Zegras winning Flyers over with unique, lighthearted approach

PHILADELPHIA -- Trevor Zegras understands who he is. It maybe takes others a bit to figure it out.

Like when the forward was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 23, a few of his new teammates needed to be convinced that he'd be a good addition.

"There was obviously a few guys in here that knew him before, but I think a lot of other guys that didn't know him just heard about him, were maybe a little skeptical at first, like, what his vibe's about and stuff," said defenseman Cam York, who played with Zegras for two seasons at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. "But I think right away they figured out quickly that he was going to be a really good teammate and a guy that everyone in the locker room really likes."

And they like him for more than his 50 points (21 goals, 29 assists) in 58 games this season entering their game against the Boston Bruins at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, TVAS).

"He keeps the locker room light," York said. "With the 82-game season that goes a long way, obviously."

Zegras admits it's not the first time he's stirred that reaction, but he's unsure why.

"I wouldn't say I'm everybody's cup of tea," he said. "Maybe in terms of hockey, there's like, a perception of me that's like, X, Y and Z, but I think if you get to know me, I think it's different."

Every place he's been, from the NTDP to Boston University to the NHL, it feels like teammates and coaches always come to the same conclusion.

"I feel like he's a great locker-room guy," said Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic, a teammate with the NTDP and at Boston. "He kind of brings everybody together."

Greg Cronin, Zegras' coach for two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, added, "He's a very likable person. He's a very positive guy."

But what makes Zegras so likable? Those who know him best had a few ... creative reasons. 

"He's like a golden retriever dog, just so happy, so friendly, so energetic," said Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, a teammate at the NTDP.

"My first recollection of him is him showing up ... he's like that 'Spicoli' guy (from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High")," said Dallas Eakins, Zegras' first NHL coach with the Ducks.

Zegras can only laugh. 

He understands he has a big personality by traditional NHL standards, but for him, it's just the way he's always approached hockey, and how he feels he best fits into a team atmosphere.

"I think it's just pretty natural," he said. "My dad's pretty loud. Sometimes I'll call him and he'll be yelling into the phone, and I'm like, so that's where I get it from. I don't know. I just love being a part of a team and having teammates and that's something that I thrive on. We're all in this together type of thing. I just feel most comfortable at the rink and around my buddies, so kind of just comes out, I guess."

The way it comes out has set Zegras apart. It's why when you ask people, "What's the first thing you think about when you hear Trevor Zegras' name?" you get some pretty unique stories.

The Rolling Stones video

Vlasic said, "We took a class (Popular Music & Culture: The Music of the Rolling Stones). One of the final performances was to perform a song. ... I know there's a video of it circulating in our group chat. ... We had a guy on drums. Somebody was playing the triangle. Somebody was singing. It was awesome, It was a funny thing."

Zegras might come across as Mick Jagger in any group setting, but for this one, he was Charlie Watts banging along on the drums.

"In college, I wouldn't say I was the most academically ... whatever the word is," Zegras said. "There was a class that you could take that maybe wasn't as advanced as some other ones, and the one was the History of the Rolling Stones.

"I took it with three of my buddies from the hockey team, and arguably it was the most fun I've ever had in school. The Rolling Stones are my favorite band, probably because of that class, and our final exam was to perform one of the songs."

Warmup cup check

Eakins said, "I always think about this one scene that I would see on a nightly basis at the games. ... I would look forward to it, because it was like, two exact opposites. So 'Z' and (Jamie) Drysdale were one of the last two out. The last guy out was our captain, Ryan Getzlaf. ... He's got old-school values, but Z and Drysdale would do this thing. They would touch each other's shin pads or something, but the last part of it was they would take the shaft of their sticks and nail the other guy right in the [groin]. Like, whack! That was funny enough, but what was really funny to me was watching Getzlaf watch them. It was almost like when a dog hears a weird noise and he turns his head sideways, 'Getzy' would have his head turned sideways, looking at Z and Drysdale there."

This is one Zegras regrets. Chalk it up to youthful inexperience.

