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C/LW Pavel Zacha - Sarnia Sting, OHL (2015, 6th, NJD)

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Hale The Villain said:
He's built for the NHL, not junior.

The players that translate the best to the NHL level are the physical specimens with all the tools. Zacha is 6'3, 210lbs, skates extremely well, shoots the puck better than most NHLers, and has a surprising amount of talent for such a big man. His hockey sense may not be as good as other highly drafted players, but he'll make up for that with his tremendous skills package.

Has the potential to produce 60 points and can be molded into a two-way beast - the kind of player that teams hate to play against.
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With that size he should be destroying junior....
Competition just gets bigger when/if he rises through the leagues.
 
McFlyingV said:
Pretty much this. Also not sure how he excepts a guy with subpar hockey sense to become a 2-way beast. Hockey sense is one of the more important things that goes into being a good 2-way player.
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Well, he was voted to be the best penalty killer in his conference by the coaches, so that has to say something about his two-way ability. I don't expect anything near a Kopitar-type or any Selke nominations but like a lot of people say, 60 points a year plus a couple minutes on the PK a night and his physicality would at the very least make him a worthwhile top 10 pick. I'm also of the opinion that he was drafted high - and this is from a guy who drafted him (and Rantanen) in a Sim league at 6/7.
 
I think he'll be a solid middle six forward who's great defensively and will have games where he dominates offensively, but doesn't dominate offensively consistently.

Not the type of player I'd personally spend a top 10 pick on, but obviously New Jersey felt differently.
 
I was bummed when the Sharks weren't able to get him at 9, and real irritated that we got Meier instead. Safe to say I no longer hold those beliefs.
 
CorgisPer60 said:
Yup. It's part of why it took Dumba so long to make the NHL when others in his draft year were more able to adjust.
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Ehhhh, making the NHL full time at 20 isn't taking so long. As a defenseman, that's pretty good. If he were 22 and struggling, I'd make a case for him taking a while. Compared against other D that were drafted top 10, he's pretty much right in the middle of his class. I'd say he's the 5th of the 8 defensemen in the top 10 who have made it full time now.


CorgisPer60 said:
So basically a 3rd line grinder. Great use of a top 10 pick. *thumbs up*
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He wasn't using Gauthier or Gaustad as a comparison, but using them as an example of how you don't necessarily need to be dominant offensively in juniors to carve out a successful NHL career. I'd say Gaustad would be at the low end of Zacha's potential.
 
You don't have to light up juniors to carve out a successful NHL career, but using a top 10 pick for that guy? Seems like a bad pick relative to who else was on the board.
 
People really overate what quality of players you can typically get with a "top 10 pick". http://www2.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/story/?id=455673

Zacha was picked for his physical tools because he was considered a very safe bet to be an NHL player. There were flashier forwards available, but they also came with much higher risk. Small, skilled forwards are going to either work out as a top 6 forward, or be a career minor league player. Zacha still has that top 6 potential, but also has a very high chance of being a useful roll player if he doesn't put it all together.
 
Intent said:
I was bummed when the Sharks weren't able to get him at 9, and real irritated that we got Meier instead. Safe to say I no longer hold those beliefs.
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Why would you be irritated about taking Meier? Hes pretty good.
 
Blender said:
People really overate what quality of players you can typically get with a "top 10 pick". http://www2.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/story/?id=455673

Zacha was picked for his physical tools because he was considered a very safe bet to be an NHL player. There were flashier forwards available, but they also came with much higher risk. Small, skilled forwards are going to either work out as a top 6 forward, or be a career minor league player. Zacha still has that top 6 potential, but also has a very high chance of being a useful roll player if he doesn't put it all together.
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Exactly. It's a pretty safe bet that Zacha will become a consistent NHLer...whether it's top or bottom 6 remains to be seen. There are countless purely offensive "boom or bust" picks that either excel or don't make the NHL at all. Top 10 picks are not as "guaranteed" as some here are making it out to be.
 
I'm pretty sure Zacha was a Conte pick and Conte has a huge hard on for Zubrus. I wanted Barzal with NJs pick but what's done is done.

That being said its not like Zacha is having a bad year he's just not lighting up the scoreboard as much as most would like. Still plenty of time for him to find his game.
 
