Confirmed with Link: Maple Leafs re-sign Nikita Zaitsev for 7 years, $4.5M per

[lifelonghockeyfan]

He has to prove he’s worth that contract this year or he’s gone in the expansion draft/traded.

Trouble is if contract is that bad, he's almost untradable without retention, so what would be the point. Expansion draft?

 

[Trapper]

He's looked really good this pre-season! Hope he keeps it up during the regular season.

The real test is yet to come.
We haven’t faced much more than AHL players so far in preseason.
2 games against an AHL Ottawa squad no matter who they iced.
Twice against last years lottery winner Sabres.
A Montreal team that is also pretty much AHL.
A contender for this years lottery in Detroit.

We should look head and shoulders above these teams.

 

[LeafSteel]

Hoping he can prove that he’s a #4D, but I don’t think this was Lou’s best contract.

I think he could have signed him for less.

 

[thewave]

I find that neither Jake nor Morgan play very well with Nikita. Jake plays well with Carrick oddly enough. Morgan plays better with Hainsey and they are using Jake to cover up for a struggling Z. They can't afford to admit or drop that 4.5m on a3rd pair. They made a mistake.

 

[Ratboy]

He looks good

YUP. luks gud

 

[Shanty]

Why would you bump a "confirmed with link" thread at this time of year, at this time of day, localized entirely within the Leafs forum?

 

[IPS]

Zaitsev looking a lot better this camp. I think bare minimum he'll be an adequate top-4 D.

 

[notDatsyuk]

That signing could be a real steal.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

I guess there are 3 stages with these long term deals on 20 year old players (if the cap continues to steadily grow)

The first couple of years are a huge over payment. The middle years are about proper market value. The last 2-3 years or so (as the player has hit their prime and the cap is 10-15 mil higher) are a steal. We're still in the huge overpayment part of Zaitsev's contract.

 

[Once]

He was decent last year until he broke his ankle and his mobility, which is a strength of Z, was neutered. He also got sick and dropped a bit of weight.
I think he needed this summer to heal up. His skating looks good, he's out muscling guys, and is handling the puck efficiently. Hope it continues.

 

[NoName]

That signing could be a real steal.

At 26 I think the odds for him to have some sort of huge breakout are limited. At this point "not bad" I think is realistically the best this contract could turn out as. If he puts up 30 points and is ok defensively then I think we are reasonably ok.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I just don't see Zaitsev & Gardiner for 11 mill

 

[Voodoo Child]

I think if Zaitsev shows first season form that 4.5 is fair.

Sounds like he went through a lot this past year.

I also think he's a guy who needs a specific 'role', being more of a defensive guy at ES and PK but using his shot on the PP. He skates well, is physical and has a good shot, but he does have his moments.

There's absolutely a place for him here.

But how does it all look? He hasn't looked great with Gardiner or Rielly (better with Rielly I think) but he's our best RD option.

Rielly Hainsey
Gardiner Zaitsev
Dermott Oziganov?
Borgman/Carrick

I hope that third pairing plays well and Liljegren is ready for at least sheltered minutes next year.

 

[BigBlu]

Rielly Hainsey
Gardiner Zaitsev
Dermott Oziganov?
Borgman/Carrick

Hope that third pairing plays well and Liljegren is ready next year.

Well he better be. Because this is Hainsey's last year, and we can't afford to re-sign Gards.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Why would you bump a "confirmed with link" thread at this time of year, at this time of day, localized entirely within the Leafs forum?

How else are they supposed to prove they were right on the Internet?

 

[AllDay28]

would u rather be underpaid or overrated?

 

[Maplebeasts]

Damn it. I saw the confirmed with link and got excited. Anyways, Zaitsev has been good this pre-season. Way better than he was looking last season.

 

[34]

That signing could be a real steal.

Or a real nightmare.

 

[93LEAFS]

its almost like, the sophmore slump kind of exists. and injuries screw stuff up too

everyone who wrote him off last year, you were wrong!

Sophomore slump might be one of the most annoying cliches in sports. Yes, some sophomores struggle, but it isn't disproportionate to a player going from year 2 to year 3 and so on. Dramatic decreases on a players average return can happen in any year. Look at our big rookies from 2015/16. The only ones who notably decreased from one year to the next were Zaitsev and Brown. Everyone else stayed stagnant or produced at a better level. In Brown's case, that was partially influenced by a change in usage. Matthews, Marner and Hyman produced better, and Nylander was pretty much stagnant.

Now, sometimes they seem more extreme because the rookie year was a mirage and the player never regains that form. Notable cases of this are RNH, Yakupov, and Tyler Myers. So, their rookie season production wise was actually the outlier in their career. In most of these cases, there are clear analytics you could point to which caused this.

Now, I obviously hope you are right about Zaitsev bouncing back, but I don't think it had anything to do with him being a sophomore. It is more likely the latter stuff you mention which was injuries.

 

[Ulysses31]

Why would you bump a "confirmed with link" thread at this time of year, at this time of day, localized entirely within the Leafs forum?

impeccable timing on thread bump