Trevor Zegras has fit in seamlessly with the Flyers. What will it cost to keep him long-term?

Looking back, it’s almost fitting.

Trevor Zegras sat down for his first interview on Day 1 of training camp in September, sporting a Nirvana shirt.

“Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be,” the band’s frontman Kurt Cobain would sing.

Well, the Flyers wanted Zegras to come as he is, as he was, and as they want him to be. There was no rush, but Zegras, who was acquired in June from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-rounder, hurried up the process. Nevermind the past two years, he has trended in the right direction.

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“It’s fun to see the joy in his game again,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said recently. “You can tell he’s having fun playing the game. I think for hockey players, it’s a big part of having success is that you’ve got to play with passion, you’ve got to play with enthusiasm, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in Trevor’s game.

“I don’t know what happened in Anaheim, that’s not my business. But we see a young man who is having fun and making plays, going out there trying to make a difference. It’s been fun to watch, too, for our fans, adding another guy with high-end skill that can get you out of your seat.”

The Flyers have long needed a game-breaker and a creative force to draw fans out of their seats again. Matvei Michkov brought some of those qualities last season, and the hope was that adding Zegras would infuse more.

Twenty-six games into his tenure in orange and black, the 24-year-old has showcased the rare skill level that has long wowed fans. He is tied with Tyson Foerster, who was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday, atop the Flyers’ leaderboard with 10 goals and leads the team with 26 points.

And although there might be some bruises on the fruit, he has helped the power play come in bloom as four of his goals and 11 of his points have come on a man advantage that is tied for 18th in the NHL. He’s also had a knack for the dramatic, scoring the game-winning goal in Saturday’s win over New Jersey, and clinching two other games via the shootout.

The kid who grew up idolizing Patrick Kane, aka “Showtime,” has stolen the show. He is a perfect 4-for-4 this season and ranks No. 1 all-time among players with at least 15 shootout attempts at 68% (17 goals on 25 shots).

“Especially when you have Trevor Zegras on your team, you start almost with one up,” said Sean Couturier, captain of a Flyers team that is a perfect 5-0 in shootouts this season. “So we like our odds in shootouts.”

But maybe the biggest difference for Zegras this year is that the coaching staff has confidence in him. Zegras is averaging 18 minutes, 14 seconds a night, the second-most among Flyers forwards, and his highest amount since the 2022-23 season.

“He’s done a really nice job,” coach Rick Tocchet said last week in South Florida. “He moves his feet. He can make some plays out there. They’re hard to find, and he’s got to be a difference maker for us, which he is. He’s making some good plays for us.”

Although he says you have to prioritize the team game, Zegras notes that he is always building and working on his own game. He can often be spotted doing that on the ice long after practice is done.

He’s also often on the ice talking to Tocchet, whom he affectionately has nicknamed Taco. It looks as if the two are either going over reads, structure, systems, and positioning. In October — after a win against the Seattle Kraken, no less — he texted Tocchet that he wanted to watch video with him, too.

“It’s good,” Zegras said of his relationship with Tocchet. “He watches a lot of hockey, and he played for a long time. There’s just little stuff that he sees; it’s definitely good stuff, important stuff, and they’re usually really good points, so I try to listen.”

“Unreal, coachable kid. You can tell him anything. We talked last game, I thought he didn’t really skate, didn’t do much, and he actually comes up to me, and he goes, ‘Man, I didn’t move my feet last game, I can really tell,’” Tocchet said, referencing the Nov. 24 game in Tampa Bay.

The bench boss also likes that Zegras is correcting mistakes. He had a big turnover early in the Flyers’ 6-5 shootout win against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 14 that led to a goal. How did he rebound? By playing a role in each of the Flyers’ goals in regulation and scoring the lone shootout tally.

But while the good times are rolling, the big question remains: At five-on-five, is he a center or a winger?

Right now, it’s a little bit of both.

According to Natural Stat Trick, he’s played just 26 minutes, 46 seconds across the first 26 games of the season down the middle. He’s skated the majority of the season on a line with Christian Dvorak and Owen Tippett — although on Wednesday night, Travis Konecny was on their wing — with Zegras deployed in a hybrid center role.

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I think it’s a great setup for him,” said Brière when asked if maybe a hybrid is best right now for a player who may be a natural centerman but has spent the last two seasons almost exclusively on the wing.

“The way we have him with the centers that we have, it gives him the chance to take more chances on offense and not have to always come back and be the first player back, battling down deep in the defensive zone.

