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Mats Zuccarello

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Inferno

Inferno

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Nov 27, 2005
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JohnC said:
It was more goals, and I don't think any sane fan expected it to be true. Just a particular Mats Zuccarello fanboy that wouldn't even watch this team if he wasn't on it.
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i dunno..any sane fan? there are TONS and TONS of people on this message board who wanted to trade Nash away for a bag of pucks after the SCF.

I think there are maybe 30 sane fans on this board....

FWIW I consider Jared one of those 30 :P
 
Inferno

Inferno

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JohnC said:
Meh. If I had to make a top 30, he'd be 31 :p:
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I-see-what-you-did-there.jpg
 

anofsti

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May 14, 2011
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Like I previously argued, Zuccarello is better this year at everything defensive. He breaks up plays. Gets the puck out safely. I've really noticed how he reads how the other teams plans to exit their sone, and interrupts a lot of plays in the neutral zone. But, in the process he's gotten worse at getting the puck and distributing it consistently in the offensive zone. In previous years, when he hasn't produced, there have been plenty of unlucky bounces and what not, and he's been a leading possession player. This year he is in the middle of the pack (according to war-on-ice.com, according to behindthenet.ca he's a bit better than that).

The conclusion I draw from this, comparing the eye-test to the stats - he's much more a low event player now than last year. He's still playing good, but not as good as last year. Maybe a bit better defensively, but worse offensively. He needs to use his magic more, and take some chances, like he did in the monster shift against flyers.
 
Inferno

Inferno

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anofsti said:
Like I previously argued, Zuccarello is better this year at everything defensive. He breaks up plays. Gets the puck out safely. I've really noticed how he reads how the other teams plans to exit their sone, and interrupts a lot of plays in the neutral zone. But, in the process he's gotten worse at getting the puck and distributing it consistently in the offensive zone. In previous years, when he hasn't produced, there have been plenty of unlucky bounces and what not, and he's been a leading possession player. This year he is in the middle of the pack (according to war-on-ice.com, according to behindthenet.ca he's a bit better than that).

The conclusion I draw from this, comparing the eye-test to the stats - he's much more a low event player now than last year. He's still playing good, but not as good as last year. Maybe a bit better defensively, but worse offensively. He needs to use his magic more, and take some chances, like he did in the monster shift against flyers.
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i think hes been the same defensively as he was last year.

excellent.
 
Ail

Ail

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Nov 13, 2009
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Inferno said:
I dunno....what was the exact bet? that MZA would outscore Nash? or have more goals?

What was their difference last year? 7 goals? (excluding games played, etc).

Could their have been some thinking that Nash is now more concussion prone? Could their have been some thought that maybe MZA is trending upwards, and Nash is trending downwards?

I dont think its as far fetched as it sounds. just in hindsight it looks foolish...but prior to this very moment? i'm not so sure.

quite the same as thinking NJ would finish ahead of Montreal in the standings. since Montreal is, at the moment, 12 points ahead of them.
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Prior to this moment it was very foolish, but I guess I am a biased Rick Nash homer who defended him last year and would have bet $1000.00 Nash would score more than Zucc anytime prior to this season including his playoff slump.

Assuming both were healthy for a large part of the season, because that wouldn't really be fair from either side to win the bet because one player missed 20-30 games or something. Both players healthy as it stands now, Rick Nash is, was, and probably always will be a superior player in the NHL.
 
Inferno

Inferno

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Ail said:
Prior to this moment it was very foolish, but I guess I am a biased Rick Nash homer who defended him last year and would have bet $1000.00 Nash would score more than Zucc anytime prior to this season including his playoff slump.

Assuming both were healthy for a large part of the season, because that wouldn't really be fair from either side to win the bet because one player missed 20-30 games or something. Both players healthy as it stands now, Rick Nash is, was, and probably always will be a superior player in the NHL.
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i defended him like crazy too....the fact that he needed to be defended though kinda proves the point i guess :P
 
MTrangers

MTrangers

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Yeah I suppose the silver lining is that it's a contract year and we were looking to hopefully resign after the new year. I think his slow start makes a HUGE difference. If he kept up last years pace then we'd have to pay him as that player. If he continues his current play, last year is looking like an outlier statistically. Could save us some money.
 
