In last week’s article Brock Otten wrote about key foundational piece of the Anaheim Ducks rebuild in defenseman Jamie Drysdale. You can read the article here. This week Ryan Wagman profiles another key part of the future for the Ducks in Trevor Zegras, who made his NHL debut this past week.
Zegras was at the top of the list when McKeen’s launched a new magazine this past September, The Prospects Report, in which we included in-depth bios of the top twenty prospects for each NHL team along with analytics. When we updated that list prior to the start of the season in December he landed fourth following the big three from the 2020 NHL draft, Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, and Tim Stutzle. The Ducks nabbed Drysdale sixth in the same draft. Subscribers can find the list of our top 300 NHL prospects at the start of the season here at mckeenshockey.com. with links to profiles. In a dismal season both players provide some hope for brighter days ahead for Anaheim fans.
Marco Bombino, our Senior Finnish prospect analyst, looks at the player he sees as the top pick out of Finland for the coming 2021 NHL Draft in Aatu Raty, with his significant upside. Raty was ranked ninth on our preliminary draft ranking found here.[[ad:athena]]
The McKeen’s team are scouting and writing about prospects all season long and provide in-depth reports on our website: www.mckeenshockey.com
Prospects in the News: A major building block arrives on the ice for Anaheim with Zegras debut
By Ryan Wagman
Trevor Zegras, 19 yrs old, 6’1” 170lbs
2020-21 Anaheim Ducks, NHL, 4GP-0G-0A-0PTS
2020-21 San Diego Gulls, AHL, 8GP-4G-5A-9PS
2020-21 USA U20, WJC, 7GP-7G-11A-18PTS
In the McKeens 2020-21 NHL Yearbook, wherein we rank, for posterity, the top 300 NHL-affiliated prospects, Trevor Zegras ranked #4, ahead of everyone who was not a member of the recently completed 2020 draft class. Sure, fifth ranked Kirill Kaprizov would likely have a bigger immediate impact with the Minnesota Wild, but in the big picture, there was never any question that Zegras was the man.
The Ducks were equally excited to bring the creative and gifted forward to the NHL, but they would not rush him. Unlike, for example, the Toronto Maple Leafs, who prevented Nick Robertson from competing for a WJC roster spot with Team USA, or the New York Rangers, who did the same with Alexis Lafreniere and Team Canada, the Ducks were happy to let Zegras, who they had lured away from Boston University after a single season on campus, play for Team USA.
Zegras made the decision pay off. After a disappointing (from a team perspective) performance at the 2020 WJC, wherein he led the team and the entire tournament in assists with nine, albeit in a finish far from the podium, this time Zegras took the world to school. In seven games, culminating in a Gold Medal, he led the tournament in scoring with seven goals and 18 points, winning the tournament MVP award in the process.
Even with such a stellar tournament in the books, the Ducks still did not usher Zegras into the NHL, letting make his professional debut in the AHL first, in classy San Diego. And much like Zegras dominated the 18- and 19-year-olds in Edmonton for two weeks around the turn of the calendar, he also was head and shoulders above the often much older competition in the AHL. The nine points he accumulated over his eight games in the minor league are still tied for third in the league, even though Anaheim finally succumbed to the inevitable and recalled Zegras to the NHL on February 23.
Before I discuss just what makes the USNTDP program graduate special, I need to be absolutely clear that he will not single-handedly save the Ducks’ season. This is a team with a putrid offensive attack. Through their first 21 games (as of this writing, on February 28, 2021), they rank 31st out of 31 teams in goals scored per game, at 1.95 nearly two-tenths of a goal less than the 30th ranked Detroit Red Wings. Outside of Maxime Comtois and his surprising eight goals, no one on the team has lit the lamp more than four times. Comtois is also the only Duck with more than one point every second game. Last year’s team leading scorer, Adam Henrique, has started so slow (five points in 17 games) that he was successfully passed through waivers last week. Team icon Ryan Getzlaf looks done, and has a meagre seven points, with only a single goal, thus far.
Knowing that context, it should not be surprising or disappointing that Zegras hasn’t done much in his first three games in the NHL, averaging a touch over 13.5 minutes of ice time per game, including close to three minutes on a toothless power play. He has put four shots on net, although a number more of his attempts were blocked. Playing with the ice-cold Sam Steel and Jakob Silfverberg, the early going has been slow.
But I’m not worried, and neither should you be. Already seen as one of the more exhilarating playmakers outside of the NHL, what Zegras demonstrated in the WJC this year, as well as his weeks in the AHL, is that he is ready to force defenses to respect his shot as well as all passing options. He didn’t just score a goal per game in the WJC, but he scored pretty, NHL-caliber goals. Both his wrist shot, and backhander are veritable weapons. He still needs to add more muscle, but he doesn’t play soft.
With the puck on his stick, he forces defenses to react. His preternatural sense of space allows him to see potential scoring chances before they actualize, while his skill with the puck can then bring them to life.
