4 Comparable Contracts For Ducks RFA Trevor Zegras

The Anaheim Ducks have gotten one of their three key RFAs locked up long-term with the signing of Troy Terry for seven years at $7 million AAV. That should give a little indication as to what Trevor Zegras should get on his deal, but there are also other players around the league who play center and are young that would give us an even better indication of the upcoming contract.

Zegras is the Ducks' number one center, and will likely stay that way even when either Mason McTavish or Leo Carlsson become very good players. Zegras is still young and a little more established than both of them. While Zegras has proven he can be a top centerman, the other two can realistically slot in on the wing. It is likely the Ducks are trying to sign Zegras to a seven or eight year deal to keep the cost down a little before he really breaks out. That being said, there are four centers around the same age who the Ducks and Zegras might use in contract negotiations to get what they want.

Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues makes $8.125 million AAV, Dylan Cozens of the Buffalo Sabres makes $7.1 million AAV, Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens makes $7.875 million AAV, and Dylan Strome of the Washington Capitals makes $5 million AAV. Thomas and Suzuki were signed for eight years and their salaries are the highest because options after them are seemingly non-existent for the time being. Cozens is a second line center behind Tage Thompson, but broke out in the same way as Zegras did last season, putting up similar numbers, just scoring more goals. As for Strome, his contract already looks like a steal and it hasn't even started.

Strome would be a number that the Ducks are looking to use to keep the cost of Zegras down, but I don't believe they'll get anywhere with it since it seems like a little bit of an anomaly. The Capitals struck gold in signing him early. Zegras might push $8 million AAV and sit somewhere right in between Thomas and Suzuki. The reason why, even though the Ducks have a lot of money now, is that there are a couple of strong young options and Zegras isn't the team's only hope at center.