Prospect Info: Pavel Zacha

[NjDevsRR]

Regarding Zacha:

 

[RSeen]

I'm convinced that it was the concussions that have taken his mean streak and aggression away.

What is this based on? Not like he was known for being physically even before being drafted. The issue IMO is that he just plays a tentative game and that is reflected in both in physicality and his offense.

 

[AfroThunder396]

He was certainly advertised as a power forward leading up to the draft.

 

[BenedictGomez]

so….. worse season stats wise……zacha or nolan patrick?

both underwhelming

I havent seen a single Flyers game this season, is this kid not NHL ready or has he just been wildly snakebitten? He's pacing for 23 points on an 82 game slate, which is pretty bad obviously.

Now, you can make the argument that it's very impressive just playing in the NHL as a 19 year old, but frankly if ~23 points is his legitimate production, he shouldn't be in the NHL to begin with.

 

[MadDevil]

Some of it could be usage. Patrick is only averaging 12 minutes a night, on a wildly inconsistent team. I still think he'll be fine in the long run, but he might just be a guy who takes a little longer to develop. Although it's kind of funny because it seemed like the consensus was Patrick was the more NHL ready player, yet Nico has just completely blown him away so far.

 

[devilsblood]

At least he's not putting up Dylan Strome type #'s. Only 17 NHL games thus far. 2 points. Woof.

Edit: Which is odd, we know he dominated at Erie, but he's also been dominant in the AHL, 26 points in 15 games in Tucson this year.

 

[Darkauron]

At least he's not putting up Dylan Strome type #'s. Only 17 NHL games thus far. 2 points. Woof.

Edit: Which is odd, we know he dominated at Erie, but he's also been dominant in the AHL, 26 points in 15 games in Tucson this year.

I was never impressed really by Dylan Strome's play too too much.

 

[My3Sons]

PZ is making strides but it is a slow process. I think the idea is that his valleys won’t be as deep if he competes harder. Yesterday was a nothing special game for him and he almost had a goal and he didn’t look out of place for the most part. Earlier in the season he doesn’t compete at all in that game. Patience is still needed with him. He’s not ready to be the 2C yet in my view. That is an ideal landing spot for him eventually but hard to see it right now.

 

[Zippy316]

He's been good of late.

If he keeps playing the way he has, the points will come. I think we have to realize what we're seeing right now is his game. Solid systematic play, but he also has that elite skill to make plays when he needs to. Just needs to maintain a more consistent compete level and not hit too many low points.

 

[Blackjack]

Speaking of Dylan Strome, guy was just sent back down to the AHL. Scored only one point in 9 games in his call up to the big club (of course it was a goal against us).

On the prospects board they’re talking about what a colossal disappointment he is, but I thought this article was interesting.

It's impossible to deny: Dylan Strome is a disappointment

So it seems like Arizona did exactly what a lot of us wanted the Devils to do when Zacha was getting scratched, that is, sent him down to the AHL. And Strome did exactly what we hoped Zacha would do if he were sent down: he dominated. But as someone alluded to above, 26 points in 15 games in the AHL has translated to absolutely zilch in the NHL.

Meanwhile, the approach that our front office and coaching staff have taken - that Zacha is an NHL player and doesn’t have anything left to learn in the AHL, scratching him when he plays poorly, and working with him in practice seems to be showing some promise.

I understand that they are two different players, and just because something did or didn’t work for one doesn’t mean it would or wouldn’t have worked for the other, but if Zacha does continue to improve and ultimately becomes a reliable top 6 two way forward, I think our management and coaching staff deserves a lot of credit.

 

[glenwo2]

Man....Kudos to the Devils fans here who managed to dig up this thread. Must've been buried six feet under a million threads.

 

[Blackjack]

Man....Kudos to the Devils fans here who managed to dig up this thread. Must've been buried six feet under a million threads.

We really needed a place to discuss Pavel Zacha since that wasn't happening enough in other threads.

 

[EliasFTW]

Man....Kudos to the Devils fans here who managed to dig up this thread. Must've been buried six feet under a million threads.

Less impressive when you realize there is a search function

 

[glenwo2]

Less impressive when you realize there is a search function

Don't let details get in the way, though......

 

[Edmonton East]

He made some horrendous decisions last night and was very late getting to areas he should have been in (off the puck).

 

[Tretyak 20]

He made some horrendous decisions last night and was very late getting to areas he should have been in (off the puck).

Asking whether you will show up here criticizing Pavel Zacha is like asking if taxis will be available at 8:00 pm on a Friday night in lower Manhattan.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

He made some horrendous decisions last night and was very late getting to areas he should have been in (off the puck).

Oh, you mean like his stick check int he neutral zone that led to Coleman sniping a short handed goal? How about the other stick check that led to a high scoring chance when he knocked the puck lose? It's a shame that he set up one of the nicest passes of the game to Stafford of all people since he is even more snake bitten than Zacha this season.

