Prospect Info: 6th Overall Pick: Pavel Zacha

[Missionhockey]

Does anyone remember the Parise comparisons to Mike York in 2003?

Ha yes, I was around for that. He also got Scott Gomez and he plays nothing like that.

It's kind of funny because now I feel like every hard working, undersized forward gets compared to Parise.

 

[goonybird]

Pavel Zacha - Next Anders Lee

 

[Oneiro]

The point seems to be: everything is a crap shoot and look at the top 10 of every draft for your reality check.

But to compare a draft where Robitaille was taken in the 9th round, a draft where Michalek was a top 10 pick and a 2015 draft where half of the top 10 players selected are skinnier than Brindamour's wrist...how can that not have any effect on quantitative analysis?

Teams chase trends and identities. And the game has changed at least three times in our lifetimes. What about the brutal late 90s drafts? Are we not weighing how poor as a whole some of those years were?

 

[Burner Account]

Most think we should have gone Barzal, which I would have been fine with too.

Who are these people? Did any of them watch Barzal as he was rejected by seven teams after the Devils?

Are they the people that judge based on YouTube highlights? Must be the same crowd that thought Andrei Loktionov was good because he scored a cool toe drag goal once.

 

[Devil X]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=40751

Glad to see Pavel will be getting a little more hockey in before camp starts.

Hopefully we will get some good reports about how he plays.

 

[Burner Account]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=40751

Glad to see Pavel will be getting a little more hockey in before camp starts.

Hopefully we will get some good reports about how he plays.

More North American hockey, importantly.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

Who are these people? Did any of them watch Barzal as he was rejected by seven teams after the Devils?

Are they the people that judge based on YouTube highlights? Must be the same crowd that thought Andrei Loktionov was good because he scored a cool toe drag goal once.

That sounds about right.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I feel like it's mostly mob mentality on the main board. A few posters say they don't like Zacha, then a few more, and a few more, and all of a sudden it's almost the "consensus" that he won't be that good. But for no reason really. In those bust threads a lot of Zacha comes out there, but no one says why. It's always a "gut feeling" or they bring up his production, which with some context makes some sense as to why he didn't light the O on fire.

I don't like the main board.

There is also a Devil's bias. I swear if we took Ivan and Philly Zacha the tune would be that Ivan was overhyped going into the draft and Philly got a steal of a player.

 

[SpeakingOfTheDevils]

There is also a Devil's bias. I swear if we took Ivan and Philly Zacha the tune would be that Ivan was overhyped going into the draft and Philly got a steal of a player.

Ah dude, don't pull the victim card like that. You sound like the Leafs fans that cry "anti-Leaf bias." Bad form.

We're happy with our player, and he's happy he's here. All that matters. Don't worry so much about the periphery. Who the **** cares.

 

[Cheddabombs]

There is also a Devil's bias. I swear if we took Ivan and Philly Zacha the tune would be that Ivan was overhyped going into the draft and Philly got a steal of a player.

Ah dude, don't pull the victim card like that. You sound like the Leafs fans that cry "anti-Leaf bias." Bad form.

We're happy with our player, and he's happy he's here. All that matters. Don't worry so much about the periphery. Who the **** cares.

Yea I agree, I don't think the bashing of Zacha has much, if anything, to do with the fact that we drafted him. He had plenty of detractors going into the draft, for no reason really, and more have made themselves vocal afterwards too. It's mostly the stat-line watchers that try to give their "informed" two-cents on Zacha, and just look foolish.

The "anti-Leafs" stuff is always hilarious though

 

[JerryGigantic]

Since it's the dog days of the offseason...

What number do folks see Zacha eventually wearing? He was 14 in Sarnia and 13 for the Czech Republic.

I'd like, in order: 12, 10, 18, 8.

12 seems the most obvious, unless we do away with the no 13 rule.

I would love love love for the kid to get #13.

Would mean there is a total regime change. And is a cool number.

 

[JerryGigantic]

I prefer 13 stay unused. It was McMullen's one wish and I'm a fan of that piece of tradition in NJ.