"Yeah, that was true," he said with a laugh. "We don't do that anymore."

Zegras and Drysdale played four seasons together in Anaheim and were reunited this season in Philadelphia. Their pregame rituals are a bit more mature now.

"There was one video of me and him doing it that went kind of viral," Zegras said. "I remember they asked Getzlaf in an interview about it, and it's just so out of proportion. I think it happened ... it was once a game, and it wasn't supposed to be that big of a thing. But obviously, somebody got a video of it and made it a big thing, and they asked him. I was like, 'Oh, that's tough.' Getzy wasn't much for pregame rituals."

Calling Cronin

Cronin said, "You get fired and it's like, there's an awkwardness today for kids. They don't know how to respond to it. They don't know if they should call you or text you. Trevor's the first guy that called me. And he didn't ask me, hey, what happened? He asked me genuinely, 'How are you doing? I want to make sure you're doing well.' And I was like, 'Whoa.' When he said that, I was blown away by it. It almost brought me to tears."

From the outside, it appeared that Cronin and Zegras had a contentious relationship. He moved Zegras from center to the wing and cut his ice time.

But when Cronin was fired as Ducks coach April 18, 2025, the first call came from Zegras.

He said part of that was wanting to make sure a coach he respected was doing OK, but another part he owed to his involvement with the Shoulder Check, a charity that focuses on mental health by encouraging people to make time to check in on those close to them.

"It's making sure that your friends are OK, your family's OK, the people around you, just to check in and make contact," Zegras said. "And that was something that really resonated with me and something that I could definitely get behind."

That innate desire to help others is one of the reasons Cronin still raves about Zegras.

"He senses things," Cronin said. "EQ, emotional quotient ... he's got extremely high EQ. Extremely high."

Coach Taco 

Tocchet said in September, "His personality is great for our room. He smiles. He calls me 'Taco.' I don't know what he's calling me."

Said York: "He's the only one that I've heard (call him Taco). I think it came from Quinn Hughes originally, because Z and Quinn, they train in the summer together. ... He's the only one that I've heard say Taco. I don't know if 'Tocc' likes it or not, but I definitely have not called him that."

Zegras points the finger at Hughes for that one. Hughes played three seasons for Tocchet when they were with the Vancouver Canucks.

"When I would talk to him, he would always ask how Taco was doing," Zegras said. "So I just assumed that was his nickname for some reason.

"I probably don't say it as much now. ... But for the first couple weeks, I would call him Taco."

Put on a shirt

Drysdale said, "The guy never wears a shirt, that's for one. He goes into every office, everything, without a shirt on, so that's one thing that we're all still trying to wrap our heads around. And somehow he's the only person that could get away with that."

Zegras said that goes back to beginning his professional career with San Diego of the American Hockey League during the 2020-21 season.

Born in Bedford, New York, growing up the furthest west Zegras had played prior to turning pro was two seasons in Plymouth, Michigan, at the NTDP. Living in California was an entirely new experience.

"It's true, I don't wear a shirt. ... I've always never worn a shirt," he said. "I don't really know why. I really don't have a good answer for you. ... When I was playing in San Diego for a couple of games, one of my teammates, Andrew Poturalski, he's playing in the KHL now (Avangard), he's like, 'Dude, you got to put a shirt on.' What? Ever since then, it's just been shirtless.

"Maybe I just ... my tan in Anaheim. I really do not know."

All those stories are part of what makes Zegras unique, but the offbeat personality wouldn't last in the NHL if there wasn't a deep desire to be the best possible player.

"All this narrative I've seen about him, he doesn't care," Eakins said. "He just cares about points, he doesn't look like he works hard. I'm not sure there's a player over the last 10 years that I've coached that puts more work into his game.

"And as much as he's got that smile on his face, and he's kind of happy-go-lucky, and he's kind of laughing out there, he is a very competitive kid. He just wants to win. That's it. So, he is a really interesting kid ... because the perception of him and the reality of him are really two different things when it comes to his competitiveness and his commitment and all of those things."

NHL.com independent correspondent Bruce Miles contributed to this report