Anahiem Ducks Trevor Zegras & Jamie Drysdale Unveil New Numbers for 2022-23

One thing about the journey of an NHL player is that if a player isn't a top-three draft pick, they often have to 'earn' selecting their own number. This is a club-by-club practice, so it's not applicable to everyone. But when you see a rookie razzling and dazzling -- much like Trevor Zegras did in '21-22 -- wearing some jabroni number like 46 something just isn't right about that. But his performance and, more importantly, his value to the club from a marketability standpoint have earned him the right to choose his own digits. Breaking News: Trevor Zegras did something really cool:

And before you ask, yes Trevor Zegras is a big fan of 'Stranger Things,' but he also wore #11 at the U.S. National Team Development Program, or USNTDP for medium-short. So while it may have been inspired by the hit Netflix show, it was not outright influenced by it.

However, from a marketability perspective, this opens the obvious cross over between the team and the hit show, which can only bring more eyes to the game, which can only result in positive growth. Considering Zegras' meteoric ascent in 2021-22, you could theorize that he's on a trajectory of becoming one of the most popular athletes not just in hockey, but in North America. Just one guy's opinion.

In other Ducks news, Jamie Drysdale's dominant play earned him the right to sport a number he chose. Drysdale showed immense poise in, quite frankly, an unfair workload for a defenseman aged just 20 years. He embraced his critical role and gave the Ducks great confidence in the young defender, earning himself the right to not wear #34 any longer:

Under normal assessment of a top-line defender, Drysdale's results don't appear all that great. Under '20-year old thrust into a top-pair role on a below-average team' assessment, however, he performed very well, scoring 32 points in 81 games. The Ducks have two great prospects in these two, and we haven't even talked about Mason McTavish or Olen Zellweger yet. They are building something special in SoCal, so look out for those Ducks.

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