Ristolainen unless they acquire a player who can handle top-4 minutes that can slide into his spot. Once they struck out on John Carlson and Darnell Nurse, they no longer had a path to getting that guy. They really don’t want to push one of David Jiricek or Oliver Bonk into a top-4 role before they’re ready, and they clearly don’t see Nick Seeler as a top-4 type, either.
Maybe if they get Morgan Rielly or somebody like that later this summer, the equation changes. But for now, the biggest driving force behind their desire to keep Ristolainen for next season (protecting the young defensemen) remains.
ifollowcharlieo
No doubt about Briere’s m.o. at this point. Always be ready to do a game-charger. He became a GM in cap space Hell, and it left a mark on him.
It seems like he has two plans. Charlie’s four year plan — or enough cap space and planned expiring contracts to swing for a player with an $18M cap hit and cut two years off of the contention timeline. He has identified his relatively low or fair-priced core. It’s exactly the opposite of where Verbeek wound up and why this is Verbeek’s last season as GM. Carlsson, Quitter, and a bunch of AHL players won’t open a contention window.
CARTER Kelly
I think you are spot on with what Danny is trying to do. I wonder about how he will fit in what I expect to be large extensions for michkov and martone while also adding in a 15m+ player.
fiat500
mcdavid
Matt
This
ralph lees
Think positively. Trust the Plan. These boys will grow into men together.
I think in 4-5 more years we will have 1 Cup with more on the horizon. Mostly with our draft picks, with a sprinkling of FA’s, and maybe a Carlsson-like Big Swing®. At that point they’ll all need resigning but because of the Culture®, they’ll all want to stay (with hometown discounts), and our turn at a ‘dynasty’ will arrive after 60+ years.
David LaVeck
Great article with solid arguments on why a longer term deal would have been better and more preferable. I however really like this contract as I am not sold on Zegras as a center and as such need to see how that plays out. The numbers above still show him as more of a winger this past season and until that is not the case, you cannot just pay him as a center. I also am not convinced that he is an over 70 point scorer as his history suggests he is not. He received quite a bit of ice time this past season and still was under 70 points. I do hope he can surpass this mark and if he does this is an even better contract and then you would like the added years on the back end. Personally, I would rather have him signed for longer than Dvorak and other contracts like TK are too long. I think the Flyers are being smart here on a player who still does have some things to figure out especially positionally.