remember stevens refused to report to devils camp back in the day and that worked out pretty fine i'd say
True, though I'd struggle to find much to compare between the circumstances of how Stevens came to NJ vs. the Zacha scenario. There is however one universal theme between the two, and indeed with all team/player negotiations. At the end of the day it comes down to reason in the face of either lesser, uncertain, or even zero alternatives.
I do see what you mean though about starting off on the wrong foot possibly working out in the end, and I think Stevens finally came around to a reasonable position once he accepted the circumstances. He probably exhausted all possibilities for some other outcome behind the scenes before reporting in, only after realizing he plays for the devs now like it or not.
With Zacha he's just got to decide if he wants a taste of the big league or not next season if the devs are offering, so that ball is in his court. Perhaps management figures that's already an awfully tempting proposition for the youngster and believe they have a captive audience in Zacha right now so they can simply make a standard offer and stand by it.
The team will move on next season either way with no regrets...will Zacha feel the same if he passes on his first big shot? I think that's what management is counting on, the greater temptation to play if they've let him know he will get a chance to do so. I do want both of them to get what they want here though with no hard feelings.