Or this. Haha.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

TG with an update on Pavel's contract with some quotes by his agent:

http://fireandice.northjersey.com/fire-ice-1.174987/agent-no-bad-blood-with-devils-in-pavel-zacha-contract-talks-hopes-to-beat-aug-15-deadline-1.1378585

 

[Bleedred]

TG with an update on Pavel's contract with some quotes by his agent:

http://fireandice.northjersey.com/fire-ice-1.174987/agent-no-bad-blood-with-devils-in-pavel-zacha-contract-talks-hopes-to-beat-aug-15-deadline-1.1378585

If Stefan is as good of an agent as he was a hockey player/1st overall pick, then we better watch out.

And wow that 99 draft was terrible, which I know has been discussed before.

Most of the guys in the first round were a bunch of jabroni's. It was pretty much just the Sedin's, Barret Jackman, Martin Havlat, and I guess Ari Ahonen counts as one of the more stronger players in that draft. And who can forget the legendary Rangers pick of Jamie Lundmark? He'll be in the HOF no doubt.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

If Stefan is as good of an agent as he was a hockey player/1st overall pick, then we better watch out.

And wow that 99 draft was terrible, which I know has been discussed before.

Most of the guys in the first round were a bunch of jabroni's. It was pretty much just the Sedin's, Barret Jackman, Martin Havlat, and I guess Ari Ahonen counts as one of the more stronger players in that draft. And who can forget the legendary Rangers pick of Jamie Lundmark? He'll be in the HOF no doubt.

I try not to think of Stefan the bust when I think of Stefan the agent, because otherwise I crack up.

1998 and 1999 were brutal drafts. Best not to remember them.

 

[Emperoreddy]

TG with an update on Pavel's contract with some quotes by his agent:

http://fireandice.northjersey.com/fire-ice-1.174987/agent-no-bad-blood-with-devils-in-pavel-zacha-contract-talks-hopes-to-beat-aug-15-deadline-1.1378585

I kind of get the idea why the Czech media think Stefan is an idiot now.

 

[Bleedred]

Is Zacha also the one who recently fired Allen Walsh because of Walsh went running his mouth about something on twitter?

I remember people talking about that on here not too long ago.

 

[Tretyak 20]

The more I think about it, the more I like the Milan Michalek comparison. Here's an article from days before the 2003 draft: http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20030617001/tscript.htm

"Nathan Horton might be the most ready from a strictly physical standpoint, but I'd have to say Milan Michalek from an overall standpoint because he's got size and strength, but more importantly he's been playing in the Czech ExtraLeague for two years against men, so he's a bit more emotionally mature and his game is well rounded defensively as well."

"Shortsville, NY: I have serious reservations about two top-10 prospects, Braydon Coburn and Milan Michalek, both for the same reason... Decreased production in their draft year from the standard they set as 17 year-olds... Isn't this typically a serious red flag?"

Sound familiar?

I actually agree Michalek is a pretty good comp. The thing to remember, though, is that Michalek had a serious ACL injury pretty early in his career. Hard to say how that affected him. Also, Michalek has been a pretty solid player - with one 35 goal season and several 25 or better seasons. If Zacha becomes a perennial 25-30 goal scorer who works hard, is responsible defensively and brings a physical element - that's a successful pick. It would be tough to look at the forwards drafted after Zacha and find one who would likely be better.

 

[MadDevil]

I kind of get the idea why the Czech media think Stefan is an idiot now.

 

[ForeverJerseyGirl]

I kind of get the idea why the Czech media think Stefan is an idiot now.

Yeah, some of his comments in TG's article make him seem like he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Is Zacha also the one who recently fired Allen Walsh because of Walsh went running his mouth about something on twitter?

I remember people talking about that on here not too long ago.

Yep, if I recall correctly, Zacha parted ways with Allen Walsh because Walsh raised a stink about him going to Sarnia. Zacha seems to have bad luck with agents, but at least he was smart and strong enough to dump his first agent when he thought that agent acted against his wishes. I choose to take that as a good sign. Who knows? Maybe the Devils won't have to deal with idiot Stefan for too much longer because Zacha cans him as well?

