Confirmed with Link: Zaitsev waived

[JackieDaytona]

Zaitsev as deployed as our #6D last year and has been deployed as our #7D this year. This narrative that DJ adores Zaitsev is based on nothing other than him publicly supporting the player.


It's uh... it's not.

Ice time, deploying zaitsev at crucial times(end of periods etc) I think fuels the narrative. Jumping from healthy scratch to #2 in ice time. DJ trusts Zaitsev more than he should, especially after years of seeing him play, the issues and results of his play.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Ice time, deploying zaitsev at crucial times(end of periods etc) I think fuels the narrative. Jumping from healthy scratch to #2 in ice time. DJ trusts Zaitsev more than he should, especially after years of seeing him play, the issues and results of his play.

He gets the least ice time of any of our D & the least at ES by a huge margin. His deployment is not particularly difficult by any metric.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Ice time, deploying zaitsev at crucial times(end of periods etc) I think fuels the narrative. Jumping from healthy scratch to #2 in ice time. DJ trusts Zaitsev more than he should, especially after years of seeing him play, the issues and results of his play.

Zaitsev is 8th for defenseman in TOI on the team.

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Not sure where you got that from.

 

[JackieDaytona]

Ok thanks for looking those up and correcting me, not my intent to misinform but I didn’t look up any stats etc. I remember reading after his first or second game back that he had ~20 mins of ice time (lots of pk mind you) and was second in toi for dmen that game, but maybe that was incorrect.

Admittedly, for me and I assume others, when I see him on ice I watch closely and am perhaps overly critical or at least looking for any error or flub at this point. Confirmation bias is real. That said, they occur often and there’s history. This is not an imagined narrative even if many fans are over sensitive towards it at this point.

In any case, I believe the team is better without him on the ice. Waiving him is good for the team and probably for dj too.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Sounds like he's still a part of DJ's plan.

Ottawa Senators D.J. Smith on if Nikita Zaitsev clears waivers | TSN

Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith said Thursday the team will work on rebuilding Nikita Zaitsev's confidence if the defenceman goes unclaimed on waivers.

www.tsn.ca

 

[DaveMatthew]

Sounds like he's still a part of DJ's plan.

Ottawa Senators D.J. Smith on if Nikita Zaitsev clears waivers | TSN

Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith said Thursday the team will work on rebuilding Nikita Zaitsev's confidence if the defenceman goes unclaimed on waivers.

www.tsn.ca

If Dorion does not bury him in Belleville and DJ remains as coach, Zaitsev will no doubt play 40+ games for us this year. We'll lose many of those games.

Chalking it up to "confidence" is wild. I guess he's lacked confidence for 6 years now.

DJ has really leaned into being the players' buddy. He can't even come out with a "player x needs to be more responsible with the puck/can't take bad penalties" amidst a 6 game-losing streak where there have been countless unforced gaffes.

Bet he's back there telling Chabot how great his hair looks too. Giveaways? Who cares.

 

[h2]

If Dorion does not bury him in Belleville and DJ remains as coach, Zaitsev will no doubt play 40+ games for us this year. We'll lose many of those games.

Chalking it up to "confidence" is wild. I guess he's lacked confidence for 6 years now.

DJ has really leaned into being the players' buddy. He can't even come out with a "player x needs to be more responsible with the puck/can't take bad penalties" amidst a 6 game-losing streak where there have been countless unforced gaffes.

It's actually disgusting how loyal DJ is to Zaitsev. He's an awful defensemen, and he's going to cost DJ his job. I think DJ honestly believes Zaitsev is an NHL level defensemen which is just shocking. The dude has been washed up for years.

DJ seems to have a soft spot for washed up veterans in general (Stepan, Tierney, Anisimov, Hainsey, Gudbransson, now Brassard). Loyal to those types of players to a fault and elevates them into positions they shouldn't be playing. Just a very outdated and unintelligent way of coaching, it's part of the reason I think we'll never advance further in the rebuild until DJ is fired.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

If Dorion does not bury him in Belleville and DJ remains as coach, Zaitsev will no doubt play 40+ games for us this year. We'll lose many of those games.

