Prospect Info: Nikita Zaitsev Discussion

[Tyson]

Great find for the Leafs. Saw him play several games and he looks like a future top 4 Dman.

You guys have a great management group and are starting to put nice pieces together.

 

[LeafsNation149]

So far from the preseason games I've watched, it looks like he is really nervous when he has the puck, seems to bobble the puck whenever he touches it. Hope he can improve that, if he does, he is easily a top 4 D

 

[inthe6ix]

Does he start the #1 PP unit with Morgan?

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

Does he start the #1 PP unit with Morgan?

Depends on the pp, we usually run 4f and 1d, late last year it was 2d but in preseason its back to the former, hard to say but he should be though.

 

[1specter]

So far from the preseason games I've watched, it looks like he is really nervous when he has the puck, seems to bobble the puck whenever he touches it. Hope he can improve that, if he does, he is easily a top 4 D

The only time I really felt this way was against Montreal, he looked shaky in that 6-1 drubbing, but then again who didn't?

Otherwise he's looked fairly solid, and his World Cup performance was the best indicator of all. Against the world's best players he never once looked out of place and was a really solid, dependable guy for Russia every game. I believe in their final game against Canada, Zaitsev actually had the best 5v5 possession numbers of any player on both squads.

 

[ViD]

I thought he had a good debut, had one bad play on PP which resulted in a breakaway that Andersen stopped, but other than that he looked solid.

A couple things I noticed - he had problems getting the puck to the net when shooting on the PP, he made some decent breakout passes, particularly one to Marner that sent him on a breakaway.

 

[BigBlu]

The sooner the long term contract the better.

 

[Battle Lin]

ROCK SOLID, as usual

just put him with rielly as 1st pairing and dont look back

 

[Wendelstache]

guy is going to be a horse, very solid defensively and great offensive instincts.

Finally, a point man with a good shot who can put it through traffic...

 

[TML Dynasty]

ROCK SOLID, as usual

just put him with rielly as 1st pairing and dont look back

With our current players I couldn't agree more!

 

[kk87]

ROCK SOLID, as usual

just put him with rielly as 1st pairing and dont look back

This is exactly what I'm thinking. I've had enough of Rielly being paired with guys like Marincin and Hunwick to drag him down. We can ride Rielly-Zaitsev for ~25 minutes a night and I'm sure they'd excel.

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Carrick
Marincin-Hunwick/Polak/Corrado

Still below average, but moderately respectable.

 

[Trapper]

This is exactly what I'm thinking. I've had enough of Rielly being paired with guys like Marincin and Hunwick to drag him down. We can ride Rielly-Zaitsev for ~25 minutes a night and I'm sure they'd excel.

If Hunwick is out for I don't know how long, just run:

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Carrick
Marincin-Corrado/Polak

Then work on an upgrade.

 

[thewave]

If Hunwick is out for I don't know how long, just run:

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Carrick
Marincin-Corrado/Polak

Then work on an upgrade.

That would be an upgrade. I don't think they can fit in an additional player on D. Expansion and all. The lines were going to become that exact top 2 pairs no matter what.

 

[kk87]

That would be an upgrade. I don't think they can fit in an additional player on D. Expansion and all. The lines were going to become that exact top 2 pairs no matter what.

I always forget how this works - do we have to protect Zaitsev, or does his pro experience in the KHL not count toward the expansion draft? If we don't have to protect him, I'd say we look to add a piece on the back end this year.

 

[Community]

I always forget how this works - do we have to protect Zaitsev, or does his pro experience in the KHL not count toward the expansion draft? If we don't have to protect him, I'd say we look to add a piece on the back end this year.

Don't have to protect Zaitsev

Edit: If needed (say Carrick has a great year), We could get away without losing a significant forward by protecting 4 Dmen too seeing as Marner, Nylander, and Matthews don't require protection.

If this happened, protect: Kadri, JVR, Komarov, and Martin? *Assuming Bozak is traded, if he is still here then the choice is protecting Martin or Carrick*

 

[kk87]

Don't have to protect Zaitsev

In that case, no need to worry about acquiring another top 4 dman. Protect Rielly, Gardiner, and whomever we trade for, if that's the way it works.

 

[Sniper99]

I liked what I saw from Zaitsev tonight.

 

[SprDaVE]

Good debut. Not flashy but played a really good game.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

IMO will start putting up a lot of PP points as he keeps getting more familiar. Looks good with the puck on the PP

 

[pheasant]

Good debut. Not flashy but played a really good game.

And he really stepped up after Hunwick got hurt. Zaitsev played 3 seconds shy of 24 minutes. Only him and Rielly(25:45) had more. It was also more time than any Sen other than Karlsson, who never leaves the ice. It's a really good sign that Babcock trusts him like this, and that he seems to be able to handle it. We need him to take a heavy workload on D.

 

[SprDaVE]

And he really stepped up after Hunwick got hurt. Zaitsev played 3 seconds shy of 24 minutes. Only him and Rielly(25:45) had more. It was also more time than any Sen other than Karlsson, who never leaves the ice. It's a really good sign that Babcock trusts him like this, and that he seems to be able to handle it. We need him to take a heavy workload on D.

He really handled those minutes well for his debut.

I think it's time for Babcock to make a Rielly and Zaitsev pairing a permanent thing.

 

[Anthrax442]

I think he looked nervous in the 1st, but then he was solid.

 

[Gardiner]

What are your guys thoughts on this for a top 4:

Rielly-Carrick
Gardiner-Z

 

[Pi]

He really handled those minutes well for his debut.

I think it's time for Babcock to make a Rielly and Zaitsev pairing a permanent thing.

Yeah it's the only way we can win.

We need two solid pairings to cover up our bad depth.

Rielly-Marincin isn't good, Zaitsev will have the same problem Rielly had with Hunwick.

Put your eggs in one basket on the defensive side of things...need two reliable pairs, not three average ones.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I liked what I saw from Zaitsev tonight.

Same here. One of the bright spots on D