Some wanted to change Trevor Zegras. The Flyers let ‘Z be Z.’ Now, he’s got his ‘swagger back’
“One of the most misunderstood people in the NHL,” former coach Dallas Eakins said of Zegras. "He is so competitive. He wants to be the very best."
Dallas Eakins coaches in southwest Germany, approximately 4,000 miles away from Philadelphia, but still gets asked about Trevor Zegras.
It’s not hard to understand why. Zegras is known for his flash and finesse, executing “Michigan” goals and viral no-look passes, and has a big personality to match.
There are some who don’t approve. On Dec. 7, 2021, in a game against the Buffalo Sabres, Zegras’ elite skill produced one of the most memorable highlights of the year.
The then-20-year-old skated behind the net, cradled the puck onto his stick, and flipped it over the goaltender to his Anaheim Ducks teammate, Sonny Milano, who batted it in.
Former Flyers coach John Tortorella questioned on an ESPN broadcast whether the play was “good for the game” (a comment he later walked back).
In April 2022, Arizona Coyotes TV analyst Tyson Nash accused Zegras of trying to “skill it up,” following one of his lacrosse-style shots, cautioning that “hot dogging” could come with consequences.
This is all to say that Zegras, now 25, is often at the intersection of the debate between old-school and new-school, a place he would presumably rather not be.
» READ MORE: For Trevor Zegras, the trade to the Flyers is not just a refresh, it is also a homecoming of sorts
And when Eakins is queried about the polarizing star, whom he coached in Anaheim from 2020-23, he leans on a common refrain.
“One of the most misunderstood people in the NHL,” Eakins, 59, said. “Because everybody looks at him like, ‘Oh, he’s this cocky punk, surfer guy. Calls everybody dude. He doesn’t give a [expletive].’
“And I’m like, ‘He is so competitive. He wants to be the very best.’ He does. And trying to turn him into something else … it’s not a great plan.”
Eakins would know. When he was working in Anaheim, he said people within the organization would call to ask if he’d tell Zegras to stop doing “The Michigan.”
The coach would politely decline.
“I was like, ‘Why?’” he recalled. “He can do it. He can do it at full speed.’”
Things went downhill for Zegras after Eakins was fired in April 2023. He was replaced by Greg Cronin, a strict disciplinarian who moved Zegras from center to wing. The former first-round pick was hampered by injuries, and his name began to circulate in trade rumors.
To make matters worse, in January 2024, his closest friend on the team and longtime roommate, Jamie Drysdale, was traded to the Flyers.
“It made it less fun, for sure,” Zegras said. “Just because it was pretty unexpected. Sports are weird like that. One day, you’re sitting next to him on the plane, and then [the next], he’s gone.”
The guy who had graced the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 23 started to look more reserved. He told ESPN that he found himself “overthinking things,” which detrimentally impacted his mental health.
But those days are over. Zegras was traded to the Flyers last June, and is in the midst of the best season of his career, en route to his first Stanley Cup playoff appearance.
He’s reunited with Drysdale, has jelled with his new teammates, has a coach, in Rick Tocchet, who believes in him, and says he’s having “more fun” this year.
And Eakins can see a difference, even an ocean away.
“It looks like he’s got his swagger back,” he said. “And it’s important for him to play with swagger.”
‘The Odd Couple’
Drysdale and Zegras’ friendship has been well-documented, and it started in the most unconventional of ways. The first extended time they spent together was in 2021, on their way back from World Juniors.
Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the beginning of the NHL season had been pushed to January. Neither rookie had played a game for the Ducks yet, and were still in the throes of international competition.
Zegras represented Team USA in the tournament. Drysdale represented Team Canada. The Americans won the gold medal game, 2-0, and the shaggy-haired center was named MVP.
Shortly after, the future teammates boarded a small chartered plane full of Kings and Ducks prospects, to transport them from Edmonton to Los Angeles.
