Confirmed Signing with Link: [TOR] Maple Leafs sign Nikita Zaitsev to extension (7 years, $4.5m AAV)

[caley]

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[SB84]

Wow, great cap hit! Terrific signing by the Leafs. Well done Lou

 

[H3ckt1k]

Not bad

 

[HSF]

7 years?! lol

 

[Gurilla]

His agent deserves an oil painting.

 

[Atomos2]

Don Cherry will be livid lol

 

[sansabri]

7 years...

That's quite the commitment after one decent year.

 

[Leafidelity]

I quite like this deal. Thank you Lou.

If his play dips before the 7 years is up, he just "retires" back to the KHL and it's gone.

 

[David Suzuki]

He never looked even average every time I saw him play tbh

 

[Whitesnake]

7 years? Wow.

 

[Gavy]

4.5 million for a guy who plays 20 plus a night in his first nhl season? Sweet.

7 years might be a year or 2 too long but I trust Lou
These cheap deals for key players are great

 

[The Macho King]

Heh. Okay.

 

[Gavy]

He never looked even average every time I saw him play tbh

LOL ok

 

[Aceboogie]

Great deal

This is similar to Klefbom deal. After 1 year already looks great. This deal will look good for years to come. Already a 4.5 m player

 

[BeLeafer11]

Great deal at 4.5! Good job Lou & CO.

 

[Static]

After one year, yikes.

 

[TOGuy14]

Great deal for the Leafs.

Guy can handle NHL hockey, locking him up long term was the right move.

 

[93LEAFS]

He would have been a UFA in a year. Would have preferred closer to 4. We currently have 3 top 4 defenders, we could not allow one of them to leave. 7 years is long, but look at what guys are getting on the open market.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Cherry's not gonna like this

 

[BeLeafer11]

He never looked even average every time I saw him play tbh

So you saw his 1 bad game coming off injury?

 

[Canada4Gold]

Nice! Solid top 4 defenseman long term at a top 4 defenseman's rate. Even if he doesn't get better at all it's good. If he improves at all from his rookie season then it's great. We knew it was coming but happy that it's official

 

[Advanced stats]

Absolute steal. And will only get better.

 

[93LEAFS]

Everyone saying after one year are ignoring a bunch of factors. One, he was proven coming over from the KHL, he delivered on that. Secondly, returning to the KHL was an option. Finally, we bought up mostly UFA years. He would have been a UFA in 2018.

 

[Mortiest Morty]

He wasn't very good in his own zone for much of the year. If he can clean that up, it's a very nice deal.

 

[DJIncognito]

As a Leaf fan I'm very happy with this. Really like him - RHD, Good cap hit with the way he played the past season - hoping he continues to improve.