Trevor Zegras was scheduled for a player-elected salary arbitration hearing on Wednesday, July 22, putting his contract situation on the same timetable as several other restricted free agents. Jamie Drysdale was set for a hearing two days earlier, on Monday, July 20, in a process that had 15 hearings scheduled between July 20 and August 1.
The timing matters because arbitration is now the next formal step for Zegras unless he and the Philadelphia Flyers reach a deal first. That possibility still exists right up to the hearing, and four of the 15 cases had already been resolved before the July 22 date arrived.
Zegras is among the restricted free agents who elected salary arbitration, which means he was no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet. The process also limits any award to a one- or two-year contract, with the team deciding whether the result is for one year or two. If a player is only one year away from becoming a UFA, the award can only be for one year.
That is why the July 22 date drew attention. It marked Zegras as one of the players closest to a decision point in a compressed arbitration window, and it left the Flyers with a choice that could still be settled quietly before a hearing begins. The open question is whether a deal comes first or whether the case reaches the hearing room as scheduled.
