Trevor Zegras is off to an absolutely scorching start to his tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers, leading top NHL insider Elliotte Friedman to believe contract extension talks could some soon.
Zegras, 24, has impressively ripped off four goals, 11 assists, and 15 points for the Flyers in just 13 games, accounting for nearly half of the team's 38 goals entirely on his own.
The former top Anaheim Ducks draft pick seems to have found the perfect fit for himself landing in Philadelphia with good friends Jamie Drysdale and Cam York, and that should give the Flyers all the more reason to keep him long-term.
After all, York, also 24 and a fellow draft classmate, just re-upped with the Flyers for five years this summer.
"Extension I’m starting to wonder about: Trevor Zegras, Philadelphia. Eligible now. Yes, it’s only been 13 games, but it looks like a good fit and I can see the Flyers gauging interest in lengthening the relationship," Friedman wrote in his latest "32 Thoughts" column.
Flyers' Trevor Zegras Gets Big Praise From Canadiens StarTrevor Zegras' great start to the season has gotten the attention of Canadiens star Cole Caufield. Friedman, with as many connections as he has and as many reports he's made, has an intimate of understanding of how pretty much every NHL team operates at this point in his stellar career as an insider in hockey.
From the Flyers' side of things, there aren't any apparent problems with a potential contract extension worth dwelling on.
They're loaded with cap space after offloading Joel Farabee and Ryan Ellis this year, while Egor Zamula, Nick Deslauriers, and Christian Dvorak are all on expiring contracts.
The Flyers have also had interest in acquiring Zegras for quite a while, so they obviously coveted the player and moved to get him from the Ducks for a reason.
Zegras, on the other hand, is due for a considerable raise performing at his current rate, which may or may not deter talks from the Flyers' side.
For example, if Philadelphia shells out a $10 million AAV contract in December and Zegras finishes the season with 50 or 60 points, then it might not work out so well.
That said, the 24-year-old is currently carrying a $5.75 million cap hit, so something in the $8- or $9 million range would do, especially as Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny are the only two Flyers players making more than $7 million as things currently stand.
I had already considered the Flyers could move quickly to try and get something done with their newfound star player, but now that Friedman is on it, too, there might be more to it.
On that note, it's pretty clear what the Flyers should do: extend Trevor Zegras. That's not up for debate, really.