If all decisions made by the Montreal Canadiens this season had a similar success rate to the points average they have put together to date—a paltry NHL sixth-worst .465—then it’d be fair to assume the outcome wouldn’t be very good, if not a full-fledged catastrophe.
In a rather shocking report shared lately by Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, who joined TSN Radio in Montreal, that might have been confirmed.
“The Canadiens turned down a top-six forward—young top-six forward—for (defenseman) Arber Xhekaj earlier this season,” Pagnotta told the show’s hosts on Monday, March 25. “That just shows you how much value the Canadiens hold in some of their young defensemen.”
Pagnotta was asked which defensemen the Habs have put the most value on, referring to a group including Xhekaj, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailoux, and Kaiden Guhle. “What piece has the greatest value right now on the Canadiens?” the hosts, asked him.
“The greatest value you’re probably looking at,” Pagnotta said, “it’s a tricky one, to be honest, because it’s obviously situational.”
Considering the Canadiens rejected a trade proposal for Xhekaj that would have given them a top-six forward in return, however, it’s not unreasonable to assume Xhekaj is seen by the Habs as their most-valuable defenseman.
This season, his second in the NHL after debuting last year, Xhekaj has appeared in 40 games for the Habs scoring 3 goals and getting 6 assists. Even then, however, passing on said “top-six forward” definitely sounds like a bold move by the Canadiens.
Who that top-six forward might be, you ask? Well, that’s probably Anaheim Ducks’ former 2019 9th-overall pick Trevor Zegras, no less. Although Pagnotta didn’t mention Zegras name to the hosts while on air, there are many reasons to think he’s the “mystery” top-six forward offered to Montreal.
Rumors and Dynamics Involving Trevor Zegras
The situation surrounding Zegras and the Anaheim Ducks has been the talk in the streets for quite some time now and could easily be approaching a point of no return, meaning an inevitable trade of the center-turned-winger away from California.
Zegras signed a three-year, $17.25 million extension with Anaheim on October 2. Even then, the relationship between the youngster and the club hasn’t been the best one out there judging by the reports emerging of late and how the Ducks have used their former first-round pick during his time in Anaheim.
Just last February, a couple of weeks ahead of the 2024 trade deadline on March 8, NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun confirmed some rumors.
“The Ducks are listening on Trevor Zegras,” LeBrun said on TSN on February 20. “My understanding is that they haven’t phoned a single team and brought up his name—this is other teams, picking up the phone and saying ‘What’s going on here?’ (But) the Ducks haven’t hung up. They haven’t said ‘How dare you?’
“And I will tell you that of the four or five teams that have called them, the Montreal Canadiens are one of them. That is true, and why wouldn’t they?”
While not actively shopping Zegras, the Ducks seem to be interested in moving on from the coveted forward. Zegras, who is considered one of the most dynamic young talents in the NHL and a through-and-through top-tier center with a sky-high ceiling… even though the Ducks have ostraziced and limited him to playing on the wings.
Zegras finishied his rookie season in 2022 firmly in contention to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, although he ultimately lost the race and finished second behind Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider.
Still eligible for the award in 2022 after debuting a season earlier (he only played 24 games in 2021, his debut campaign), Zegras appeared in 75 games scoring 23 goals and getting 38 assists for 61 points. He was uncannily consistent a year later, appearing in 81 games putting up 23 goals, 42 assists, and 65 points.
Entering this season and thoguhgout it, however, things have gone south for him and the Ducks leading to a potential breakout happening sooner rather than later.
The Zegras Nightmare Could End Soon for Him and Anaheim
Trevor Zegras’s current season with the Anaheim Ducks has been anything but straightforward. After a prolonged contract negotiation that delayed his season debut and led to him missing the team’s training camp, Zegras has faced an endless row of challenges including two major injuries that have severely limited his playtime.
Zegras was initially sidelined for 20 games with a lower-body injury that forced the Ducks to place him on Injured Reserve on November 14. Right after making his comeback and having appeared in just eight games following his return, Zegras suffered a broken ankle on Tuesday, January 9.
The 23-year-old returned to the lineup on Tuesday, March 26, to face the Seattle Kraken on the road. Anaheim lost that game 0-4 and Zegras logged 15:57 minutes of playing time competing two hits in that ice time.
During the last few months Zegras has only played 21 games scoring 4 goals and getting 3 assists. He was moved from the center to the right wing as the Ducks seem not to consider the former first-round pick good enough (for now at least) to occupy that role.
On top of that, the Ducks traded Zegras’ “best friend” Jamie Drysdale, per Dan Arritt of NHL.com, to the Philadelphia Flyers for prospect Cutter Gauthier, the 5th-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and yet another forward.
Between the moves made by the Ducks and how they have managed Zegras’ playing time and role, the latest intel shared by Pagnotta involving Zegras in a trade with the Canadiens, and earlier reports shared different insiders, it looks like Zegras’ days in Montreal are numbered.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff (“Zegras is a name to watch this summer,” Seravalli wrote on February 9) and Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic (“It’s easy to imagine a scenario in which the Ducks would move on from Zegras, if the right deal came along,” Duhatschek wrote on January 12), made a potential trade sound like an eventual fait accompli a few months ago.
It’s up to the Habs now to press the “Trade” button.
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