Rumor: Zacha agrees to terms w/ Avangard (KHL) (not officially announced yet)

[Puckclektr]

Elite is a strong word. I’d say he 35-40 point better than average bottom sixer. He can carve out a nice career as more of a role player than anything.

A lot here seem to be confusing “has not met top 10 draft status” with “is a bad player.” Zacha, by no means, is a bad player. He’s a bonafide NHLer that most teams would welcome onto their roster. He’s very, very good on the PK, good defensively, increasing improving on the dot, and he has a great shot.

By elite I meant defensively.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Ive been begging for a pool party for Zacha trade. Zacha is the 3C if Edmonton's dreams and would help our pk a lot. Plus he has learned the hard part of the game... The offence might still come.

He would be a great 3C for Czech team too... Behind Hertl and Krejci.

The problem is New Jersey has to agree to make themselves noticeably worse for no reason.

 

[HBK27]

Ive been begging for a pool party for Zacha trade. Zacha is the 3C if Edmonton's dreams and would help our pk a lot. Plus he has learned the hard part of the game... The offence might still come.

He would be a great 3C for Czech team too... Behind Hertl and Krejci.

And Devils fans passed hard on that trade proposal. Devils fans are really split on Zacha, but most still agree he's worth more than Puljujarvi as he's already shown he's an NHL player, is very good defensively, and could/should develop more offensively. Puljujarvi is too much of a wild card at this point and since he would have to pass through waivers has to play at the NHL level (likely in a top 6 role to succeed) whether he earns it or not. A bottom feeder can afford him that chance - a team like NJ that's looking to make some noise this season, can't.

 

[Rebels57]

I missed the news, that Provorov has signed a contract. What are the terms of his contract?

Fletcher is meeting with agent today so there may be one before the end of the day or tomorrow.

 

[tony d]

Expected much more from him, all the best to him in the KHL.

 

[aufheben]

Yeah, that's the point - Zacha is still a good player (considered 3C at this point by most), but the offense hasn't been there. It takes some time for that to get going for some players. For Zacha, it seems to be more of a confidence issue as he has flashes but until the end of last season was never able to keep the offense going on a consistent basis.

I was looking at Zacha’s PK fancy charts last night, he actually does appear to be ridiculous there, like a way bigger impact than I thought. I’d understand being upset about losing him but this just looks like a negotiation tactic or something.

 

[Blackjack]

I was looking at Zacha’s PK fancy charts last night, he actually does appear to be ridiculous there, definitely a bigger impact than I thought.

If you watched Zacha play 5v5 hockey for a couple games and had no idea what his stats were, you would probably assume that he's a 50 point center. He's not spectacular at anything, but he's a good puck handler, he finds open teammates with his passes, and he even has a great shot. If Devils fans seem irrationally high on him, that's part of the reason.

That said, he has had major problems with offensive consistency. We're hoping that as he matures, his 20 points in 30 games type hot streaks will extend more and more and eventually he'll become that player full time. Certainly no guarantee of that though.

 

[AfroThunder396]

It seems like this was probably just an insurance policy if they couldn't get a deal done, and Stefan either (i) erroneously thought it would be a good idea to leak this as a negotiating tactic, or (ii) carelessly told it to someone thinking this wouldn't get out.

 

[aufheben]

One thing about his points last season is his shooting % was like double the previous two seasons, but at worst a 21-22 yrs. player who is already established as an NHL regular is something you always want to hold onto. I prefer to judge experience and potential by games played rather than age but that’s still impressive in itself.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

Does he want to be traded to another team?

Leafs need a strong reliable 3c who can play up at times on the wing. Higher scoring team so I dont think he would mind a similar role in minutes but better surrounding players.

We have nhl players/picks and prospects that could be had.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

I think given NJ’s center depth Zacha could and should be available. He’s a 3c at worst and he’d probably be a 4c in NJ this year. We shouldn’t sell low on him and any package put together on HF would probably undervalue him considering the perception people have of him on here (as with most proposals on here).