The guy could score on every shot he takes, set up an assist on every pass he makes and have the team spend 100% of the time in the offensive zone when he is on the ice and you would complain about him not hitting someone or holding the water bottle correctly.

 

[DerekDevils30]

I thought Zacha was fine against the Rangers. He made some good defensive plays that @Cult of Hynes mentioned which resulted in scoring chances for the Devils.

Zacha is a big part of the future of this team. I like the thought of him and McLeod centering the 2nd and 3rd lines while Hischier mans the 1st.

 

[BomaLightDevils]

What about that give and go with severson at the blue line when he gave him a beautiful but risky back pass just on the tape while spinning around. Zacha had a good game and he will take of sooner than later. I just need to emphasis that our team is winning as a team not as individuals. We are playing to the new culture and everyone is buying in, enjoy it.
I don't think people realize how great this is that the rebuild is going the right way!!

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

He made some horrendous decisions last night and was very late getting to areas he should have been in (off the puck).

total nonsense.

It is clear you will never be happy with this player. He was very good the other night, particularly shorthanded.

 

[Edmonton East]

He made some horrendous decisions last night and was very late getting to areas he should have been in (off the puck).

It's always hilarious to see this board continue its biased approach of evaluating high picks. The same people that acted like Corrente, Eckford, and Josefson had incredible potential for years are many of the same folks saying Zacha had a great game because of two nice plays. Not my problem you guys don't know how to watch a player off the puck. I gave him credit when he played well for a handful of games last year, so I'd be more than happy for him to pan out. He made 2 nice plays last night. Lost 3 board battles where he had significant size advantage. Collapsed too deep in the zone, leaving his mark open a few times. Didn't fan out to the boards quickly enough to provide an outlet; 2 times resulting in a dman turnover (note: he was trying to get to the boards, so I don't view this as the wingers responsibility on these plays. He just did it lethargically).

In the meantime, I'll let the kids on here live in fantasy land. Yea, you guys are right. The guy that is 11th from last in the entire league at ESP/60 (min 1000 minutes) among forwards has shown a lot. The only 10 players worse than him during that stretch? Elite talent like: Bellemare, Nordstrom, Soderberg, Mackenzie, Komarov, Sheahan, Brouwer, etc. As for the Devs, the only 2 forwards worse than Zacha at ES production over the last 3 years were Josefson and Kalinin (min 1000).

But facts hurt people's feelings on this board, so why bother. This is my last post on Zacha until March, so consider that my Christmas present to the board.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

I forgot about that other short handed attempt he had where he stole the puck off a turnover and then turn and burned for a nice wrister on net that Lundqvist just made a nice glove save on.

He's been playing well, and it's actually unfortunate this foolish coaching staff isn't given him chances on the pp but would rather infest it with Zajac, who's been pretty bad this season, and should not be getting pp time over Zacha or time on the first unit over Hischier.

 

[DerekDevils30]

There but for the grace of god go we. I for one am grateful to have been in the presence of such knowledge and wit.

In the end, what happened here was Zacha was called out for making horrendous decisions. No compliments made towards some nice plays he made which helped establish possession and generate scoring chances.

Call us homers for seeing improvement in our TWENTY YEAR OLD and we will call you a Grinch.

 

[Tretyak 20]

It's always hilarious to see this board continue its biased approach of evaluating high picks. The same people that acted like Corrente, Eckford, and Josefson had incredible potential for years are many of the same folks saying Zacha had a great game because of two nice plays. Not my problem you guys don't know how to watch a player off the puck. I gave him credit when he played well for a handful of games last year, so I'd be more than happy for him to pan out. He made 2 nice plays last night. Lost 3 board battles where he had significant size advantage. Collapsed too deep in the zone, leaving his mark open a few times. Didn't fan out to the boards quickly enough to provide an outlet; 2 times resulting in a dman turnover (note: he was trying to get to the boards, so I don't view this as the wingers responsibility on these plays. He just did it lethargically).

In the meantime, I'll let the kids on here live in fantasy land. Yea, you guys are right. The guy that is 11th from last in the entire league at ESP/60 (min 1000 minutes) among forwards has shown a lot. The only 10 players worse than him during that stretch? Elite talent like: Bellemare, Nordstrom, Soderberg, Mackenzie, Komarov, Sheahan, Brouwer, etc. As for the Devs, the only 2 forwards worse than Zacha at ES production over the last 3 years were Josefson and Kalinin (min 1000).

But facts hurt people's feelings on this board, so why bother. This is my last post on Zacha until March, so consider that my Christmas present to the board.

Thanks for the present. And FYI, I always hated the Corrente pick. I never gave him any credit because he always sucked.

 

[Oneiro]

Zacha's been making progress and always makes a clever play or two that makes you think there's more coming. Good to see him get a goal tonight.

He's still kind of soft, though. I don't think I'd ever bet on him winning a 50/50 puck.