“He has to do it at times — everybody at times gets caught being the first guy back — but he doesn’t have to do it every shift, and I think it opens him up, frees him up a little bit on the other side of things.”

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The hybrid role focuses on the play below the hashmarks in the defensive zone and being the high man, when applicable, in the offensive zone. It’s about being the first forward or F1 — and about faceoffs. Not really known for his faceoff prowess, Zegras is feeling more confident in the circle and has been getting help from Couturier.

“Dvo’s great down low. Not that he needs [it], but I can switch maybe during the shift,” Zegras said before the Flyers’ win last week against the Florida Panthers, before adding with a smile, “or if he wants to maybe cheat on some faceoffs, and he ends up getting kicked out of them, I feel fine getting in there.”

While he’s no longer a teen, Zegras definitely has some spirit. Bounding into the locker room these days with his long flowing locks and a grin mixed in with some chatter, the 24-year-old looks rejuvenated on and off the ice.

“Just extremely grateful that it ended up being Philly.” Gary Zegras, Trevor’s father, told The Inquirer during the dad’s trip in November. “The closeness is incredible. We get to come to the games, and we get to spend a lot of time down here. He’s got a lot of other family that have been coming to the games and friends in the area. So that’s great for him, and it’s also great for us, selfishly.

“And then between management, between the coach, and the other players on the team, it’s just such a great fit. You just see the smile on his face, and you just can tell that he feels comfortable here, and it’s translating to — I know it’s early in the season — but he certainly looks a lot more like his old self. And I think a lot of that has to do with the environment, 100%."

Zegras has several familiar faces in the room, including his best buddies Jamie Drysdale, his teammate in Anaheim, and Cam York, whom he played with as a teenager at the United States National Team Development Program.

“Just fun to have him around in the locker room. … Obviously, what he’s done has been really great for our team,“ York said. ”He’s added a lot of skill and good vibes, good mojo to the team, I think, and that goes a long way in this league."

Added Drysdale: “He’s a free spirit. He does his thing. We all love and appreciate him for it. He keeps it light, and he’s playing really good hockey. Yeah, we’re just lucky to have him, and he fits in perfectly here.”

Zegras has found his spark again. But has he found a home, too?

Of course, Brière had no comment when asked recently about a new contract for Zegras. The forward is a restricted free agent on July 1, and the general manager rarely signs players to extensions during the season. But, while it’s early, there is no doubt that Zegras is the type of talent and game-breaker the Flyers have been searching for the past several years.

According to Puckpedia, the cost to keep him around begins at $5.75 million, the minimum qualifying offer the Flyers must give him to retain his rights. But with the salary cap rising, there is no doubt he will command a much higher number.

A good comparable to Zegras is probably Shane Pinto. The Ottawa Senators center, who was drafted 23 spots below him in the 2019 NHL draft, just signed a four-year extension with an annual average value of $7.5 million. Zegras has eight more points than Pinto this season.

He also has more points than other recent center signings like Utah’s Logan Cooley (eight years at $10 million per), his former Ducks teammate Mason McTavish (six years, $7 million), and Chicago’s Frank Nazar (seven years, $6.59 million). Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston, who got four years at $8.4 million last season, is the only real comparable who has more points than Zegras so far this season.

Two more worth noting are Utah’s JJ Peterka and Winnipeg’s Gabe Vilardi, who, like Zegras, are capable of playing center but have also played a lot of wing. Peterka signed this offseason for five years at a $7.7 million average annual value, and Vilardi got six years at $7.5 million.

Factoring in his recent history and that all but Vilardi are younger than Zegras, the expectation is that he’ll get at least five years — which is the length York, who is also represented by Pat Brisson, signed for in July — and between $7.5 million and $8 million per year.

Brière likes to wait; maybe he shouldn’t. If Zegras keeps trending the way he is — he is on pace for a career-high 32 goals and 82 points — it puts the past two years, and his injury concerns, in the rearview, and the ask could be closer to $9 million.

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Is that too much for a kid in his mid-20s who has found his game again and looks to be back on a star trajectory? Probably not. Does it truly matter if he’s that top center or the top winger? In reality, not really, because in the end, he’ll still be a critical piece of a Flyers team moving through a rebuild with the focus on being a Stanley Cup contender for years to come.

Zegras loves playing in Philly. He loves the spotlight. It sounds like a happy marriage because, while for years and years, Zegras roamed, he now feels like he’s back home.

And if he does stay for the long haul, it sounds like Flyers fans will be in nirvana.