It was a four-hour flight. Zegras and Drysdale didn’t say a word. But when they landed, they started to talk a bit, and by the time they met Eakins in front of the Ducks’ practice facility, they were buddies.
“It kind of surprises me that they got so tight in an hourlong car ride,” Eakins said. “But in the same breath, it doesn’t. You can call them Frick and Frack, Thing 1 and Thing 2. The Odd Couple. They were always attached at the hip.”
Their personalities were almost exact opposites. For all of Zegras’ exuberance, Drysdale was just as quiet. Eakins compared the teammates to two kinds of coffee makers.
“You’ve got Drysdale, and there’s so much filter, that it’s just literally nothing coming out,” he said. “And then there’s Zegras. And it’s just the grounds pouring down into your cup. There is zero filter.”
Playing with ‘creativity’
Eakins was happy to see Zegras and Drysdale reunited in Philadelphia last year. He was also happy to see Tocchet’s hiring around the same time. The two coaches had gotten to know each other through the NHL, and Eakins found him to be an “open-minded guy.”
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It seemed like the perfect fit for Zegras, who didn’t respond well to hard-nosed coaching tactics.
“With Z’s personality, he needs somebody, number one, that he knows that they care about him,” Eakins said. “He 100% knows that that person really cares for him.
“There’s going to be some harder days, where you need to explain things. And there’s going to be days where you really want to encourage the improvement he’s had.
“So, you need a coach with that mindset. And I think a coach, for Z, that is just an absolute hard-ass, my way or the highway, it doesn’t work. At least in my opinion. And the way Rick coaches, and I think the way Rick communicates, is he’s always going to be finding another way.”
Zegras reinforced this sentiment. He said that Tocchet — whom he affectionately nicknamed “Taco” — never tried to change him. There was no attempt to turn him into a third-line checking center, or a player who dumps the puck the second he gains the red line.
He just tried to work with him.
“He’s a hard coach, in terms of what he expects out of you, but he’s very fair,” said Zegras, who was moved back to center in March. “And from the aspect of trying to play with creativity, and coming to a new team, and a new situation, he definitely let me do my thing a little bit at the beginning of the season.
» READ MORE: Trevor Zegras is at the top of his game. Now, can he master playing center?
“He set pretty high standards for me and the whole team. But that freedom and creativity to still play hockey is something that I’ve really enjoyed.”
It has helped Zegras reach new heights on the ice. This season, he recorded career highs in goals (26) and points (67) and led the Flyers in game-winning goals (5), power-play goals (10), and power-play points (23).
Still with a flair for the dramatic, Zegras led the NHL in game-deciding shootout goals (5) and successful shootout attempts (7). But he’s also rekindled his love of the sport.
“He’s just been a pleasure to coach,” Tocchet said in December of the impending restricted free agent. “He’ll do some stuff, make mistakes, but … he’s buying in, and I give him all the credit for the year he’s having. He’s a lot of fun in the room.”
‘Let Z be Z’
Eakins is six hours ahead in Germany. He can’t watch NHL games in real time. So, every morning, he pulls up the highlights, paying close attention to the players he’s become close with.
Zegras is one of those. In Anaheim, the center would often be the last one to leave the arena, and would poke his head into Eakins’ office before he did. They’d talk, over a glass of wine and a Gatorade, about hockey and everything else.
It wasn’t always easy. Eakins would hold Zegras accountable, but found that his pupil was open to feedback. He would also seek it out, looking at shifts after games with the Ducks’ coaching staff.
To Eakins, this is just another misperception. Behind the shootout snipes and backhanded finishes were hours and hours of prep. The center would work tirelessly on in-game scenarios, like cutbacks, one-timers, and passes to make on the power play.
Now, all of that work is coming to fruition, at the right time, in the right place, and with the right coach.
“Tocc has got accountability, but he’s going to let Z be Z,” Eakins said. “And I think that’s really important.”
