Mika Zibanejad

[HSF]

No one is debating this.

The discussion is whether Zibanejad will out produce him down the line.

I think that Landeskog will always have more intangibles, but that Mika will eventually put up more points.

Gabbie has had 3 more years experience on NA ice, gets more ice time, and plays with better line mates.

Give it 2 years, and I bet Mika's numbers will be right up there with him.

yes i can see zibby put up more pts in their prime. Being a center is also more important if he stays at that position

 

[fringie]

At some point of their respective careers, Landeskog and Zibby will have very similar offensive numbers in my opinion. Sure, Landy is a natural leader, something Zibby probably does not have, but the physical tools for these two are similar, actually Zibby may have a better shot than Landy. Landy may have a better hockey IQ, but that is debatable.

In 5 years, unless something drastic happen to one of them, their offensive output should be comparable. Of course, no one knows for sure...but speculation and predication are what this place is for... so here it is..

 

[SevenOfSpades]

Can anyone find his shootout goal vs Buffalo?

Probably my favourite shootout goal from this season.

 

[Spezza]

Getting hyperbolic in here - love Mika's game and never say never and all that, but Landy is better and will most likely still have the better numbers in a couple of years.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Getting hyperbolic in here - love Mika's game and never say never and all that, but Landy is better and will most likely still have the better numbers in a couple of years.

You're correct. But I will say that I don't think Mika is close to his prime yet. He has a lot of room to grow physically and mentally. I don't think there's much room for growth with Lando. He's pretty close to his peak atm imo. Zibby's ceiling is higher.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Ladeskog has 44GP 13G 35Pts
16:00ES 2:21PP

Zibanejad 36GP 10G 19Pts
11:56ES 2:24PP

I can't see Zibanejad surpassing Ladeskog offensivly.

I think Zibanejad will be a 30-35G 65ish point guy who is very physical

Meh.

In 44 games Zibanejad gets 24 points with his current icetime.

You give Zibanejad Landeskog's even strength minutes and over a 44 game span he puts up another 5 points.

It's really not that far off, and we're not even considering the difference in teams, teammates, and many other factors, most of which work in Landeskog's favour.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Zibanejad has gone from a good prospect to ridiculously overrated.

I still love him though.

Mostly cause we don't have Strome instead.

Probably my favourite shootout goal from this season.

Beautiful hands. He definitely has slick hands and we've seen it on display lately with him going through defenders like it's nothing. Watch out.

 

[YNWA14]

Meh.

In 44 games Zibanejad gets 24 points with his current icetime.

You give Zibanejad Landeskog's even strength minutes and over a 44 game span he puts up another 5 points.

It's really not that far off, and we're not even considering the difference in teams, teammates, and many other factors, most of which work in Landeskog's favour.

Zibanejad's most common linemates have outscored Landeskog's most common linemates. The only thing working in Landeskog's favour is that he plays more time -- but that's because he earns it and is one of the best players, if not the best overall player, on that team.

Again, I'd be very happy if Zibanejad ever matches Landeskog's rookie year. I think this Zibanejad hype has gotten out of control. He's playing well, but he's not a world-beater by any means.

 

[BK201]

Zibanejad's most common linemates have outscored Landeskog's most common linemates. The only thing working in Landeskog's favour is that he plays more time -- but that's because he earns it and is one of the best players, if not the best overall player, on that team.

Again, I'd be very happy if Zibanejad ever matches Landeskog's rookie year. I think this Zibanejad hype has gotten out of control. He's playing well, but he's not a world-beater by any means.

Kids a pretty sick player since his draft he's been graded with first line upside. I don't know what to tell you other than that.

 

[YNWA14]

Kids a pretty sick player since his draft he's been graded with first line upside. I don't know what to tell you other than that.

I think that he's a fantastic prospect. Could he be a first line player in the future? Sure he could, but most prospects are drafted in the first round, or the top 15, with the tools to become those kinds of players. They're found all throughout the draft. The reality is that very rarely do they actually reach that potential -- especially the most raw prospects.

