My god people are so clueless in this thread.
Zaitsev career avg TOI: 22:06 ( LEADS THE LEAFS)
Zaitsev career PK TOI: 317:44 (3rd most over the past two years and 2nd most both last year and this year)
Zaitsev career TOI% QOC: 32.45 (highest on Leafs over past two seasons, #2 behind Hainsey this season)
Zaitsev Dzone starts: 43.8% (#3 behind Hainsey 32.5% and Polak 33.7%)
Last season, Zaitsev in my mind was easily our most reliable defender. This was the only guy on the team who spent time killing penalties as well as running the PP, AS A ROOKIE. He is a right shot in a league that doesn't have many quality Righty D-men. He is very mobile and can play a punishing game. Z's role on this team has been to eat up a ton of minutes and some of the most toughest minutes. He is one of our most reliable and trusted guys when it comes to Dzone faceoffs. His job on most nights isn't to go out run and gun but instead it is to provide stability to his d-partner Jake Gardiner. And as we all know, Jake isn't exactly the easiest guy to play with because he is highly error prone and can make a ton of boneheaded plays.
Now, this year Zaitsev got off to a pretty good start. He was playing fairly well before he broke his ankle and it took him a while to get used to the speed of the game when he came back. That said, he wasn't absolutely terrible when he came back. What really did him in this year IMO was when he got that weird flu. He lost 10-15 lbs because of the illness and it has taken him a very long time to recover from that. People have to understand when you lose that kind of weight, it's very tough for a guy like Z to recover and readjust to his new weight because so much of his game involves pushing guys around and playing physical. Has he been as good this year as he was last year? Not even remotely. But he's had to deal with a ton of adversity while trying to play a bigger role on the team.
For all the shit he gets, people are forgetting that our biggest X-factor in the playoffs this year will be the play of Nikita Zaitsev. If he plays steady and physical like we know he can, that helps slot everyone else into their proper D-position. If Z can't hold his own right now, we're as good as done. And THAT is the reason why he got a 7 year deal. He is the glue guy on the back end. Z is the guy who settles down the D-core and allows Rielly and Gardiner and Dermott take on much easier minutes than they would otherwise have to take up. Hainsey is the same way. In Hainsey's case, we have burned out the poor guy and he hasn't looked the same since his injury but we need him to be steady atleast.
As far as the future goes, Z will be an anchor on the top pairing for the buds. For better or worse, he's Babs man. Babcock loves his style of play and he loves his dependability. Zaitsev has had a very rough year and his confidence is basically shot at this point, it's up to the coaching staff to build him back up but it's extremely difficult to build up your confidence when you're struggling and are being tossed out to the wolves and asked to do so much for the team. He is currently to the team what Morgan Rielly has been for us for the past 4 years. We're sacrificing Z for the betterment of the team and if we can ever land a guy like Doughty or another top pairing RHD, people will fall in love with Zaitsev's game because he won't be forced to carry such a massive load.
Ideal future scenario.
Rielly - Big minute munching RHD
Dermott - Zaitsev
Borgman - Lilly
Zaitsev career avg TOI: 22:06 ( LEADS THE LEAFS)
Zaitsev career PK TOI: 317:44 (3rd most over the past two years and 2nd most both last year and this year)
Zaitsev career TOI% QOC: 32.45 (highest on Leafs over past two seasons, #2 behind Hainsey this season)
Zaitsev Dzone starts: 43.8% (#3 behind Hainsey 32.5% and Polak 33.7%)
Last season, Zaitsev in my mind was easily our most reliable defender. This was the only guy on the team who spent time killing penalties as well as running the PP, AS A ROOKIE. He is a right shot in a league that doesn't have many quality Righty D-men. He is very mobile and can play a punishing game. Z's role on this team has been to eat up a ton of minutes and some of the most toughest minutes. He is one of our most reliable and trusted guys when it comes to Dzone faceoffs. His job on most nights isn't to go out run and gun but instead it is to provide stability to his d-partner Jake Gardiner. And as we all know, Jake isn't exactly the easiest guy to play with because he is highly error prone and can make a ton of boneheaded plays.
Now, this year Zaitsev got off to a pretty good start. He was playing fairly well before he broke his ankle and it took him a while to get used to the speed of the game when he came back. That said, he wasn't absolutely terrible when he came back. What really did him in this year IMO was when he got that weird flu. He lost 10-15 lbs because of the illness and it has taken him a very long time to recover from that. People have to understand when you lose that kind of weight, it's very tough for a guy like Z to recover and readjust to his new weight because so much of his game involves pushing guys around and playing physical. Has he been as good this year as he was last year? Not even remotely. But he's had to deal with a ton of adversity while trying to play a bigger role on the team.
For all the shit he gets, people are forgetting that our biggest X-factor in the playoffs this year will be the play of Nikita Zaitsev. If he plays steady and physical like we know he can, that helps slot everyone else into their proper D-position. If Z can't hold his own right now, we're as good as done. And THAT is the reason why he got a 7 year deal. He is the glue guy on the back end. Z is the guy who settles down the D-core and allows Rielly and Gardiner and Dermott take on much easier minutes than they would otherwise have to take up. Hainsey is the same way. In Hainsey's case, we have burned out the poor guy and he hasn't looked the same since his injury but we need him to be steady atleast.
As far as the future goes, Z will be an anchor on the top pairing for the buds. For better or worse, he's Babs man. Babcock loves his style of play and he loves his dependability. Zaitsev has had a very rough year and his confidence is basically shot at this point, it's up to the coaching staff to build him back up but it's extremely difficult to build up your confidence when you're struggling and are being tossed out to the wolves and asked to do so much for the team. He is currently to the team what Morgan Rielly has been for us for the past 4 years. We're sacrificing Z for the betterment of the team and if we can ever land a guy like Doughty or another top pairing RHD, people will fall in love with Zaitsev's game because he won't be forced to carry such a massive load.
Ideal future scenario.
Rielly - Big minute munching RHD
Dermott - Zaitsev
Borgman - Lilly
