The Ducks got their man Friday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Actually, they got two of them in the first round of the NHL draft.
General Manager Bob Murray said he wanted to add scoring punch, and that’s exactly what he did when he selected Trevor Zegras of the United States National Team Development Program with the ninth pick and Brayden Tracey from Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) of the WHL with the 29th.
Zegras had 26 goals and 87 points in 60 games this past season in the junior-level U.S. Hockey League. He was the third player from his team to be selected, following Jack Hughes, who went first overall to New Jersey, and Alex Turcotte, who was selected fifth by the Kings.
Murray had hoped that two defensemen would be selected in the top nine, giving him a shot at one of the top-ranked centers. Not only did Bowen Byram go fourth to Colorado, but Moritz Seider went sixth to Detroit and Philip Broberg went eighth to Edmonton.
The Ducks could have picked Cole Caufield, Matthew Boldy or Peyton Krebs with the ninth selection, but Murray couldn’t pass up Zegras, listed at 6 feet, 173 pounds. Zegras, an 18-year-old native of Bedford, New York, was sixth among North American skaters in the final scouting rankings.
“We got lucky that the three defensemen went before us,” Murray said in a telephone interview with the Southern California News Group when asked about selecting Zegras. “We figured that was how it had to be and it broke our way.
“Zegras has elite skills. He’s a really creative, exciting player. He loves to create. He’s a modern-day player. He’s like a lot of these guys now. He’s not afraid to try things. That’s the way it is with these guys now. They like to try things.”
The Ducks acquired their second first-round pick via their swap with Buffalo of defensemen Brandon Montour and Brendan Guhle on Feb. 24. Tracey, 18, from Calgary, Alberta, had 36 goals and 81 points in 66 games this past season for Moose Jaw.
“Today was a good day,” Murray said.
Hughes called Zegras the most creative player on their loaded junior team this past season. Zegras had 61 assists in 2018-19, second on the team behind Hughes, who had 78. Zegras also had 100 assists in 116 games the past two seasons, the fourth-most in the program’s history.
“It’s just him being a really nice guy,” Zegras said of Hughes in an interview with NBCSN.
Zegras said he planned to attend the Ducks’ prospect camp for draft picks and other top young players in their system next Tuesday through Saturday at their new $110-million practice facility at the Great Park in Irvine. He has committed to play at Boston University in the fall, though.
“I’m pretty well decided on BU, but it’s not set in stone,” he said in a telephone interview.
Asked for a scouting report on himself, Zegras said without hesitation, “I’m a two-way forward, a good skater, really skilled and can run the power play.” Of his ninth overall selection, he said, “It’s a really cool experience. It’s something you dream about. It’s surreal.”
Whenever he does sign with the Ducks and joins their lineup, he could aid their middling power play in a big way. The Ducks had the NHL’s 24th-ranked power play last season with a 17 percent success rate. Tampa Bay led the league by clicking at 28.2 percent.
“I think I’m good with zone entries, but I can help in all areas,” he said.
The last time the Ducks had two first-round selections they picked Max Jones with the 24th pick and Sam Steel with the 30th in 2016. They have five picks remaining in the second through seventh rounds, to be conducted Saturday.
