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

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Fear the Wushu said:
Have you seen Zacha's shot, it's freaking lethal and probably the best in the OHL. The offensive upside is there, he just needs to start taking more shots and putting himself in better positions. All very teachable things.
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I've seen his shot, yes. But a hard shot does not destine a player for greatness. Hockey IQ does.
 
King In The North said:
Zacha and Blake Wheeler, now that's a good comparison. Devils should be really excited if he pans out to that.
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Definitely. A first line forward with the 6th overall is a good haul, so there is nothing wrong with that. I hope he does turn into a Wheeler or Neal type player.
 
A few not-so-smart penalties tonight, but I thought he played real well overall. Passed the puck well, and created some good chances. Had a really good short-handed chance. Overall I think the Sting's play got sloppy as the game progressed, and the Greyhounds pounced on it. I'd like to see Zacha shoot the puck more next game, but again I thought he did well tonight.
 
thethinglonger said:
A few not-so-smart penalties tonight, but I thought he played real well overall. Passed the puck well, and created some good chances. Had a really good short-handed chance. Overall I think the Sting's play got sloppy as the game progressed, and the Greyhounds pounced on it. I'd like to see Zacha shoot the puck more next game, but again I thought he did well tonight.
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I thought the penalties were rather soft, but overall not an unfair assessment. I like how quick of a decision-maker he is. I don't know where these knocks on his hockey sense come from.
 
FLYLine24 said:
Crazy that he went 6th overall. Almost as crazy as the Jessiman pick :(
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Don't even put Zacha in the same league as the hideous Jessiman pick. Zacha will never be a total bust like Jessiman. It's way too early to be drawing those kind of conclusions. Absolutely crazy even...
 
VoidCreature said:
I thought the penalties were rather soft, but overall not an unfair assessment. I like how quick of a decision-maker he is. I don't know where these knocks on his hockey sense come from.
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Me neither, he has been good in all 3 zones for 2 years now. I'm assuming people have seen him play like 5 minutes and came up with some ideology.

Penalty calling in juniors is stricter so I could care less about that too.
 
CerebralGenesis said:
Me neither, he has been good in all 3 zones for 2 years now. I'm assuming people have seen him play like 5 minutes and came up with some ideology.

Penalty calling in juniors is stricter so I could care less about that too.
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I don't even care about the penalties. You can teach discipline, but you can't teach nastiness like he has.
 
I do think the holding penalty he got called on was rather weak, and perhaps he has turned a corner, but one thing I really noticed during the regular season was his tendency to take retaliation-type penalties. I think the turning point, if he has indeed hit one, was the game where he had 4 minor penalties in it. In an interview after the game, he was talking about how stupid of a game he played. I can't remember which game that was, but he's been on fire since the end of the season. I definitely think for a good period of time he was dealing with a prolonged injury sustained at the World Juniors.

His offensive game is starting to heat up: 8 points in his last 3 games, but his defensive game has been really underrated here. The good thing is that his floor is really high too, so if the tools don't come together, I can see him being a physical 3rd liner that pots the occasional goal, but seeing his progress this season, I don't think that's the case. Obviously I'm wearing Devils-tinted visors, but he's definitely a promising but intriguing prospect.

EDIT: For those concerned about sample sizes I think he's now up to 15 points in his last 8 games, which is still getting there in terms of offensive output, but it's a significant step in the right direction.
 
Homer Glumplich said:
Don't even put Zacha in the same league as the hideous Jessiman pick. Zacha will never be a total bust like Jessiman. It's way too early to be drawing those kind of conclusions. Absolutely crazy even...
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You're talking to a rangers fan, never expect a logical argument lol:laugh:
 
Hulleux said:
He reminds me of Bobby Holik
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Yeah, that's how I kind of look at him. I don't have the same faith in him having an absolute peak but I wouldn't be surprised if he has a length Holik/Olli Jokinen type career.
 
WhiskeyYourTheDevils said:
Not offensive IQ. I'm not doubting his ability to play in a bottom 6 role in the NHL. I question his ability to contribute offensively.
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Dude, have you even watched him play once? Doubting his offensive ability is nuts.

This so called "bust" is in a 7 way tie for second in OHL playoff scoring. 1 more point than Dylan Strome, 3 more than Mitch Marner.
 
VoidCreature said:
Dude, have you even watched him play once? Doubting his offensive ability is nuts.

This so called "bust" is in a 7 way tie for second in OHL playoff scoring. 1 more point than Dylan Strome, 3 more than Mitch Marner.
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I've watched him plenty lol. He's got plenty of offensive skills, but doesn't process the game fast enough.

Not sure who has called him a bust, sounds like a strawman. But in any case a 3 game sample size is plenty big enough to prove your point it seems. Obviously hes better than Mitch Marner and Dylan Strome.
 
WhiskeyYourTheDevils said:
I've watched him plenty lol. He's got plenty of offensive skills, but doesn't process the game fast enough.

Not sure who has called him a bust, sounds like a strawman. But in any case a 3 game sample size is plenty big enough to prove your point it seems. Obviously hes better than Mitch Marner and Dylan Strome.
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Untrue. His decision making is extremely quick, often too fast for his team mates.
 
He's been on fire for the last few games of the regular season and the start of the playoffs. Let's see if this pace can hold. He's been playing some phenomenal hockey lately. WYTD is allowed to have his opinion just as much as we're allowed to have ours, and I really do appreciate his input.

Just hoping for the best here, and hoping that Zacha has turned a corner
 
Jason MacIsaac said:
Pavel Zacha without Travis Konecny could really take off. He is the go to player, he wants the puck on his stick.
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He was killing it before TK was there, then proceeded to get hurt at the WJC. Now that he's healthy and the go to guy, I think you're right.

20 pts in his last 10

34 in 24 without TK
 
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