The main knock on Zegras’ game has been that he is not the fastest skater. He isn’t slow, but this is not a McDavid/MacKinnon type of player. That is fair. His speed is closer to the realm of average than elite. When the Ducks decide to add an injection of pure speed into the lineup, they will call up 2020 first rounder Jamie Drysdale (very unlikely to happen this season). He makes up for that however, with great edgework and small area quickness, enabling him to move his body in ways that defenders don’t expect, causing them to miss. If there is a comparable in today’s NHL, the future face of the Anaheim Ducks can be placed alongside Toronto’s Mitch Marner.
This year may be a write-off, but the building blocks to the next competing Anaheim team are already in place, led by Trevor Zegras.
Editor’s Note: The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins meet on NBCSN at 6:30 pm ET. Livestream all the action here.
2021 NHL Draft Prospect: Raty brings high upside to lead Finnish 2021 NHL Draft prospects
By Marco Bombino
Aatu Raty, C, 18 yrs old, 6’2” 185lbs
2020-21 Kärpät U20, U20 SM-sarja, 8GP-3G-4A-7PTS
2020-21 Kärpät, Liiga, 22GP-3G-2A-5PTS
Raty’s start to the season was somewhat underwhelming. He struggled to make an impact with Karpat U20 and there were some other players on the team who generated offense on a more consistent basis. Additionally, Raty was surprisingly left off the Finnish World Juniors roster. But since the turn of the year, he has looked more like his usual self in the Liiga, playing with and against older players in a competitive professional league.
His strong performances at the international level shouldn’t be overlooked. In 2018, he was among the top Finnish players in the U17 World Hockey Challenge. During the same season, he was one of the bright spots on the Finnish team at the U18 World Championships, which was a lackluster tournament from the team as a whole. Furthermore, he was excellent as the fourth-line center in the 2020 World Junior Championship. He played alongside his brother Aku Raty and Sampo Ranta - the trio was very effective and did their job well. Even though he was left off the World Juniors roster in the following year, he has already proved in the past years that he can bring his best game in important games, even when not being the go-to guy offensively.
Raty is an offensively skilled and intelligent center with some fairly dynamic elements and can make things happen with his individual play. He can carry the puck through the middle of the ice for effective offensive zone entries – if he sees open ice available, he will take it. He seldom forces the game or attempts to make a play that isn’t there. His stickhandling ability is very good. He can stickhandle through multiple opponents and make plays with limited time and space. He has good rhythm in his offensive game, and he can slow the game down and play at different paces. He can protect the puck well with his body and he is effective on the cycle. He is also a strong shooter with a precise wrist shot and has good finishing ability around the net. He can be a dual threat in the offensive zone and defenders have to respect that.
The 6'1” forward is a strong, mechanically sound skater. He has a very good glide and displays superb edge control as well. My main knock is that I haven’t seen a whole lot of improvement in his acceleration or top speed. At the younger junior levels, such as the U16 and U18’s, he could at times create speed differential and take advantage of it. Obviously, he has gotten bigger and stronger since then, but his skating has not given him as much of an advantage when he has moved up to higher levels. Nevertheless, Raty’s skating is definitely not an issue.
Raty is involved in the game at both ends of the ice and understands his defensive responsibilities. He plays a pretty solid physical game and does not get pushed around easily along the boards. He is a high energy, high effort player and is tough to play against in a variety of ways.
Despite having ups and downs in his season thus far, Raty remains the top NHL Draft eligible Finnish prospect in my book. There are many other interesting Finns with traits that NHL teams look for, but I do not think any of them are particularly close to Raty in terms of pure talent and long-term potential. He entered the season as a potential first overall pick and although he may not end up being selected at the very top of the draft, he should garner plenty of interest from NHL clubs, nonetheless.
As for his potential NHL future, I think that he could develop into a first-line center who is an offensive catalyst, power play contributor and strong three-zone player. Even if he does not reach his full potential, I think he could still bring value to an NHL team, play in different roles and up and down the lineup due to his versatility and understanding of the game. He has a high ceiling, but much will depend on how he is able to adapt his game to the demands of pro hockey.
PAST NBC EDGE MCKEEN’S 2021 NHL DRAFT PROSPECT REPORTS – In this weekly column we cover an NHL Draft prospect. Check out what we have written to date here listed by our most recent ranking.
#1 - Matthew Beniers C, University of Michigan, NCAA, C, 6’1” 175 lbs
#2 – Owen Power, D, University of Michigan, NCAA, C, 6’6” 215 lbs
#3 – Luke Hughes, D, USNTDP U18, D, 6’2” 175 lbs
#4 - Jesper Wallstedt G, Lulea, Sweden, G, 6’3” 200lbs
#5 – Simon Edvinsson, D, Vasteras, Allvenskan, 6’5”, 200lbs
#6 - Brandt Clarke, D, Nove Zamky, Slovakia, D, 6’1” 180 lbs
#9 – Aatu Raty, D, Kärpät, Liiga, Finland, 6’2” 185lbs