I'm happy with knowing that Zibanejad is already a good player for us without having to hype him up to be something he's not (a 1st line centre, going to be a better Mikko Koivu, better potential than Landeskog, etc.).

 

[BK201]

I think that he's a fantastic prospect. Could he be a first line player in the future? Sure he could, but most prospects are drafted in the first round, or the top 15, with the tools to become those kinds of players. They're found all throughout the draft. The reality is that very rarely do they actually reach that potential -- especially the most raw prospects.

I'm happy with knowing that Zibanejad is already a good player for us without having to hype him up to be something he's not (a 1st line centre, going to be a better Mikko Koivu, better potential than Landeskog, etc.).

Yeah that's fair enough. I think he shows still a lot of potential.

 

[benjiv1]

Zibanejad's most common linemates have outscored Landeskog's most common linemates. The only thing working in Landeskog's favour is that he plays more time -- but that's because he earns it and is one of the best players, if not the best overall player, on that team.

Again, I'd be very happy if Zibanejad ever matches Landeskog's rookie year. I think this Zibanejad hype has gotten out of control. He's playing well, but he's not a world-beater by any means.

Landeskog plays with Stastny. Who has almost as many points as Conacher and Michalek combined.

Also, when Mika did play with higher quality line mates, he was not in his natural position.

I don't understand how you can't the difference between what the two have been given to work with.
Also not taking into account Landeskogs advantage of playing 3 more years on NA ice.

 

[YNWA14]

Landeskog plays with Stastny. Who has almost as many points as Conacher and Michalek combined.

Also, when Mika did play with higher quality line mates, he was not in his natural position.

I don't understand how you can't the difference between what the two have been given to work with. Also not taking into account Landeskogs advantage of playing 3 more years on NA ice.

The positional thing is being a bit overblown. He looked fine on the wing with Spezza, and spends ample amount of time on the ice with Spezza/Karlsson on the powerplay which has nothing to do with his position and where a lot of his points have come from.

People make everything good he does out to be all he does. He has a lot of holes in his game still. Sometimes he tries to do too much, sometimes he doesn't read plays well, sometimes he over-passes or just puts a weak wrister from the blueline in still. He loses coverage and battles fairly often (contributing to his +/-).

Does he do a lot of positive things? Absolutely. Has Landeskog been given more to work with in Stastny MacKinnon/Parenteau as opposed to Spezza/Michalek/Conacher and EJ vs. Karlsson? Absolutely not.

 

[Slack]

Funny how mich better Conacher and Michalek play with Zib as there center compared to Spezza

I think it's due to Conacher & Zibby playing a north-south game, both stating hard & driving the net, and Cony with his underrated passing/playmaking. Especially with Zibby being mostly a "shoot first" guy.

They just complement each other more than Spezza, who is a much more creative, more east-west type player. He likes to curl back and look for seams rather than just gunning to the net. Stone definitely looks more like Spez's type of player.

Michalek looks better too, but I'm not sure how much of that is his own doing, as opposed to benefiting from the obvious chemistry of Zib & Cony.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

The positional thing is being a bit overblown. He looked fine on the wing with Spezza, and spends ample amount of time on the ice with Spezza/Karlsson on the powerplay which has nothing to do with his position and where a lot of his points have come from.

People make everything good he does out to be all he does. He has a lot of holes in his game still. Sometimes he tries to do too much, sometimes he doesn't read plays well, sometimes he over-passes or just puts a weak wrister from the blueline in still. He loses coverage and battles fairly often (contributing to his +/-).

Does he do a lot of positive things? Absolutely. Has Landeskog been given more to work with in Stastny MacKinnon/Parenteau as opposed to Spezza/Michalek/Conacher and EJ vs. Karlsson? Absolutely not.

Lol @ using argument of playing with Spezza+Michalek = good thing. Back when Zib was on Spezza's line, Spezza was garbage.

In fact, Zibanejad MADE Spezza's line decent.

