Why wait around?
There were more than just on-ice hockey skills involved when Flyers general manager Daniel Briere wanted to get Trevor Zegras signed to a new contract and avoid the salary arbitration process.
Briere reached a new deal on Wednesday for the 25-year-old center which will pay him an average of $9.125 million over the next four years.
On a Thursday morning media Zoom call, the GM explained why Zegras, 25, brings much more to the table than just puck talent. Like making the game fun.
“He brings a certain swagger around the team,” Briere said. “Keeps things light around the dressing room.”
When a player calls head coach Rick Tocchet by the kidding nickname ‘Taco,’ you know he’s one of the team’s emotional leaders.
“Those are the things that guys are having a fun time with him around,” Briere said.
All that said, Zegras earned this new deal mainly by setting career highs for goals (25), power-play goals (10) and points (63).
“The reality is we’ve worked hard the last few years to add playmakers, to add guys with high-end skills,” said Briere, mindful Zegras came over from Anaheim last year and made players around him better. “That’s one thing he does bring and one of the reasons why we wanted to keep him.
“Those guys are tough to find. We waited a long time to add a player like him. We’re ecstatic that he wanted to play here and wanted to sign a long-term deal to stay in Philly.”
Briere was pleased to have avoided the arbitration process with Zegras.
“It’s a nice feeling,” the GM said. “He’s a big part of our team, big part of our future as well. Since we acquired him it’s been extremely positive. The way he carries himself, he’s lively. People love him. I’m glad it (the contract) is done. Better to get a deal done than go through arbitration.”
With Carlsson out of the picture, does Zegras become the No. 1 center almost by default?
Briere indicated he would rather leave that decision up to Tocchet and his staff. And the two matters really didn’t factor into one another.
“That (Zegras rank on the roster) is not up to me to decide,” the GM said. “The Carlsson offer sheet and the Zegras contract had nothing to do with each other. We wanted both on the team at the time when we made the offer sheet.”
Early in the season Tocchet challenged Zegras to be more about winning games than creating media highlights. To his credit, Zegras took it the right way.
“It was good to see,” Briere said. “I was really excited to see the way Trevor reacted. Not everyone takes it the same way. He really took it the right way. He wanted to prove to everyone in the organization he’s more than that. He’s about winning. He said I want to be in Philly, I love it here, I want to stay. He wants to prove to everybody it’s not just about the clicks.
With Zegras’ future determined, the Flyers have only three players left to sign – Jamie Drysdale, Nikita Grebenkin and Hunter McDonald.
After those, is the roster set?
“I’d be very comfortable going with this lineup going into next season,” Briere said. “If something makes sense, we’re going to look to improve. But it has to make sense, that’s what we’re looking for.”
>Thoughts on Carlsson
Briere made a bold move a couple weeks ago when he signed Anaheim center Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $90-million offer sheet.
Although the Ducks matched and the attempt failed, the move most certainly caught the eye of powerbrokers around the NHL and served notice the Flyers are in “win now” mode.
“It was noticed around the league,” Briere confirmed. “But what I hoped is that it is noticed by our fans and players, that we’re serious. The players did their part, we (management) are trying to do ours. We’re doing our best to be a contender for years to come.”
The Flyers have cap space and a GM willing to use it.
Is Philly becoming a destination landing spot on the hockey map?
“It’s starting to come,” Briere said. “The cool thing we’re seeing is the guys that are here realize how they’re being treated and where the team is going. That’s a big part to attract players, you have to have a winning team. . .at least trending to become a contender.”
Briere’s phone started to ring not long after the Flyers ended a five-year playoff drought and beat Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs.
“I think from the outside we’re seeing more players being involved,” Briere said. “But we realize it’s far from being a done deal. We still have a lot of work to do. In the offer sheet process, there are many teams to choose from and he (Carlsson) selected us. That’s a good sign I guess.”
Even though the Carlsson offer didn’t work out, there could be some positive ramifications just from making the attempt.
Including that aforementioned cap space should another possible addition come along.
“It’s nice to have that luxury,” Briere said. “Like with the offer sheet, it gives us an option to do that. We wanted to show our players and our fans that with what the players did last year, we wanted to support them. We’re still looking.”
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