Chalking it up to "confidence" is wild. I guess he's lacked confidence for 6 years now.

DJ has really leaned into being the players' buddy. He can't even come out with a "player x needs to be more responsible with the puck/can't take bad penalties" amidst a 6 game-losing streak where there have been countless unforced gaffes.

Bet he's back there telling Chabot how great his hair looks too. Giveaways? Who cares.

I did not like that particular statement about confidence, but I don't know what to draw from it. Is he just going down with the ship and refusing to let the player have egg on his face, or does this guy actually believe that 22 has anything positive to offer this team. I hope its the former.

I agree, I hope they take this out of his hands. Some change on the backend is a good thing and if we're going to struggle anyways, we're better off trying out some youth there than going back to the well we know is dried up.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Zaitsev clears. Hellberg claimed.

It's actually disgusting how loyal DJ is to Zaitsev. He's an awful defensemen, and he's going to cost DJ his job. I think DJ honestly believes Zaitsev is an NHL level defensemen which is just shocking. The dude has been washed up for years.

DJ seems to have a soft spot for washed up veterans in general (Stepan, Tierney, Anisimov, Hainsey, Gudbransson, now Brassard). Loyal to those types of players to a fault and elevates them into positions they shouldn't be playing. Just a very outdated and unintelligent way of coaching, it's part of the reason I think we'll never advance further in the rebuild until DJ is fired.

DJ played Zaitsev as a 6D last year, had him as the #7DMan this year despite not having JBD available to him (who, clearly, he is happy to play over Zaitsev)... what is this disgusting loyalty you speak of? This is one of those baseless things I hear repeated over & over again.

Dorion acquired all those guys. Dorion sets the roster. I would argue that Zaitsev has been one of DJs least favoured player these last two seasons.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Hellberg back to Seattle and Zaitsev clears.

 

[operasen]

I think it was always open to Seattle to reclaim him first. Good on them.

Zaitzev needs to just go. Having him affect Belleville players is not a good thing either. I'd rather a JBD, Thomson, Gueneete, Larsson fill the spaces up here. Even on a rotating basis. Learn the ropes in real time. Can't be worse than Zaitsev, Holden et al.

 

[Senator Stanley]

I want him off the team as much as anyone, but what was the point of this?

Nobody was going to claim him. He doesn't look like he's going to Belleville, so it wasn't for that. And now they're talking about building up his confidence, which couldn't have been helped by being waived and unclaimed.

 

[operasen]

Just cut him lose with a buyout. My option

 

[h2]

Zaitsev clears. Hellberg claimed.

DJ played Zaitsev as a 6D last year, had him as the #7DMan this year despite not having JBD available to him (who, clearly, he is happy to play over Zaitsev)... what is this disgusting loyalty you speak of? This is one of those baseless things I hear repeated over & over again.

Dorion acquired all those guys. Dorion sets the roster. I would argue that Zaitsev has been one of DJs least favoured player these last two seasons.

I'm really not sure why you're questioning this, this is probably the easiest subject on these forums to retort.

Let's start with the fact that Zaitsev is DJ's boy. DJ actually convinced Zaitsev to waive his NTC and come to Ottawa. Zaitsev was deployed as a top 4 for MULTIPLE seasons and was never suitable for that role, yet it continued. While you are correct that his role has been reduced in the past season, it's still more than it should be, as in - He shouldn't be in the NHL. Even when Zaitsev has a good game for his standards this season being deployed as a #6, there's still some sort of moment of chaos brought on by Zaitsev that leads to a costly penalty or bad giveaway even if it's not directly tied to a goal. It's a momentum killer. DJ has gone to great lengths to deflect all of this during media sessions throughout his tenure. Every other coach would have buried Zaitsev long ago, especially when his job relies on performance and we're suppose to turn the corner this season. If that's not loyal to a fault, I'm not sure what is.

