GDT: It's a Wonderful Streak! Red Wings @ Devils, 7 PM, MSG+ 2

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The 29th Pick

Still Alive !
Dec 7, 2007
19,425
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Northvale N.J.
He, most likely, took away a goal in the 3rd with about 8:00 left with his slick stick lift on Athanasiou. I'm not saying he hasn't been bad, but you all would have killed him for it if he didn't make that play.
that was a good play, many here including me posted it during the game, but he used to do that several times throughout the game(s). I'm not expecting much offense from Trav, but he has to continue to play good "D" on a regular basis
 

NJDevs26

Once upon a time...
Mar 21, 2007
67,119
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Funny how for years people kept howling how we had to have skill on the fourth line because backchecking and intangibles were crap but when it comes to Zajac producing like a bad fourth liner that’s okay cause of...backchecking and intangibles.

I really don’t think people are grasping how terrible two POINTS is for a forward in 20 games, especially with his ice time and linemates. It’s like saying it’s okay for a starting pitcher to have an 8 ERA because he fields like a gold glover and can get those bunts down!
 

R8Devs

1-5-6-12
Nov 20, 2010
21,089
4,463
New Jersey
He had a good game yesterday but his lack of production has been bailed out by guys like Boyle and Gibbons. It’d be unreasonable to expect Boyle to keep on producing the way he has so at some point Zajac will have to produce and I think it probably will happen if he continues on PP1 and playing with MoJo and palms. Well at least in theory it should happen
 

Call Me Al

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Aug 28, 2017
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i think we're losing track of the fact that zajac's number one priority isn't scoring anymore, if it ever was.

which is totally fine, but in that case don't put him on PP1 or give him johansson and palmieri as his wingers
 

BahlDeep

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Jun 29, 2008
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i think we're losing track of the fact that zajac's number one priority isn't scoring anymore, if it ever was.

the last five years amplified his lack of score sheet contributions because of how ****ing awful the team was, and now our lineup is stacked so he's naturally going to get fewer opportunities than he had even though the team as a whole is generating more offense.
He's great defensively, still shouldn't be on the PP
 

devilsblood

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Mar 10, 2010
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Funny how for years people kept howling how we had to have skill on the fourth line because backchecking and intangibles were crap but when it comes to Zajac producing like a bad fourth liner that’s okay cause of...backchecking and intangibles.

I really don’t think people are grasping how terrible two POINTS is for a forward in 20 games, especially with his ice time and linemates. It’s like saying it’s okay for a starting pitcher to have an 8 ERA because he fields like a gold glover and can get those bunts down!
As we know, "some people" play favorites.
 

Blender

Registered User
Dec 2, 2009
51,305
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Zajac has been putrid offensively and his defensive game hasn't even been up to the elite standard he used to play with for that.

No way in hell he should be touching a power play unit when half the team is producing offense and he isn't.
 

Wingman77

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Mar 16, 2010
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Even looking back at a year ago from yesterday, when we had Cammalleri who fell off a cliff, PA Parenteau, Beau Bennett, Sergey Kalinin and Vernon Fiddler in our lineup.

What a difference a year makes.

Cammalleri and Fiddler falling off the face of the earth were factors in why we were so bad last year and regressed from the year prior. Fiddler was brought in to fill the role that Boyle was brought in for, but unfortunately for us, Fiddler (who was a consistent 20pt player per year) had a steep regression that ultimately led to him retiring. Cammalleri, who was nearly a PPG player the season prior, went invisible.

We had other issues, but guys like that regressing didn't help.
 

Emperoreddy

Show Me What You Got!
Apr 13, 2010
129,839
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Funny how for years people kept howling how we had to have skill on the fourth line because backchecking and intangibles were crap but when it comes to Zajac producing like a bad fourth liner that’s okay cause of...backchecking and intangibles.

I really don’t think people are grasping how terrible two POINTS is for a forward in 20 games, especially with his ice time and linemates. It’s like saying it’s okay for a starting pitcher to have an 8 ERA because he fields like a gold glover and can get those bunts down!

That really isn’t an apt comparison at all.

The proper analogy to baseball would be how much do you value a guy’s defense over a poor batting average.
 

NJDevs26

Once upon a time...
Mar 21, 2007
67,119
31,155
As long as you don't compare to Zajac to Rey Ordoñez

That probably is a better comparison than mine though lol (although Ordonez was actually overrated defensively too, he'd make the spectacular play then botch the routine throw).
 

New Jersey

(pacmanghost x) sad again
Sep 7, 2009
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I'm not as high on Butcher as most. Yeah he runs the PP well. And yeah the points are impressive. But he is a little guy that does not skate all that well. He's not much of a defender in his own zone. He gets very easy minutes.

He's a pretty one dimensional specialist.

he has 23 points and is a +6 (the team is only +12, don't forget) while playing 16+ minutes a game.

he's not a liability and is a one dimensional specialist we sorely needed at the position, and he's still pretty young and is very disciplined at only 2 minor penalties in 36 games.
 
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