 

[Blackjack]

Does he want to be traded to another team?

Leafs need a strong reliable 3c who can play up at times on the wing. Higher scoring team so I dont think he would mind a similar role in minutes but better surrounding players.

We have nhl players/picks and prospects that could be had.

If he wanted to be traded I'd guess he'd want to go to a team with a spot on the top 6 and power play, so the Leafs might not be a good fit, but obviously it's not like he has a NTC or anything. Just that they might be trading for guy who won't be happy in that situation.

Also, it looks like his contract will be around $2.7mm, don't know if the Leafs have room for that.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

If he wanted to be traded I'd guess he'd want to go to a team with a spot on the top 6 and power play, so the Leafs might not be a good fit, but obviously it's not like he has a NTC or anything. Just that they might be trading for guy who won't be happy in that situation.

Also, it looks like his contract will be around $2.7mm, don't know if the Leafs have room for that.

Would be hard for any team to just slot him in the top 6.

I think if the leafs were to pursue zacha that someone like kerfoot would have to go back the other way with other pieces balancing out ofc.

 

[Czechboy]

And Devils fans passed hard on that trade proposal. Devils fans are really split on Zacha, but most still agree he's worth more than Puljujarvi as he's already shown he's an NHL player, is very good defensively, and could/should develop more offensively. Puljujarvi is too much of a wild card at this point and since he would have to pass through waivers has to play at the NHL level (likely in a top 6 role to succeed) whether he earns it or not. A bottom feeder can afford him that chance - a team like NJ that's looking to make some noise this season, can't.

I agree the trade would benefit the Oiler's more. More importantly, it'd benefit Zacha more as he'd be 3C automatically and might be able to get more minutes and establish his offence a little more.

A lot of the posts above (and man can Zacha divide a crowd) seem to suggest he's at best a 4C on NJ due to tremendous depth. Some have even suggested he go to wing. Jesse could come in for around 1 mill and play on a wing with one of your Top 3 Centres and might make a lot of noise.

Don't get me wrong, if I were NJ, I wouldn't make the trade either. Mind you, is he going to get booed out of the building if the Czech rumour is true and he just signed for 3 years? I can't imagine 'almost signed in KHL' is a good PR move on his part. I do agree with other posters that the problem isn't so much Zacha (or Stefan) but the RFA situation which seems to be a powderkeg about to explode.

Your final line about NJ looking to make a lot of noise is devastating as an Oiler's fan... I was positive you'd never recover from trading away Larsson for Hall. Yes, that's sarcasm.

 

[Blackjack]

Would be hard for any team to just slot him in the top 6.

I think if the leafs were to pursue zacha that someone like kerfoot would have to go back the other way with other pieces balancing out ofc.

Agree on the first point. I think a real chance to win a job in the top six is enough. Like, there is zero chance Zacha is playing top six in Toronto, and while Hichier and Hughes are not Matthews and Tavares, it's pretty long odds for him to play top six in NJ either. But I have to think there are teams with weak 2Cs where Zacha could play his way into the 2C role.

NJ still has cap space and could take back contracts. I actually do think Zacha could be a good fit in Toronto, but he's a really likeable player to me, even if his production has been disappointing, so I'm hoping the Devils keep him.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Does he want to be traded to another team?

Leafs need a strong reliable 3c who can play up at times on the wing. Higher scoring team so I dont think he would mind a similar role in minutes but better surrounding players.

We have nhl players/picks and prospects that could be had.

He's never said anything about wanting to be traded so far as I know, and this latest thing was almost certainly a giant miscalculation from his agent. However, if it ever came to that, he'll want to go wherever he's going to get the best opportunity to succeed and get more money down the road.

 

[MMC]

Confirmed Signing with Link: - [NJ] Pavel Zacha re-signs with the Devils (3 years, $2.25M AAV)