GDT: Capitals at Devils, 7pm est NJD.TV

[jkrdevil]

if he scores on the power play in the regular season it will be valuable.

Not as valuable as not getting caved in at even strength. A lot of those PP numbers can be replaced by someone else (he isn’t exactly Ovechkin on the PP).

 

[Hisch13r]

Not as valuable as not getting caved in at even strength. A lot of those PP numbers can be replaced by someone else (he isn’t exactly Ovechkin on the PP).

He generally doesn't get caved as long as he's on the wing. He's entirely meh as a winger and that's perfectly fine

 

[jkrdevil]

He generally doesn't get caved as long as he's on the wing. He's entirely meh as a winger and that's perfectly fine

I agree and agree with your previous post. I’m just not going to get excited because he scored a PP goal in the pre-season.

 

[devilsblood]

Call me when Zacha does something 5-on-5. Piling up PP points vs a depleted roster doesn’t move the needle.

He did lead the team in 5v5 shots tonight.

 

[devilsblood]

Not as valuable as not getting caved in at even strength. A lot of those PP numbers can be replaced by someone else (he isn’t exactly Ovechkin on the PP).

He might not be Ovechkin, but he was the most productive player on the PP for NJ last year.

And we need to see how he produces on Nico's wing over a full season. In the limited minutes he played with Nico, Zacha produced at a top line rate.

 

[Hisch13r]

I agree and agree with your previous post. I’m just not going to get excited because he scored a PP goal in the pre-season.

I agree with not getting too excited because of preseason PP goals. I feel mostly the same way on him that I've been feeling.

I'm really interested in what they end up going with for the PP. Obviously Dougie on the point on PP1. Then I assume Zacha and Hughes as the PP1 half wall guys. Maybe Tatar for the bumper on PP1 (I believe he's generally been a half wall guy but I think he could be good in that spot) and Nico net front? PP2 I wish they'd go with just Smith for the Dmen. Then Holtz and Bratt as the half wall guys. Mercer in the bumper. Wood as the net front? I imagine they'll go with 2D on PP2 though as they usually do. I know some people have penciled in Sharangovich for the PP and it could make sense given his bananas shot but I'm not certain his game translates to the PP

 

[tr83]

That feed was absolutely bush league.

 

[Lou is God]

Just got home from the game, don't know what I can add that hasn't been said about Mercer and Holtz, first time watching Graves closely and was VERY impressed by his game, he's a presence out there and fast, was hitting everything and everyone.

Went in this game rooting for Boqvist to have a big game tonight and it just didn't happen for him, he had the puck on a 2 on 1 when he passed up a shot on ill-advised pass that got broken up, nothing went his way tonight.

 

[jkrdevil]

He might not be Ovechkin, but he was the most productive player on the PP for NJ last year.

And we need to see how he produces on Nico's wing over a full season. In the limited minutes he played with Nico, Zacha produced at a top line rate.

And our PP was terrible. Replace him on the PP and how much worse are his replacement’s number in comparison? There is probably a baseline of what an NHL pp produces.

I agree you give him a shot on the wing. But the important metric that Zacha needs to be judged on (no matter where he plays) is 5-on-5.

 

[Bcap88]

18 and 10 better be on the opening night roster

 

[Derps]

Nico hasn't yet shown he's good enough defensively to be Zajac. I also think he's better offensively than people think (at 5v5 at least) but has never produced all that much on the PP which has held back his pt totals

His lack of 5v5 scoring has also held back his point totals the last two years. He needs to be better.

 

[Bcap88]

18 and 10 better be on the opening night roster

 

[njdevil26]

18 and 10 better be on the opening night roster

18 Definitely. I THINK 10 will be as well.

 

[Hisch13r]

18 Definitely. I THINK 10 will be as well.

I'm pretty confident they'll both start. I'm very confident 18 will start and stick. 10 sticking all year or getting sent down at some point if he starts to struggle wouldn't surprise me

 

[devilsblood]

And our PP was terrible. Replace him on the PP and how much worse are his replacement’s number in comparison? There is probably a baseline of what an NHL pp produces.

I agree you give him a shot on the wing. But the important metric that Zacha needs to be judged on (no matter where he plays) is 5-on-5.

