After weeks of social media rumours regarding the Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras, we finally have a real report linking the two parties.
TSN insider Pierre Lebrun appeared on Sportscentre on Tuesday to discuss the likelihood of Zegras being traded, along with the Canadiens’ interest in the dynamic young star.
“My understanding is the [Anaheim Ducks] haven’t phoned a single team and brought up his name,” Lebrun said, clarifying that the Ducks are not necessarily shopping Zegras around. “This is other teams because it’s been out there, picking up the phone, saying, ‘What’s going on here?'”
Lebrun revealed that a handful of teams have made calls to inquire about the price of the 22-year-old, naming the Habs among the interested parties.
“Of the four [to] five teams that I’m told have phoned the Ducks, the Montreal Canadiens are one of them, so that is true. And why wouldn’t they?” Lebrun said.
However, a pre-deadline trade remains unlikely.
“I don’t get the sense right now that the Ducks are committed to moving him,” the insider added.
Zegras, selected ninth overall by Anaheim in 2019, going to Montreal makes sense for a few reasons.
Along with an affordable contract ($5.75 million) and a tight off-ice bond with Habs winger Cole Caufield, Zegras fits GM Kent Hughes’ pattern of trading future assets for young players, similar to what he did to acquire Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook in past offseasons.
And with plenty of prospects and 22 picks in the next two drafts alone, Hughes recently admitted that he’d be willing to part with some in exchange for offensive talent, claiming he would deal away “some” of Montreal’s picks “in a perfect world” during a midseason press conference.
- You might also like:
- Canadiens to build new VIP section in Bell Centre's lower bowl: report
Follow Channels and Categories