News Article: Zadina will be called up in March

[Unfriendly Ghost]

On the other hand, theres a chance he doesnt get his dick knocked

Do you mean "get his peepee slapped"?

 

[kliq]

AHL doesn't count against his ELC. If he plays 9 games or less in the NHL this year, his ELC slides. See CapFriendly:



Entry-Level Slide Candidates - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Interesting! I didnt realize there was an exception for 18 and 19 years olds. Thanks for posting

 

[izlez]

I think the crowd overreacting about his season is funny though. If he was in junior putting up 2 points a game no one would say anything about him

And if he was in junior putting up .25 points a game, everyone would be saying everything about him

 

[TheMule93]

And if he was in junior putting up .25 points a game, everyone would be saying everything about him

and if he was in the nhl putting up 3 points per game everyone would be saying everything about him too

 

[jkutswings]

and if he was in the nhl putting up 3 points per game everyone would be saying everything about him too

And if a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his butt when he hopped.

 

[Goalie guy]

To prove to him that he'll get his dick knocked into his watch pocket if he tries it in a short 9 game stint? I do think it will be good for his development.

So he can see "man, these guys are fast. Man, these guys are strong. I gotta kick ass in the weight room this summer if I want to make it."
I want Zadina to know "this is what it takes to be a professional". Get at this level or you're not making the team. And if guys make an example out of him? All the better, if Zadina's a player, he'll take it as a challenge to get better. If he's got a star's makeup, even if he gets his **** ruined in these 9 games, he'll say, I'll be back and I'll wreck your faces then.

Look at what Larkin does. Plays hard. Hits a wall. Works harder and gets past that wall and onto the next.

Those are fair points for sure bud. But I still ask this he has not done that yet in the A so what makes you think it will light a fire under his ass in the N? I'm not saying he has been bad by any means just kinda of average. I really want to see him and V in GR next year and see what we have that has me excited.

 

[Lil Bert]

32 points in 52 games (47 point pace in 76 games) for Tatar for his first full season is way better numbers? Zadina has 23 in 39 games, (on pace for 44 points in 76 games).

Zadina could easily hit his stride in the second half.
We can't call him a bust yet, it happens all the time when people have trouble adjusting to a new league.

 

[TCNorthstars]

Those are fair points for sure bud. But I still ask this he has not done that yet in the A so what makes you think it will light a fire under his ass in the N? I'm not saying he has been bad by any means just kinda of average. I really want to see him and V in GR next year and see what we have that has me excited.

Because the NHL is his ultimate goal and it is even more difficult than the AHL. It will show him where he ultimately needs to be.

 

[ricky0034]

Zadina could easily hit his stride in the second half.
We can't call him a bust yet, it happens all the time when people have trouble adjusting to a new league.

his production isn't even bad really

not amazing but he's got similar production to guys like Necas,Tolvanen,and Yamamoto that were drafted the year before he was

 

[jkutswings]

https://www.tsn.ca/wings-zadina-to-play-in-nhl-won-t-burn-elc-1.1254342

"Before the end the season, I want Z to play some NHL games,” Holland told MLive. “I don’t know when, I don’t know how many. As we go into the off-season, I think it’ll be important for him to play some games in the NHL and get a feel for what the next level is all about.”

Holland added that Zadina will not cross the nine-game threshold that would activate the first season of his entry-level contract.

(further on in the article)

"I think he’s had a good year,” Holland said. “He’s had some nights when he’s been very, very good, he’s had some nights when he hasn’t been a big factor and he’s had lots of nights when he’s looked like an American League player. I think that’s part of the process.

"He’s a 19-year-old playing in a league with a lot of guys that are 23 to 29. They’re bigger, stronger and more experienced. It’s going to be a real important year for him in terms of understanding how hard pro hockey is and the importance of hitting the gym in the summer and make adjustments."

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Because the NHL is his ultimate goal and it is even more difficult than the AHL. It will show him where he ultimately needs to be.

Agreed. And quotes from Holland seem to show exactly that.

Give the kid a glimpse of what the NHL is like and send him into the offseason. It's showing him what his ultimate goal is and what that level he has to reach to get there, right as he has time off to train and work on his game.

 

[Goalie guy]

No one else excited to see what he and V can do next year in the A? I'm truly looking forward to it.

 

[ChrisReevesLegs]

I'm sorry (bracing for criticism) I just don't see what the obsession with Zadina is.

Sure we drafted him high, but the kid has 25 pts in 40 some games in the AHL. That's not impressive....

I got a lot of crap earlier this year for being critical of him, but his stats only seem to reinforce my point... this kid is the next yakupov. I've watched him play and I'm not at all impressed. Veleno and McIsaac are going to outstrip him. Eat me alive if you must...

 

[SimonEdvinssonAtSix]

I'm sorry (bracing for criticism) I just don't see what the obsession with Zadina is.

Sure we drafted him high, but the kid has 25 pts in 40 some games in the AHL. That's not impressive....

I got a lot of crap earlier this year for being critical of him, but his stats only seem to reinforce my point... this kid is the next yakupov. I've watched him play and I'm not at all impressed. Veleno and McIsaac are going to outstrip him. Eat me alive if you must...

