Injury Report: Zaitzev not recovering from the Flu, to undergo tests

Daisy Jane

everything is gonna be okay!
Jul 2, 2009
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I actually do not think he is fully recovered from his previous injury. He seems to lack explosiveness in his skating, his first 3 strides appear to be lagging. I notice it in his own end when he 'tries' to skate the puck out of danger but ends up using the boards.

Hopefully this is an opportunity to rest and he is OK.


it takes a long time to recover from ankle/feet injuries.
 

joepeps

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1.75 years in the NHL is a small sample size to conclude if he's good or bad. But the seven year term is concerning.

Yes, but you can't say his play is bad. 1.75 years is also a small sample size to say it's bad. Maybe wait? What if he's Anton Stralman? Maybe everyone should just relax and calm down.

They said the same shit about Morgan last year... He's playing like shit... He was top 2 d with Zaitsev last year until he got injured. He came back and wasn't the same. This year he's the best thing since sliced bread.

How about we reserve judgement until end of next year?
 

CantLoseWithMatthews

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Sep 28, 2015
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Zaits was good last year and at the start of this year, but things fell apart after injury. I think he mainly just doesn't feel confident out there. A huge part of the game is mental and he just doesn't have that right now. Hopefully he gets it back
 

Once

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Jul 16, 2010
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it takes a long time to recover from ankle/feet injuries.

Yes.

Its unfortunate that his ankle injury handicaps one of his prominent attributes, as it makes him more similar to a Polak type player rather than his usual self. And from this he loses a bit of confidence, which leads to some fans discrediting everything he has done prior to his ankle injury.
 

Cor

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My thought: what if this illness is something that has been impacting his performance and he just started to become symptomatic?

He had a concussion previously (last April). Even when a player is 100% from a concussion, it still lingers for a while after. People forget, that it took Crosby a solid calendar year after his concussion to be back to Sidney Crosby. Even with his foot injury in December, it's possible that still isn't fully healed.

It came out Saturday that Zaitsev had the flu. IIRC he was still practicing last week. So really it has only been 2 days, 4-5 at most. While significant symptoms are usually only around for 2-3 days, the weakness, fatigue etc can last anywhere from 3 days to 14 days depending on the severity.

It's likely this is just a severe case of the flu, but they are doing more tests to confirm that, and ensure it's not anything more serious.

I myself was sick beginning 2ndish, and today is the first day where I have like no symptoms whatsoever. There's a lot of people who have been getting sick this year and carrying symptoms for weeks, rather than days.
 

thewave

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Jun 17, 2011
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That's too bad about Z. He was really good before his injury to give credit. I just hope it's not one of the C's. Cardiac / Crohn's / Cancer. I am sure he will be okay though and it's probably some kind of abdominal pull or some food allergy. I remember when I was around his age my allergies changed on me and suddenly I found myself having to flip my diet, that or I was feeling sick to the stomach and feeling ill.
 

thewave

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He had a concussion previously (last April). Even when a player is 100% from a concussion, it still lingers for a while after. People forget, that it took Crosby a solid calendar year after his concussion to be back to Sidney Crosby. Even with his foot injury in December, it's possible that still isn't fully healed.

It came out Saturday that Zaitsev had the flu. IIRC he was still practicing last week. So really it has only been 2 days, 4-5 at most. While significant symptoms are usually only around for 2-3 days, the weakness, fatigue etc can last anywhere from 3 days to 14 days depending on the severity.

It's likely this is just a severe case of the flu, but they are doing more tests to confirm that, and ensure it's not anything more serious.

I myself was sick beginning 2ndish, and today is the first day where I have like no symptoms whatsoever. There's a lot of people who have been getting sick this year and carrying symptoms for weeks, rather than days.

Send him to Japan!!

A single-dose pill that can halt the flu virus within a day.
That's what Japanese drug maker Shionogi claims its new flu treatment can do, the Wall Street Journal reports, but the compound that could relieve one of the worst flu seasons in years wouldn't hit U.S. shelves until at least 2019.
 

Kiwi

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Last season wasn't just good, it was great.

