Since February, reports regarding the Montreal Canadiens’ interest in Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras have steadily come in.
And while things haven’t heated up much on either team’s front in recent weeks, the two sides are still communicating.
According to a new report from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek are back in the discussion phase for a potential Zegras deal.
“I believe Anaheim and Montreal have reconnected on Zegras,” LeBrun wrote, adding that “league sources suggest the Ducks are listening on him and would consider moving him in the right deal.”
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old’s participation in last month’s IIHF World Championships featured him spending a ton of quality time with Canadiens winger and longtime USA Hockey pal Cole Caufield — which further fuelled the rumour mill.
With a full pipeline of young, talented defencemen, it would certainly make sense for the Canadiens to offload an asset from their backend in order to gain more firepower upfront.
An April report from Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period confirmed that Montreal is willing to swap a blueliner for a “scorer.”
“It’s no secret the Montreal Canadiens want to add a scorer this summer, and they plan to dangle some of their young defencemen as bait,” Pagnotta wrote. “Habs GM Kent Hughes isn’t afraid to pull the trigger on a deal at/around the NHL Draft, and that seems to be his target again this June.”
But no matter how bad Habs fans want Zegras, when it comes to the Bedford, New York native, whose talents could demand a lot in a trade, LeBrun says he’s “not convinced that’s a path the Habs will ultimately pursue aggressively.”
Selected ninth overall by Anaheim in the 2019 draft, the 6-foot, 185-pound forward has netted 55 goals and 154 points over 211 NHL games with the Ducks.
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