If he was drafted 30OA , would you say the same thing? Point being, give the kid a chance to hit up a summer training program. We are good a developing wingers. He's not a bust because of one AHL season. The over reactions to this kid are unreal.

I

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I'm sorry (bracing for criticism) I just don't see what the obsession with Zadina is.

Sure we drafted him high, but the kid has 25 pts in 40 some games in the AHL. That's not impressive....

I got a lot of crap earlier this year for being critical of him, but his stats only seem to reinforce my point... this kid is the next yakupov. I've watched him play and I'm not at all impressed. Veleno and McIsaac are going to outstrip him. Eat me alive if you must...

You got a lot of crap because it is far too early on Zadina to say "oh, he's not impressive right now so he's not potentially special." If a person thought he was potentially special in June, they should probably give him a season to find his footing against pros as opposed to juniors.

And it's not so much an obsession as it is Zadina has tools that very few Wings prospects in the past thirty years have had. The fact that he needs time to adjust to a league with bigger, faster, stronger guys in it is not a reason to criticize. Think about it this way... this past season is probably the first that Zadina ever struggled in. That will mess with even the most confident person.

Pulkkinen WAS impressive in the AHL. Then he came to the NHL and completely underwhelmed.

And it's not unheard of for guys to "underwhelm" in the minors and turn it on in the pros.

10 Great Junior Players Who Failed In The NHL And 10 Bad Junior Players That Succeeded

Lastly, you got a bunch of crap because you were kind of a jerk about saying it too and in some areas admitted you were trolling for a response.

 

[ricky0034]

I feel like there's a subset of people that would be way higher on Zadina if he had just gone back to juniors and put up a modest improvement on last years numbers instead of going to the AHL and putting up a solid if unspectacular rookie year there as a D+1

which is pretty backwards

 

[A Few Good Males]

I feel like there's a subset of people that would be way higher on Zadina if he had just gone back to juniors and put up a modest improvement on last years numbers instead of going to the AHL and putting up a solid if unspectacular rookie year there as a D+1

which is pretty backwards

Yup. The amount of people using the word “bust” is both confusing and short-sighted. He’s fifth on the Griffins in points.

 

[Winger98]

I feel like there's a subset of people that would be way higher on Zadina if he had just gone back to juniors and put up a modest improvement on last years numbers instead of going to the AHL and putting up a solid if unspectacular rookie year there as a D+1

which is pretty backwards

I think part of it is that it's harder for a lot of us to see juniors and to gauge players against their peers. The fact that there are several junior leagues just adds to it. Then there are things like kids going the college route on top of that. Outside of when a guy is clearly blowing it up (Veleno) or clearly not (various lower picks like Gilmour), I know I have a massive grey area in the middle there.

With the AHL, I think it's easier to see it as folks see the NHL with a stat line that applies to everyone. The age and maturation differences get lost a bit, as I think it's just assumed that if a guy is there he's got to be as "ready" for it as a guy whose been there for five years.

 

[Pavels Dog]

I'm sorry (bracing for criticism) I just don't see what the obsession with Zadina is.

Sure we drafted him high, but the kid has 25 pts in 40 some games in the AHL. That's not impressive....

I got a lot of crap earlier this year for being critical of him, but his stats only seem to reinforce my point... this kid is the next yakupov. I've watched him play and I'm not at all impressed. Veleno and McIsaac are going to outstrip him. Eat me alive if you must...

It's not huge numbers but if you look at U20 numbers in the AHL he's putting up a PPG that's comparable or better than a lot of good players. Filip Forsberg did about 0.7PPG as an AHL rookie for example, and that was in his d+2 while Zadina is in his d+1. You can also look at highly touted players like Necas, Lias Andersson and Eeli Tolvanen, none of them are tearing the AHL apart. It's not easy to dominate down there.

 

[Mister Ed]

Last 10 games, he's got an even +/-, 3G + 2A and his shots per game are going up. He's starting to piece it all together.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

This is why I really don't care that much about point totals in juniors/college/AHL after getting drafted.

 

[KasperTheGrittyGhost]

The amount of people on this board that are super eager to kill Zadina and the rest of our kids is absolutely ridiculous. Development takes time. It took Nate Mackinnon 4 years to break 25 goals, and now he’s a top 10 player in the league. Breakouts like McDavid and Matthews are lightning in a bottle, not the league norm.

No wonder the franchise held off rebuilding for years.

 

[Orthodox Caveman]

I agree that many are ridiculous and impatient regarding Zadina but it also seems like some have already decided he likely won’t reach the level of Pasternak.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I agree that many are ridiculous and impatient regarding Zadina but it also seems like some have already decided he likely won’t reach the level of Pasternak.

Ok? About 95% of the total players in the league won't reach the level of Pastrnak. PPG players at any position are super rare.

And that's the thing, it's silly to write of a player with Zadina's pedigree completely off because less than one full AHL season in he's not producing at a PPG level. If he were at a like 0.25 PPG level, you should worry a little bit more. If he looked completely out of his element in the A, you could be worried. He's playing fine. He needs to keep developing, but as a 19 year old, he's a good AHL player.

 

[Orthodox Caveman]

I agree...I just find it surprising that even more cautious fans already have those doubts.