Trevor Zegras signed a three-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 22-year-old forward was a restricted free agent and had not been at training camp.
"Obviously, it's tough," Zegras said Tuesday. "Every hockey player knows how important training camp is. Lucky enough, got to skate with the U.S. program in Michigan for at least a week so definitely some catching up to do, but I feel good. I got to come for a couple weeks before training camp, so glad I got to be here and be with my teammates and happy to be back."
Zegras tied his NHL career high in goals (23) and set his NHL career best in points (65) for the Ducks last season.
"I see great things for Trevor," general manager Pat Verbeek said. "When we look at him, I'm looking for him to develop more of a two-way game, and there's going to be a lot of things that he's going to be able to learn from coach Greg Cronin and how we're going to play as a group. So I think when I had some really good discussions before we signed the contract with Trevor on some of the things we were going to be asking him to do, and Trevor was all in."
Zegras was a finalist for the Calder Trophy given to the NHL Rookie of the Year in 2021-22, when he had 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) in 75 games.
The No. 9 pick by Anaheim in the 2019 NHL Draft, Zegras has 139 points (49 goals, 90 assists) in 180 regular-season games.
"That was a big thing with the contract, obviously, was playing the two-way game and figuring out both sides of the puck," Zegras said. "That was obviously a big emphasis from [Verbeek's] point of view. If you want to play in this league, that's something you have to commit to, so I think Cronin is definitely the guy for that."
With Zegras signed, 21-year-old defenseman Jamie Drysdale remains unsigned. He is a restricted free agent who has not reported to camp.
"I talk to Jamie pretty much every day," Zegras said. "Obviously going through this is tough. When you've got your best buddy going through it too, it makes it a lot easier, so definitely checking in with him pretty much every day."
The Ducks enter this season with a new coach in Cronin, who replaced Dallas Eakins. In addition to Zegras and Drysdale, the Ducks also have young rising players in 20-year-old center Mason McTavish and center Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
"He's actually pretty cool," Zegras said of Cronin. "Right when he was announced head coach, he made a trip, I think from Colorado all the way back to Boston. He drove and met with a bunch of guys. I got to sit down with him for a couple hours and talk. I went down to Florida too and met him there, so I feel like we have a pretty good relationship to start things off. The system is going to have to be something I pick up on, but a lot of good teammates in here who are definitely going to help me out."
NHL.com independent correspondent Dan Arrit contributed to this report
