Why pay such a high price for Zegras?
Trevor Zegras would give the Canadiens an intriguing top-six, so that’s reason enough to try and acquire the 23-year-old at a high price should the Ducks shop him this summer. Zegras’ obvious familiarity with Caufield would be another incentive, whether the two would end up playing alongside one another on the same line or not.
Another reason is that doing so wouldn’t hurt the Habs in their quest to build one of the league’s best prospect pools since they would still have a lot of draft capital remaining, even if they moved a pair of picks for 2025. This would still give Kent Hughes the ability to replenish the prospects pool if he traded players like Barron or Beck, as was the case in this outline.
Overall, Zegras would springboard the completion of the Habs core, and you can take his familiarity with Caufield as a bonus. Sure, there would be some risk as Zegras played in fewer than half the Ducks games this past season, but he’s also proven his worth when healthy, so there shouldn’t be much concern there.
This would be a trade where Hughes couldn’t go wrong, and even if Zegras ended up as a ‘bust,’ the Habs would be under no obligation to re-sign him. It’s a trade that I would endorse for a few reasons and one that will take the Canadiens the closest to contention since the 2020-21 season.