The Philadelphia Flyers acquired talented forward Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks with a plan in place: Give him the opportunity to play centre alongside the team’s leading goal scorer Matvei Michkov.

Speaking with The Athletic on Tuesday, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet says the team will give the newly acquired 24-year-old a chance to return to playing centre, the position where he posted back-to-back 23-goal seasons and finished second in Calder Trophy voting in 2021-22. 

“We’d be idiots not to explore it and talk about it, and try to manifest it where it can work,” Tocchet told The Athletic. “Can it work? I don’t know.

“I definitely think it’s our obligation to see if he can play centre,” Tocchet said. “He really wants to give it a shot. … He’s talented at making a play off his forehand or backhand, and those guys are hard to find.” 

Zegras struggled with injuries over the past two seasons, playing just 88 games combined and recording a total of 18 goals and 47 assists. However, the Flyers believe the Bedford, N.Y., native is ready to work on some of his perceived deficiencies and provide a long-term solution down the middle.

“He shared a couple things with me that he was pretty honest about, where he had struggles in boxing out guys down low, and things that he wanted to work on,” Tocchet said. “I thought that was really mature from him. So, there’s some things that I can really help him [with] in being a centre. We’ll see how it goes. But, yeah, I’d like to definitely give him a shot up the middle.”

Zegras says he is excited to be getting another shot at playing centre after lining up at left wing for the past two seasons. 

“I’ve always felt more comfortable [at centre],” Zegras said in conference call on Tuesday. “I think there are definitely areas I need to work on, whether it’s in the faceoff circle or below the goal line, or in front of the net in the D zone. I think it was good to play the wing and learn that position and responsibilities. [We’ll] see, I guess, where it goes with the new coach and the new team, but definitely will be exciting to be back in the middle for sure.”

Finding balance will be key for a potential Zegras-Michkov line, as the two creative offensive players have similar East-West styles and will need to add another dimension to make an effective combination.

“You want them to be creative, but there’s also certain things you have to do to become a good line — retrievals, driving the middle [of the ice], net-front — all that stuff. Creativity is great, but if you’re just on the outside spinning your wheels, I don’t think that’s effective,” said Tocchet.

Zegras has 67 goals and 186 points in 268 career games since being drafted ninth overall by the Ducks in 2019. Michkov, 20, had an excellent rookie season, scoring 26 goals and 63 points in 80 games and finished fourteen Calder Trophy voting. 

The Flyers acquired Zegras from the Ducks in exchange for Ryan Poehling, the 45th pick in Friday’s draft and a fourth-round pick in 2026.

Philadelphia finished the 2024-25 season with a 33-39-10 record and missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season. They own the sixth pick in the upcoming NHL Draft.