2nd on the team in defensive scoring, and 3rd amond rookie defenseman.
Carried his partner (mo, gards) as much as they carried him. Lots of compliments from Babcock and some big goals.

If you don't think he did well last year, you need to watch more hockey.

The beginning of this season started out well, but he seems to have tired. A reset could be good for him, but make no doubt about it, he's a talented top 4 defenseman

There's a reason all the analytics guys were raising red flags about him last season before the contract extension

He was the big bright shiny new toy that everybody fell in love with that blinded them to how good he actually was and if you think he was carrying Rielly or Gardiner you need you need to actually watch some hockey

Don't give me that Babcock loves him bull****, he loves Polak and Komorov as well

Yippee
 

Daisy Jane

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There's a reason all the analytics guys were raising red flags about him last season before the contract extension

He was the big bright shiny new toy that everybody fell in love with that blinded them to how good he actually was and if you think he was carrying Rielly or Gardiner you need you need to actually watch some hockey

Don't give me that Babcock loves him bull****, he loves Polak and Komorov as well

Yippee


not everyone fell in love with him.
he's not as bad as you are making him out to be
who cares what the analytics people think, they poop on everyone

Z was decent.
they gave him years to give him security, and then the guy had a concussion which takes a while to get over and then he hurt his ankle, he's got sophmore-itis, and he's got a new baby at home which screws everyone up (except for Forwards because they tend to score goals when a new baby comes from the hospital).

i don't know why people either have to be AMAZING or SUCKS. around here.
 

moon111

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Last season Z was absolutely a disaster both in the regular season and the playoffs. Perhaps changing his role where he's not making risky plays has helped keep him from sinking defensively? But his assists are lower then Polak as a result. I would be more inclined to accept this if he was a younger player trying to find his way. Maybe he hasn't been healthy? The contract frightens me for his motivation. He has money in the bank and I don't know if there's much drive to accomplish more then he has now. I sure do hope this is all the flu and not a cover-up for some personal lifestyle choices or lingering issues due to a covered up concussion.
 

GoldenGOOSE

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Zaitsev played well defensively? Phew. Haven't seen it. I think he is the worst positional dman I have seen in a long, long time. Its no mistake we lambasted the Penguins without him. He is a team killer, no way he should be playing above anyone.

He ruins everyone he plays with. Just a tough situation.
 

RoadWarrior

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Zaitsev played well defensively? Phew. Haven't seen it. I think he is the worst positional dman I have seen in a long, long time. Its no mistake we lambasted the Penguins without him. He is a team killer, no way he should be playing above anyone.

He ruins everyone he plays with. Just a tough situation.

Just a slight exaggeration here.

Zaitsev hasn't been playing as a top pairing defender recently but the comparisons to Polak and him "ruining partners" are just dumb.

The guy has tools. He just needs to stay healthy.
 

WTFMAN99

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Jun 17, 2009
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1. On a personal level, I hope Zaitsev feels better soon

2. If you guys are worried about Zaitsev, this is one case where the Russian factor probably works out in everyone's favor. You healthy scratch him a bunch like Leivo, end of the season chances are he's willing to "retire" from the NHL and go back to Russia, he goes through unconditional waivers and done just like the Marchenko situation.
 

Kiwi

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not everyone fell in love with him.
he's not as bad as you are making him out to be
who cares what the analytics people think, they poop on everyone

Z was decent.
they gave him years to give him security, and then the guy had a concussion which takes a while to get over and then he hurt his ankle, he's got sophmore-itis, and he's got a new baby at home which screws everyone up (except for Forwards because they tend to score goals when a new baby comes from the hospital).

i don't know why people either have to be AMAZING or SUCKS. around here.