 

[HavlatMach9]

looks like he's on his way to become a Fisher+. 1st step is becoming a strong 2nd liner that Turris seems to have become.

 

[YNWA14]

Could you post the minutes spent together when that chart was made? You constantly regurgitate what other people put together without understanding it or having any scope.

 

[BonkTastic]

Could you post the minutes spent together when that chart was made? You constantly regurgitate what other people put together without understanding it or having any scope.

Look, I don't want to seem like I'm siding with Cujomi in the Great Spezza Debate of 2013/14, I'm trying to stay neutral here, but I feel like I need to support him in questioning the chart (specifically how people are using it, not the numbers themselves), if only because it represents a very specific and very SMALL sample size, which may or may not be relevant in a days, weeks, or months time.... and also doesn't have any historical context outside of the ~6 or so weeks that it covers.

It's a great chart to elaborate how Spezza may or may not have struggled early in the 2013/14 season, but let's not get carried away and assume that 6 weeks worth of data is representative of either a player's entire career before OR AFTER those 6 weeks.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Spezza has struggled in the early season, but he's also been an elite offensive force in this league for 500+ games throughout his career. He deserves some leash with what he's accomplished. The shoes Alfie left to fill were rather large. He was bigger than this hockey club in most fan's eyes. Spezza needs time to grow into this role. He is imo. He looked like a NHL Captain last night, sticking up for a team mate, setting up plays and icing the game when it was on his stick.

He's gonna he great down the stretch if he's healthy.

 

[Spezza]

Spezza needs time to grow into this role. He is imo. He looked like a NHL Captain last night, sticking up for a team mate, setting up plays and icing the game when it was on his stick.

Thought the same last night too, glad someone took the time to articulate it.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Spezza has struggled in the early season, but he's also been an elite offensive force in this league for 500+ games throughout his career. He deserves some leash with what he's accomplished. The shoes Alfie left to fill were rather large. He was bigger than this hockey club in most fan's eyes. Spezza needs time to grow into this role. He is imo. He looked like a NHL Captain last night, sticking up for a team mate, setting up plays and icing the game when it was on his stick.

He's gonna he great down the stretch if he's healthy.

I'm on board with this.

 

[Super Cake]

He is going to become a good player.

 

[SilverSeven]

Im not gonna get involved in the how good can he be debate. What I will say is that if he stays at C, we are stacked down the middle. Probably the best we have ever been.

 

[DylanSensFan]

I think that he's a fantastic prospect. Could he be a first line player in the future? Sure he could, but most prospects are drafted in the first round, or the top 15, with the tools to become those kinds of players. They're found all throughout the draft. The reality is that very rarely do they actually reach that potential -- especially the most raw prospects.

I'm happy with knowing that Zibanejad is already a good player for us without having to hype him up to be something he's not (a 1st line centre, going to be a better Mikko Koivu, better potential than Landeskog, etc.).

Hmmm, how is it you cannot see Zibanejad's inherent abilities and what they can and will translate in to. Mikko Koivu took a while to develop into a top line center, even still his point production is not particularly amazing. Zibanejad is young and has plenty of time to progress. Another 10 years in fact. He is a more intelligent player than Mikko Koivu and more offensively gifted -- he will be better. I would say that he will eventually catch Landeskog on the developmental curve as well. When Ottawa drafted Zibanejad they projected a second line center with first line possibility -- these are NHL scouts, not HFboards.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Spezza has struggled in the early season, but he's also been an elite offensive force in this league for 500+ games throughout his career. He deserves some leash with what he's accomplished. The shoes Alfie left to fill were rather large. He was bigger than this hockey club in most fan's eyes. Spezza needs time to grow into this role. He is imo. He looked like a NHL Captain last night, sticking up for a team mate, setting up plays and icing the game when it was on his stick.

He's gonna he great down the stretch if he's healthy.

If Spezza is trying, if he is showing heart and balls then I have no problem with him. It is the times he coasts around that are my problem.