On Saturday, a report had emerged from Sportsnet's NHL Insider, Elliotte Friedman, that the Anaheim Ducks and a pair of restricted free agent stars have hit a bit of a standstill in negotiations, which is not doing much for either player's attitude towards the team right now.
In yesterday's report, Friedman speculated that Zegras and Drysdale may actually be frustrated with the Ducks organization over a lack of traction in their contract talks mere weeks before the start of the 2023-24 season.
Zegras, 22, appeared in 81 games for the Ducks last season, scoring 23 goals and 65 points on a team that had a tough time producing any offense whatsoever. Drysdale, 21, played just 8 games last season due to injury, but has shown flashes of tremendous skill during his 113-game NHL career.
Per recent reports, the Ducks want to get both players locked up long-term, so they can hopefully keep their AAV's down at a more reasonable level. Bridging either player for 2-3 years right now may result in a massive raise in 2-3 summers, which is what the team is trying to avoid.
Meanwhile, for the players, they're looking at the likelihood that these negotiations will drag into training camp and perhaps even the regular season, which is why they've become so frustrated. Both players would like to get a deal done sooner than later and the team not bargaining in good faith may be starting to irk them.