Zucc36

Zucc36

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Jan 8, 2011
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MTrangers said:
Yeah I suppose the silver lining is nthat it's a contract year and we were looking to hopefully resign after the new year. I think his slow start makes a HUGE difference. If he kept up last years pace then we'd have to pay him as that player. If he continues his current play, last year is looking like an outlier statistically. Could save us some money.
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Not sure we'll see him in a Rangers jersey next season. Right now he is just an average player far, far away from what made him so special last year. He looses battles, misses passes, gets knocked over all the time, and he has simply had an awful, awful season so far.

And even playing in the same line as Nash and Brassard he cant produce. It is just unacceptable.
 
Ori

Ori

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TigerJack said:
Not sure we'll see him in a Rangers jersey next season. Right now he is just an average player far, far away from what made him so special last year. He looses battles, misses passes, gets knocked over all the time, and he has simply had an awful, awful season so far.

And even playing in the same line as Nash and Brassard he cant produce. It is just unacceptable.
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Callahan had a poor season too after a good one some years ago, but it's not an excuse. Mats age is 27 which is perfect in hockey and he should continue to work hard how to solve that issue and start producing and be more creative in his play. Maybe he is too defensive oriented at the moment - he need to start finding R.Nash so he can score.

And I think they need some more time to develop chemistry with Rick Nash 5vs5.
Anyhow, in worst case scenario: If Sather trade zucc in end of the season - he'll probably get offers from other NHL clubs maybe Canucks. Perhaps they need a playmaker who fail to do exactly that at the moment in New York Rangers - there are so many defenders for us who are struggling and can't finish plays when Dan Boyle is out due to flu.
Hopefully Dan Boyle starts on saturday.
 
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OverTheCap

OverTheCap

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Zuccarello was probably our most consistent winger last year, maybe even our most consistent forward. But this season, he is far from being one of the top forwards on this team and resembles the player he was before his breakout year in 2013-14. He has the same amount of points as Hagelin and Stempniak. If Zucc doesn't turn it around, Sather will have no problem letting him go and allocating his money to our other pending UFAs and RFAs.
 
Inferno

Inferno

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OverTheCap said:
Zuccarello was probably our most consistent winger last year, maybe even our most consistent forward. But this season, he is far from being one of the top forwards on this team and resembles the player he was before his breakout year in 2013-14. He has the same amount of points as Hagelin and Stempniak. If Zucc doesn't turn it around, Sather will have no problem letting him go and allocating his money to our other pending UFAs and RFAs.
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if i'm sather, i'm looking to move Staal, Moore, Stempniak, and MZA at the deadline for young pieces that can help us going forward.

not draft picks, but kids who are on the cusp...like the Forsberg trade or something along those lines. find a team thats on the verge and trade them our expiring assets for kids.

I'd love to take a whack at St Louis or Nashville for prospects.

EDIT:

I say this because I dont feel like trading those guys away would kill our team right now. It's pretty much just stagnating. It opens up spots for Duclair, Miller, Fasth, Lindberg, etc to fight over for this season, and helps us going forward.

Transition.

I just dont like what I see from this team at all. Particularly in net....and unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about that right now.

But, I feel like guys like Stepan, Hagelin, and Kreider are super huge to keep going forward, and big contracts to MZA and Staal could cripple us.

The cap is important to manage.
 
SingnBluesOnBroadway

SingnBluesOnBroadway

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OverTheCap said:
Zuccarello was probably our most consistent winger last year, maybe even our most consistent forward. But this season, he is far from being one of the top forwards on this team and resembles the player he was before his breakout year in 2013-14. He has the same amount of points as Hagelin and Stempniak. If Zucc doesn't turn it around, Sather will have no problem letting him go and allocating his money to our other pending UFAs and RFAs.
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He's also seemingly good for a stupid penalty a game.
 
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