 

[Emperoreddy]

Pretty much says all you need to know why Zacha is still unsigned.

 

[Bleedred]

I don't think he stayed in the league too much longer after that.

I only remember that because that was a huge blooper reel highlight that was talked about that whole season.

LOL @ Ray Ferraro saying that was the most embarrassing thing he's seen in 25 years of pro hockey.

Ferraro was even a teammate of his in Atlanta. I bet he was able to see signs of Stefan's busting long before most anybody.

That pick probably doomed Atlanta, I think Rhodes was even talking about it recently.

Not that they could have done much better in that draft. The top 10 was a complete joke in that draft. The whole draft sucked, but that top 10 was a nightmare. It was like the Sedin's and 8 Hugh Jessiman's. Outside of the Sedin's, it was an utter disgrace in that top 10. Imagine if Atlanta was able to get the twins instead? Just one of them would have been better than Stefan.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I don't think he stayed in the league too much longer after that.

I only remember that because that was a huge blooper reel highlight that was talked about that whole season.

LOL @ Ray Ferraro saying that was the most embarrassing thing he's seen in 25 years of pro hockey.

Ferraro was even a teammate of his in Atlanta. I bet he was able to see signs of Stefan's busting long before most anybody.

That pick probably doomed Atlanta, I think Rhodes was even talking about it recently.

Not that they could have done much better in that draft. The top 10 was a complete joke in that draft. The whole draft sucked, but that top 10 was a nightmare. It was like the Sedin's and 8 Hugh Jessiman's. Outside of the Sedin's, it was an utter disgrace in that top 10. Imagine if Atlanta was able to get the twins instead? Just one of them would have been better than Stefan.

Funny thing is, assuming Burke was hell-bent on getting both Sedins, there was practically no one else Atlanta SHOULD have taken. Looking back at '99 is one of those things that makes me realize few drafted players really become top-level NHLers. The only other legit top-6 forwards to come out of that draft were Havlat, Zetterberg, Erat, and Vrbata (I'm probably missing one or two), and three of them were taken in the 7th round.

So yeah...hopefully Stefan's career success isn't carrying over to his success as an agent.

 

[lamini]

I don't think he stayed in the league too much longer after that.

I only remember that because that was a huge blooper reel highlight that was talked about that whole season.

LOL @ Ray Ferraro saying that was the most embarrassing thing he's seen in 25 years of pro hockey.

Ferraro was even a teammate of his in Atlanta. I bet he was able to see signs of Stefan's busting long before most anybody.

That pick probably doomed Atlanta, I think Rhodes was even talking about it recently.

Not that they could have done much better in that draft. The top 10 was a complete joke in that draft. The whole draft sucked, but that top 10 was a nightmare. It was like the Sedin's and 8 Hugh Jessiman's. Outside of the Sedin's, it was an utter disgrace in that top 10. Imagine if Atlanta was able to get the twins instead? Just one of them would have been better than Stefan.

To Stefan defence he had three concussions in his draft year and some more health issues during most of his career. There was no right choice with nr 1 pick in that draft.

 

[JimEIV]

The more I think about it, the more I like the Milan Michalek comparison. Here's an article from days before the 2003 draft: http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20030617001/tscript.htm

"Nathan Horton might be the most ready from a strictly physical standpoint, but I'd have to say Milan Michalek from an overall standpoint because he's got size and strength, but more importantly he's been playing in the Czech ExtraLeague for two years against men, so he's a bit more emotionally mature and his game is well rounded defensively as well."

"Shortsville, NY: I have serious reservations about two top-10 prospects, Braydon Coburn and Milan Michalek, both for the same reason... Decreased production in their draft year from the standard they set as 17 year-olds... Isn't this typically a serious red flag?"

Sound familiar?

Read that entire article, Kyle is/was wrong in just about every single thing he said.