But why would you replace our best guy? Why not replace one of the other guys who weren't as good?

And I'd expect that if the PP improves, then Zacha's #'s improve along with it.

 

[devilsblood]

Boqvist had a pretty dominant 8-1 corsi tonight, and in his 2 games thus far is posting an impressive 24-8.

 

[Derps]

But why would you replace our best guy? Why not replace one of the other guys who weren't as good?

And I'd expect that if the PP improves, then Zacha's #'s improve along with it.

His skill set on the PP requires other players on the PP to be good and they weren't last year. I expect everyone's PP numbers this year to go up significantly.

 

[jkrdevil]

But why would you replace our best guy? Why not replace one of the other guys who weren't as good?

And I'd expect that if the PP improves, then Zacha's #'s improve along with it.

I wasn’t necessarily advocating for “replacing him” on the PP. My point was the team had a near baseline PP and someone had to get those points. I expect everyone’s numbers to be better this year with the addition of Hamilton.

The issue for Zacha moving forward is as the team continues to add talent to the roster he could be pushed off the PP. If he doesn’t improve his 5-on-5 game then what value is he to the team? But that is more next year value as I don’t expect the kids to make that push immediately.

 

[Hisch13r]

I wasn’t necessarily advocating for “replacing him” on the PP. My point was the team had a near baseline PP and someone had to get those points. I expect everyone’s numbers to be better this year with the addition of Hamilton.

The issue for Zacha moving forward is as the team continues to add talent to the roster he could be pushed off the PP. If he doesn’t improve his 5-on-5 game then what value is he to the team? But that is more next year value as I don’t expect the kids to make that push immediately.

I agree. He's definitely got a place for the now. Long term it gets pretty murky as Hughes and Holtz should be the PP1 half wall guys for years to come. I think it could depend on Zacha finding form again on the PK. If he returns to being a high end PK guy and plays on PP2 then I can easily see a spot. If he doesn't and it's just PP2 then I'm not sure

 

[devilsblood]

I wasn’t necessarily advocating for “replacing him” on the PP. My point was the team had a near baseline PP and someone had to get those points. I expect everyone’s numbers to be better this year with the addition of Hamilton.

The issue for Zacha moving forward is as the team continues to add talent to the roster he could be pushed off the PP. If he doesn’t improve his 5-on-5 game then what value is he to the team? But that is more next year value as I don’t expect the kids to make that push immediately.

He's not getting pushed off the pp anytime soon. Much more likely he leads the team again in PP production.

I also fully expect he will perform quite well on the wing 5v5.

 

[Guttersniped]

And our PP was terrible. Replace him on the PP and how much worse are his replacement’s number in comparison? There is probably a baseline of what an NHL pp produces.

I agree you give him a shot on the wing. But the important metric that Zacha needs to be judged on (no matter where he plays) is 5-on-5.

Zacha is a very good Power Play producer, he’s done well on PP for years, starting in 2016-17.

He’s just very good with more open ice, it’s why he’s productive on the PK too and he had two OT goals last season. He has two PP goals this pre-season, I don’t quite understand the skepticism here.

He can score more on a better power play, so his production there should improve this season. Power play goals count the same as 5v5 goals, if he excels more at special teams play, then while he does need to improve 5v5 too, that special teams play does actually mean a lot to his value as a player.

 

[devilsblood]

Sorry guys but the idea of Holtz pushing Zacha off the top pp unit any time soon is just not realistic.

 

[devilsblood]

Zacha is a very good Power Play producer, he’s done well on PP for years, starting in 2016-17.

He’s just very good with more open ice, it’s why he’s productive on the PK too and he had two OT goals last season. He has two PP goals this pre-season, I don’t quite understand the skepticism here.

He can score more on a better power play, so his production there should improve this season. Power play goals count the same as 5v5 goals, if he excels more at special teams play, then while he does need to improve 5v5 too, that special teams play does actually mean a lot to his value as a player.

Dude's are just crusading.

 

[JK3]

Zacha sounded pretty pumped about his offseason, maybe he got rid of the dad bod.

 

[Devs3cups]

Mercer and Holtz are the real deal guys. We've got good young talent on our hands.