Blender said:
People really overate what quality of players you can typically get with a "top 10 pick". http://www2.tsn.ca/fantasy_news/story/?id=455673

Zacha was picked for his physical tools because he was considered a very safe bet to be an NHL player. There were flashier forwards available, but they also came with much higher risk. Small, skilled forwards are going to either work out as a top 6 forward, or be a career minor league player. Zacha still has that top 6 potential, but also has a very high chance of being a useful roll player if he doesn't put it all together.
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I don't get that kind of thinking, every draft needs to/should be looked at on it's own, and he was picked 6th overall on a draft that was supposed to be special and definitely looks to be special right now.
There are ton of highly valued(at the draft) prospects having fantastic seasons.
 
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CorgisPer60 said:
Do you understand how high of a draft pick 6th is? There are safe picks there, and most have high ceilings. Zacha is not showing the ceiling that other prospects are.
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Most "high ceiling" players also have high bust potential. The Devils did not have the forward depth to take a boom or bust prospect. They took someone that has first line potential but also a pretty high floor.
 
BB88 said:
I don't get that kind of thinking, every draft needs to/should be looked at on it's own, and he was picked 6th overall on a draft that was supposed to be special and definitely looks to be special right now.
There are ton of highly valued(at the draft) prospects having fantastic seasons.
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No one is drafted for their draft+1 year in junior. It's great that other prospects are having great draft+1 years, and I'm sure their fans are happy with that, but that's not a knock on Zacha. A pretty high percentage of top 10 picks never amount of anything special, but the thought on HF is that top 10 picks are guaranteed star players.
 
Blender said:
No one is drafted for their draft+1 year in junior. It's great that other prospects are having great draft+1 years, and I'm sure their fans are happy with that, but that's not a knock on Zacha. A pretty high percentage of top 10 picks never amount of anything special, but the thought on HF is that top 10 picks are guaranteed star players.
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Again you are going with the average, this was 2015 draft pick, and as it has been said it's much easier to expect success from prospects that are having success in the juniors and are showing development.

And once more he was 6th overall, not just top10 pick.
 
BB88 said:
Again you are going with the average, this was 2015 draft pick, and as it has been said it's much easier to expect success from prospects that are having success in the juniors and are showing development.

And once more he was 6th overall, not just top10 pick.
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You're right, it was a 2015 pick which is less than a year ago. That's why anyone saying it's a "bad pick" or coming up with redraft lists is being completely absurd. Not nearly enough time has passed for anyone to be majorly questioning draft order when the goal is to pick NHL players.
 
Blender said:
You're right, it was a 2015 pick which is less than a year ago. That's why anyone saying it's a "bad pick" or coming up with redraft lists is being completely absurd. Not nearly enough time has passed for anyone to be majorly questioning draft order when the goal is to pick NHL players.
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No one can be called a bust but conserns can be expressed, and when you get picked 6th overall in a draft like this fans want to see solid development throughout the year.
 
BB88 said:
No one can be called a bust but conserns can be expressed, and when you get picked 6th overall in a draft like this fans want to see solid development throughout the year.
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Most Devils fans are happy with the pick and he has shown improvement over last season in almost every way, which is the very definition of solid development.
 
NA Scouting said:
Most big-time junior scorers produce tons of points because of their individual skills and an understanding of the league they're in. They are good to exploit the weaknesses of junior defense schemes. This doesn't mean they will become scoring machines in the NHL. Look at Corey Locke's stats.

I think the poster means Zacha is not the kind of guy that could take over a junior game and score 2 pts per night. But he is a guy when placed with talented and experienced players in the NHL, will be able to bring a lot to the table (physical skills, two-way skills, speed) so that he will be a great NHLer. He will make his team better, but probably wont be a superstar.

There is a couple of players like that. For exemple, a guy like McIlrath was drafted very high by NYR, despite him never dominating juniors. He is now becoming a solid NHLer. A guy like Frederik Gauthier, 1st round by TOR, has never put up 1.00 PPG in the QMJHL, yet projects as a solid 3rd line C like Paul Gaustad, a very good NHLer.
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I am surprised that his production didn't jump when Konecny joined Sarnia.

Zac's PPG 1.18
Konecny's PPG 1.7 with Sarnia

Way too early to say how these kids end up though.
 
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