Finally, sure Dorion brought those guys in, you don't think DJ had a hand in any of those acquisitions? DJ was the one that overplayed those scrub veteran players and usually over much higher performing rookies/younger players with actual promise. This actually happened. Doesn't sound so baseless to me.

Next.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Just cut him lose with a buyout. My option

We barely save any real money from that because of his bonus structure. If cap space is 100% the main concern here, we'd just bury him in Belleville. Maybe that happens if new ownership comes in and intends to spend to the cap.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I want a mulligan on the deal that brought him here in the first place.

 

[bicboi64]

I want a mulligan on the deal that brought him here in the first place.

We could have just kept Ceci for 1 more year or moved him for anything else, but I guess management was really high on Connor Brown to take on Zaitsev. It was a gamble that definitely failed, just another sign of poor pro evaluation.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

We could have just kept Ceci for 1 more year or moved him for anything else, but I guess management was really high on Connor Brown to take on Zaitsev. It was a gamble that definitely failed, just another sign of poor pro evaluation.

It had some short term gain, but all in all looking back, it is something I personally feel was a net negative. Walk away from Ceci and call it a day, but all good, its well in the past other than the constant reminder of being stuck with Zaitsev's contract.

 

[mianjo]

Zaitzev will probably start tonight.............................

 

[Golden_Jet]

Just cut him lose with a buyout. My option

No buyouts during the season.

Zaitzev will probably start tonight.............................

Not on road trip.

 

[Micklebot]

Not on road trip.

So we only took 6 d on the road trip? That's risky...

 

[Golden_Jet]

Thought I read will rejoin team in Philly if clears

 

[armani]

DJ thinks confidence is holding Zaitsev back. Nah DJ, Zaitsev just plain sucks, he is not an NHL defenceman. Zaitsev should be playing for Belleville.

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

Ok thanks for looking those up and correcting me, not my intent to misinform but I didn’t look up any stats etc. I remember reading after his first or second game back that he had ~20 mins of ice time (lots of pk mind you) and was second in toi for dmen that game, but maybe that was incorrect.

Admittedly, for me and I assume others, when I see him on ice I watch closely and am perhaps overly critical or at least looking for any error or flub at this point. Confirmation bias is real. That said, they occur often and there’s history. This is not an imagined narrative even if many fans are over sensitive towards it at this point.

In any case, I believe the team is better without him on the ice. Waiving him is good for the team and probably for dj too.

Its not confirmation bias when he takes absurd non-discretionary penalties and creates havoc in our own zone. That is happening regularly.

 

[Xspyrit]

OK so let's just tank this year, get a prized prospect and in the meantime, teams gets sold, new management then new coaching comes in and we are ready to contend

I want him off the team as much as anyone, but what was the point of this?

Nobody was going to claim him. He doesn't look like he's going to Belleville, so it wasn't for that. And now they're talking about building up his confidence, which couldn't have been helped by being waived and unclaimed.

Pierre Dorion, mesdames et messieurs. Non sense after non sense. Already did that to Zack Smith and Matt Murray. It revived their careers! Del Zotto too

We could have just kept Ceci for 1 more year or moved him for anything else, but I guess management was really high on Connor Brown to take on Zaitsev. It was a gamble that definitely failed, just another sign of poor pro evaluation.

Connor Brown was excellent here but we kept him 3 years while we were not competitive at all (eliminated after 20 games each season)... and now we dumped him in a buyer's market when we could REALLY REALLY use him...

So what was the point? To be stuck with Zaitsev contract? But hey no problem at all according to some, we make the greatest hockey decisions!

Which is proven within the results! 3rd worst P% over the last 6 years. Only Kraken (96 GP) and the Red Wings have done worse! However it's very close with the Wings (0.422 vs 0.421) so depending how this season goes, they could pass us.

So I guess that's why we're the joke around the league now, like the Sabres used to be.