He played in the middle during his lone season at Boston University. Hall of Famer Paul Kariya, the Ducks’ first superstar, was considered by many to be the game’s best left wing during his peak.īut Zegras, a sublime passer, grew up as a center. Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Wheeler are two others. There are elite playmakers who do their work from the wing. And on the forward’s draft night, Murray said that he could easily envision the forward starting out there when he reached the NHL. He was playing on the wing with the Gulls. Zegras broke in on left wing after playing that position in this year’s world juniors, where he was the tournament’s leading scorer and most valuable player in powering the United States to its first gold medal since 2017. He will need some experience in the AHL first, but our expectation is that he will be back in the NHL in the near future and play center for the Ducks for years to come.” “Our goal was to help Trevor transition more smoothly into the NHL, so we started him out on the wing,” Murray said “He’s ahead of our scheduled progression and as a result, we are moving him to center ice effective immediately. But the explanation that Murray laid out does appear to have some merit. The head-scratching that accompanied this particular move for a young player who was making the adjustment to the rigors of playing nightly at NHL speed against better defenders wasn’t solely limited to the fan base. It is surely one reason why they took the rare step of issuing a statement from general manager Bob Murray outlining his decision in what is normally a standard player assignment done countless times during a season.
The Ducks are aware of the zeal and thrill that Zegras and his loads of potential bring. Monday’s maneuver was a gut punch to those who still tune in to watch. Jamie Drysdale, their top pick in last year’s draft, is another. There has been little for supporters to gear up for as the last-place team sits with a 11-21-7 record and 17 contests left to be scratched off before 2020-21 can be put to rest. Scant slivers of excitement have come from the Ducks in this sorry season. Instead of having him travel to San Jose to prepare for their next game - which would be the 18th of his rookie season - the Ducks changed course and assigned him to the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls, with whom he ripped off four goals and nine points in eight games before getting promoted to make his NHL debut on Feb.
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