I'm not saying he's Polak but he's definitely not a good or even decent mid pair defenseman

He's can't move the puck out of his own zone efficiently which means he flings the puck up the boards or flips it into center ice, he also doesn't prevent clean zone entries and backs up for no apparent reason, he skates well enough to actually prevent that which is what his aim should be

He also didn't do that very well last year either and the only time he's really excelled is when he was playing with Marincin, who's a god at denying clean zone entries

I'm no Gardiner apologist but anybody who thinks Zaitsev was carrying Gardiner or Rielly in the last two seasons needs there head read

Maybe he sorts himself out maybe he doesn't but nobody should be looking at that contract particularly favorably right now
 

Raging Bull

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2. If you guys are worried about Zaitsev, this is one case where the Russian factor probably works out in everyone's favor. You healthy scratch him a bunch like Leivo, end of the season chances are he's willing to "retire" from the NHL and go back to Russia, he goes through unconditional waivers and done just like the Marchenko situation.

He's making 4.5 million a year for like 7 years, why would he retire and void that contract.
 
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WTFMAN99

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Jun 17, 2009
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He's making 4.5 million a year for like 7 years, why would he retire and void that contract.

6 more years but he can get that kind of money in the KHL easily. Voynov is getting that kind of money right now as an example. Voynov also might be trying to head back to the NHL this summer too.
 

Martin Skoula

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Oct 18, 2017
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He was a #1 D in the KHL, saying he has 1.5 years of track record is kind of disingenuous. He's a high level player who is very obviously hampered by injuries right now.

Imagine trying to deal with post-concussion symptoms while you have a newborn in the house. You're already slow mentally, and then you injure your ankle. Even if you think the play through fast enough, you can't move to where you need to be in time. While all this is happening, your D partner is playing erratically and throwing giveaways up center ice.
 
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Stephen

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Feb 28, 2002
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Yes, but you can't say his play is bad. 1.75 years is also a small sample size to say it's bad. Maybe wait? What if he's Anton Stralman? Maybe everyone should just relax and calm down.

They said the same **** about Morgan last year... He's playing like ****... He was top 2 d with Zaitsev last year until he got injured. He came back and wasn't the same. This year he's the best thing since sliced bread.

How about we reserve judgement until end of next year?

He may be Anton Stralman, sure. But we don't know after 1.75 years, and it doesn't seem to have made sense to lock him up for 7 years.

What I don't like about him is his reads are always a little off so his body positioning, decision making, it's just all a half second off the mark. It's like he has tremendous physical tools but not quite the processor to make it all work.

For better or worse we're probably stuck with him for a couple of years so there will be plenty of time to evaluate and be patient, but it's a heavy cap allocation for that kind of gamble.
 

Kiwi

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He was a #1 D in the KHL, saying he has 1.5 years of track record is kind of disingenuous. He's a high level player who is very obviously hampered by injuries right now.

Imagine trying to deal with post-concussion symptoms while you have a newborn in the house. You're already slow mentally, and then you injure your ankle. Even if you think the play through fast enough, you can't move to where you need to be in time. While all this is happening, your D partner is playing erratically and throwing giveaways up center ice.

Why is Gardiner the one being thrown under the bus? He's being asked to move the puck for both guys right now

I'd much rather a player try to pass the puck and make the odd mistake than treat the puck like it's a grenade that has to be flung down ice with zero idea where it's going to end up

Gardiner looks good beside everybody but Zaitsev, that's not a Gardiner issue
 

htpwn

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Tough year for Zaits. First the concussion disrupting his off-season, then the broken foot, now this.
 

Martin Skoula

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Why is Gardiner the one being thrown under the bus? He's being asked to move the puck for both guys right now

I'd much rather a player try to pass the puck and make the odd mistake than treat the puck like it's a grenade that has to be flung down ice with zero idea where it's going to end up

Gardiner looks good beside everybody but Zaitsev, that's not a Gardiner issue

I like Gardiner, don't get me wrong. His unpredictability works for us more than it works against us.

That being said, Zaitsev was an offensive D that carried the play his entire process career before he came here, trying to adjust to being a stay at home guy for a high risk player like Gardiner isn't easy, especially while dealing with the injuries mentioned above.
 

lifelonghockeyfan

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Dec 18, 2015
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Actually Carrick and Polak looked OK against the Pens the other night. So if the Leafs continue to play every 5 days, Leafs should be OK.
Certainly the Leafs need Zaitsev long term. Hopefully it's just a short term medical issue, which seems to have lasted all year.
 

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