IRVINE, Calif. -- Trevor Zegras will be a game-time decision when the Anaheim Ducks host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET; BSSD, BSSC, BSSUN).
The 23-year-old forward sustained a broken ankle in a 5-3 win at the Nashville Predators on Jan. 9 and has missed the past 30 games. He has been skating with the Ducks in recent weeks and practiced in full Saturday. He took part in the morning skate Thursday wearing a noncontact jersey prior to a 4-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"It was weird. I've never had an injury like this before, so I didn't know how it was going to go getting back on the ice," Zegras said Saturday. "The staff did a really good job explaining the process and what it's going to feel like and stuff. I feel pretty good."
Zegras, who has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 20 games, was injured when he slid feet first into the boards after the stick of Predators forward Juuso Parssinen got caught in his skates. He missed 20 games earlier in the season because of a lower-body injury.
"My heel was on the ice and my toe hit the boards at the same time, and I just remember it snapping left," Zegras said. "I went to go put some weight on it, or tried to get up, and the whole ankle kind of went numb. Tried to get off the ice and put some tape on it and it was pretty swollen, and then, obviously, got the X-ray and, obviously, saw there was a fracture. But it wasn't too painful, so it was kind of a shock that it was fractured."
Zegras said he "spent a couple days feeling sorry for myself," then began educating himself on his injury, got into a daily routine and tried some new activities, such as playing the piano. He was also boosted by teammates Mason McTavish, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano and Bo Groulx, who would drop by his house to play pool or darts.
The day before Zegras was injured, Anaheim traded his best friend, defenseman Jamie Drysdale, to the Philadelphia Flyers for forward prospect Cutter Gauthier, the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. The Ducks also sent a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to Philadelphia.
"This might sound crazy, but Drysdale getting traded was almost worse [than getting injured] because usually when I'm on the IR, he's on the IR with me," Zegras said with a laugh. "So, it was pretty lonely for those 8-10 weeks I was by myself."
Though Zegras has been medically cleared, Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said he wants to make sure the timing is right for Zegras to return to game action.
"You don't want to put a guy in the lineup too early," Cronin said. "He's cleared, but he hasn't played in 10 weeks or something, and I don't want to put him in the game where he's not comfortable, his timing's off. I don't want to jeopardize his transition back to playing and then further exacerbate an injury."
Ducks rookie center Leo Carlsson also returned to practice Saturday after leaving the game Thursday with a lower-body injury. Because of injuries, Anaheim has only had Zegras and Carlsson in the same game eight times this season, and not since Nov. 7. The Ducks went 5-3-0 in those games while averaging 3.38 goals per game, better than their 2.49 average for the season.
Anaheim (24-43-3) is 30th in the NHL standings and has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight season.
