Speculation: Could Zaitsev be pushed out sooner than we think?

[Barilko14]

Stuart Percy had a great first call up with the Leafs and was a shoe in by most fans. The Leafs went out and got Borgman and Rosen because the depth was bad. There will be more free agent additions next season as well.

You know he played hockey before he got to the Leafs right?

Never a bad idea to sign young dmen with potential. Does not reflect poorly on Dermott in any way, shape or form.

 

[Minus Mitch]

What was your previous username on here when Percy was drafted?

Minus Mitch. Didn’t post here for the longest time because of the nonsense I read on here by a few posters. Couldn’t hold out any longer. Need to start calling bullshit on some.

 

[Minus Mitch]

You know he played hockey before he got to the Leafs right?

Never a bad idea to sign young dmen with potential. Does not reflect poly on Dermott in any way, shape or form.

You don’t think it does? Lol ok then.

 

[Menzinger]

If “yes” then management sure screwed up with such a long contract.

But I doubt it, he’s one of Babcocks go to guys - he’s going to be with the team quite a while

 

[Menzinger]

Dermott is/was one of the top D men in the AHL, Percy was a highly questionable pick at the time of the draft and never showed a level of play with the consistency Of Dermott. Percy had a hot couple games during a brief callup and thisbdostoets folks memory of him.

There’s zero comparison to be made between the two guys.

 

[stickty111]

You know he played hockey before he got to the Leafs right?

Never a bad idea to sign young dmen with potential. Does not reflect poly on Dermott in any way, shape or form.

Yup. Leafs trolls wont understand that though.
He is only trying to descredit another Leafs player because he isnt happy that the player is doing well.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Not when Percy was an “elite” Leaf prospect by fans and don’t wanna hear the bull**** that that wasn’t said right here on these boards.

Lol you are right
I remember the Percy hype

 

[4thline]

I don't see how Liljegren (likely) in the AHL in year 2 of the deal and (hopefully) contributing on an elc in years 3/4/5 does anything to push him out. That's 2/3's of the right side at a combined max caphit of 5.7 million. The only way Zait's gets pushed out before year 6 is if we have Timmy + two other guys that are demonstrably better (unlikely), or we land a really big expensive fish (not the premise of the thread)

 

[nsleaf]

So I got to thinking last year Zaitsev got a 7 year deal worth 4.2 million per year and at the time we thought he was going to be a long term piece, now I am not sure that he is.

Since he signed that contract the Leafs have built up quite the stable of young D men lets take a look.

Liljergen who looks really good, he's young but I don't think it's a matter of if, but when he makes it.

Andreas Borgman who has looked good all year and he's only 22 so he's only going to grow.

Travis Dermott- it is a limited role but so far he does look like he has top 4 upside although granted it is only 5 games but he does look like he COULD be top 4

Calle Rosen another guy maybe pushing for a job next year.

That is 4 guys that look like they have a future as NHL D men I can't help but wonder if Zaitsev might be pushed out at some point in the not too distant future

If all 4 develop into useful NHL dmen and are still in the Leafs organization, then maybe. But that's a big IF!

 

[Raging Bull]

Lol you are right
I remember the Percy hype

Bullshit. There wasn’t hype. Fans had a vested interest in wanting to see him do well, same as any other first round pick on any team. There was no first round pick the year before so maybe he got more attention than he should have.

 

[Barilko14]

You don’t think it does? Lol ok then.

Teams can have 50 players under contract. Leafs have about a dozen LD, just like most other teams in the league, it's called depth and asset management. If Dermott was 24 and yet to crack the lineup, you might be onto something, seeing he's not, imo you are out to lunch.

 

[Minus Mitch]

Teams can have 50 players under contract. Leafs have about a dozen LD, just like most other teams in the league, it's called depth and asset management. If Dermott was 24 and yet to crack the lineup, you might be onto something, seeing he's not, imo you are out to lunch.

You mean like Leivo who gets shitload of hype on here yet is a career AHLer really.

 

[Barilko14]

You mean like Leivo who gets ****load of hype on here yet is a career AHLer really.

Yes, it would make a lot more sense for you to wait until Dermott is in Leivo's shoes, before you think management is signing guys because they have doubts about him.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

So I got to thinking last year Zaitsev got a 7 year deal worth 4.2 million per year and at the time we thought he was going to be a long term piece, now I am not sure that he is.

Since he signed that contract the Leafs have built up quite the stable of young D men lets take a look.

Liljergen who looks really good, he's young but I don't think it's a matter of if, but when he makes it.

Andreas Borgman who has looked good all year and he's only 22 so he's only going to grow.

Travis Dermott- it is a limited role but so far he does look like he has top 4 upside although granted it is only 5 games but he does look like he COULD be top 4

Calle Rosen another guy maybe pushing for a job next year.

That is 4 guys that look like they have a future as NHL D men I can't help but wonder if Zaitsev might be pushed out at some point in the not too distant future

Borgman: lefty
Dermott: lefty
Liljegren: right offensive guy who can definitely run a PP

= Say goodbye to Gardiner who's a lefty offensive Dman who runs a PP decently but isn't great defensively and doesn't kill penalties. His contract is also up after next season.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Zaitsev will be a good top 4 D for years to come and I don't think anyone is pushing him out of that position for a while.

Need him back ASAP.

 

[Morbo]

Pushed out?

we wish our defence was that good.

 

[613Leafer]

Hainsey obviously isn't a long-term piece, and I don't see the Leafs re-signing Gardiner with the play of Dermott that we've seen and Liljegren coming up as well.

Without a big trade or UFA addition, I'd expect to see this going into 2019-2020:

Rielly-Zaitsev
Dermott-Liljegren
Borgman-XXX

That XXX could be Carrick, Rosen, Nielsen, a depth UFA signing, etc. The other five I think are likely locked in (assuming Liljegren doesn't bust).

 

[BlueBaron]

Hmm, 2nd least likely D traded. Probably top 6 least likely guy to be traded.

Good thread OP.

 

[Nylander88]

Hope Zaits is back soon. Liked Dermott-Carrick pairing last night. Would like to see that keep up. Borgman was a machine out there too. Would like to see guya from within grab the bull by the horns. And Polak preferrably benched lol

 

[TMLeafs17]

Handedness trumps all...

 

[BertCorbeau]

Dermott - Zaitsev would be a great second pairing next year I think.

 

[zeke]

You mean like Leivo who gets ****load of hype on here yet is a career AHLer really.

Top 5v5 Points per 60 minutes played, this year + last year:

1.Barzal 2.94
2.McDavid 2.84
3.Marchand 2.73
4.Kucherov 2.56
5.Leivo 2.54

 

[ULF_55]

Seems to be new guys in this thread that are unaware of what the thread is about.

It isn't about posters or a poster's history ...

Read the title to get a hint.

 

[gregmash23]

This is lunacy. We don't have enough quality top 4 Defencemen as is. We're clearly missing him on the ice right now and I can't imagine we're even close to not needing a player like him because of the depth in our system.

 

[Tall Morty]

Seems to be new guys in this thread that are unaware of what the thread is about.

It isn't about posters or a poster's history ...

Read the title to get a hint.

Sorry boss.

Zaitsev's here for the long haul damn it!