Ducks sign star forward Trevor Zegras to 3-year contract

The Anaheim Ducks have inked Trevor Zegras to a three-year contract less than two weeks before their 2023-24 season gets underway.

Zegras, 22, will carry a $5.75 million AAV until the end of the 2025-26 season. He’ll be an RFA, once again, when the deal expires.

The extension comes a few weeks after TVA’s NHL insider, Renaud Lavoie, reported that the Ducks were offering Zegras between $3 million to $4 million on a short-term deal. Zegras is now the team’s fourth highest-paid player behind Troy Terry ($7-million), Cam Fowler ($6.5-million), Alex Kilon ($6.25-million) and Adam Henrique ($5.825-million).

“We are very pleased to be able to get Trevor signed and back on the ice where he belongs,” Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek said in a team-released statement on Monday. “We view Trevor as a critical and valued player and member of our organization and can’t wait to see the next chapter in his career.”

Zegras is one of the most electrifying players in the NHL. Whether he’s pulling off lacrosse-style goals, effortlessly going between the legs to snipe a goal, or stickhandling through a maze of traffic— Zegras has cemented himself as a must-watch talent early in his NHL career. He was voted as the NHL’s fourth-best stick handler in the 2022-23 NHLPA player poll.

Over the last two seasons, Zegras has combined for 46 goals and 148 points, which places him third behind Jack Hughes and Tim Stutzle among U-23 scorers.

While it may come as a surprise that Zegras — who is coming off a career-high 65-point campaign — is being paid less than the likes of Dylan Cozens, Matt Boldy and Cole Caufield, it’s notable that each of his peers signed to longer extensions than the Bedford, New York native.

Comparatively, that may mean less money in the short term, but Zegras could put himself in position to earn a substantial pay raise when it comes times to negotiate his next deal.