Confirmed with Link: Devils sign Tomas Tatar - 2 years @ $4.5M AAV

[JimEIV]

Zacha has potential to be better sure, I don't see it happening as a complete player, but at no point in his career has he ever been better then Tatar.

Zacha was better this season.

That's the thing...Are we getting a .9 ppg version of Tatar or are we getting a .6 ppg version?

And is that .6 down from .9 the beginning of decline? Because Zacha at .7 ppg has shown improvement in each of his seasons in the NHL.

 

[britdevil]

View attachment 459628 Tatar’s gf/wife on his Instagram is an absolute smoke show. Stunning.

Blimey, they are a handsome couple.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Zacha is far superior to Tatar on the wing. But the problem with Zacha is the Devils cannot play him at center, he is far superior on the wing than center.

 

[Hisch13r]

Zacha was better this season.

That's the thing...Are we getting a .9 ppg version of Tatar or are we getting a .6 ppg version?

And is that .6 down from .9 the beginning of decline? Because Zacha at .7 ppg has shown improvement in each of his seasons in the NHL.

He wasn't even better this year. Similar overall production rate. Tatar with the decided 5v5 edge. Tatar drives play. Zacha doesn't. Even if he was slightly better this year it was off of the back of an incredibly unsustainable shooting year.

 

[JimEIV]

He wasn't even better this year. Similar overall production rate. Tatar with the decided 5v5 edge. Tatar drives play. Zacha doesn't. Even if he was slightly better this year it was off of the back of an incredibly unsustainable shooting year.

I don't really consider .7 ppg and .6 ppg similar production. One is 49.2 points over 82 and the other Is 57.4

And with that one had 17 goals (or 28 over 82) the other had 10 (or 16 over 82 )

And at Even Strength Zacha outscored Tater there too. Tater had 22 ES points and Zacha had 24. 12 to 8 ES goals in favor of Zacha.

You can find ways to discount that but I am taking 17 goals over 10 in 50 games every single time.

 

[Guttersniped]

That's not a concern at all, he's loved by teammates. Here's his latest tweet while in a shirt and tie.

Tatar didn’t get to play in the Finals but at least the team gave him that hat and t-shirt, so that’s nice.

 

[RSeen]

Zacha is far superior to Tatar on the wing. But the problem with Zacha is the Devils cannot play him at center, he is far superior on the wing than center.

Yeah....No he is not. Zacha has not proven to be more than a bottom six player. Tatar has been elite at driving play.

 

[brakeyawself]

View attachment 459628 Tatar’s gf/wife on his Instagram is an absolute smoke show. Stunning.

Poor guy. Major Melania vibes. I wonder if he checked the expiration date yet. He looks a little nervous. He's got a "as long as I keep playing everything will be ok" look on his face. Or maybe it's a "shes beautiful but does she always have to embarrass me like this" grin. Hard to tell.

 

[Guttersniped]

He wasn't even better this year. Similar overall production rate. Tatar with the decided 5v5 edge. Tatar drives play. Zacha doesn't. Even if he was slightly better this year it was off of the back of an incredibly unsustainable shooting year.

Also if you look at Goals Against, Zacha has some real issues, this is ignoring defense. The focus on raw production per game doesn’t take into account on Zacha having way more playing time too.

5v5 points/60: Zacha: 1.7 Tatar: 2.0

total points/60: Zacha: 2.4 Tatar: 2.4

Tartar had a slightly down season compared to his first two seasons in Montreal which were his most productive ever. He worked very well with Danault and Gallagher, it was just a great match.

I do think Tampa had the right approach of limiting the number of wingers they had, centers make line matching easier. It’s funny that Habs fans are crapping on the Tatar signing when Hoffman is much tougher to fit in their line-up, particularly with their center depth. They have deal with Drouin and he won’t help when Kotkaniemi is the 2nd line center. That’s the tough part of adding wingers, with the Habs no line-up makes sense, jigsaw puzzle with pieces from different puzzles. Hopefully Tatar finds a good match here. (He did have a better regular season than Zacha though, for what it’s worth.)

 

[brakeyawself]

Tarasenko shoulder is now actually fixed and hes going to smoke Tatar numbers wise. I'd be willing to bet money on that.

Wouldn't count on that. He has a habit of just finding a new route to the press box or disappearing from games. And even if not, he hasn't really been that player since 18-19 and that was still a bit of a down year for him. He's a weird player. Everyone knows what he's capable of it's just a matter of "is he worth the money " and "will he get it back". And I don't think either can be answered until he does or doesn't. He's a risk, but might be a risk worth taking. I just wouldn't want him at his current contract, especially with base salary this season. But it's only 2 years left on that. I would say, if a team thinks they are contending this season and next, it's a risk worth taking for them. For a team where the Devils are at, I am not so sure. The Blues seem to have soured on him. or he soured on them, maybe a bit of both. Even though he's "their baby".

But he theoretically will be performing for a new contract over the next 2 seasons. So it could be lightning in a bottle.

 

[brakeyawself]

Think you might have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, the main board is to the left.

Didn't realize they were checking passport and ID. shoot.

 

[StevenToddIves]

lol No he isn't.

Last year, Tatar had 10 goals and 30 points in 50 games and was a healthy scratch for his team in the playoffs. Last year, Zacha had 17 goals and 35 points and was the best player on his team for multiple stretches. This is not a "lol no he isn't" because this is not three years ago. Tatar is a 30 year old who was a 2nd line winger in his prime, which is behind him. Zacha was the better player last year.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Zacha was better this season.

That's the thing...Are we getting a .9 ppg version of Tatar or are we getting a .6 ppg version?

And is that .6 down from .9 the beginning of decline? Because Zacha at .7 ppg has shown improvement in each of his seasons in the NHL.

Tatar is unlikely to get better from his 30 year old season to his 31 year old season. He has been a healthy scratch in the playoffs multiple times in multiple seasons. I'm not putting him down, he's a solid scoring winger. But the people who think he was better than Zacha last year did not watch Canadiens games until the playoffs last year, when Tatar rarely played. They're looking at analytic charts.

 

[NJDevs26]

I feel like the Johnsson hate has gotta be one of the most overblown things I've seen on this board. I'm not a fan either but we've had like twenty scrubs that were just as bad over the last decade. And didn't get COVID?

Most of those scrubs aren't getting paid $3.4 million per on a three-year deal (now two) either.

 

[The 29th Pick]

Tatar is unlikely to get better from his 30 year old season to his 31 year old season. He has been a healthy scratch in the playoffs multiple times in multiple seasons. I'm not putting him down, he's a solid scoring winger. But the people who think he was better than Zacha last year did not watch Canadiens games until the playoffs last year, when Tatar rarely played. They're looking at analytic charts.

welcome to the "new" HF Boards

 

[Clam Jensen]

Nathan Mackinnon is somewhere shaking his fists

Shaking his fists in a tub of Banza

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Pavel Zacha is not even close to as good as Tatar and I do not give a shit about him getting scratched in the playoffs.

 

[JimEIV]

www.quanthockey.com/nhl/seasons/2020-21-nhl-players-stats.html

I am not sure if this site is calling ES P/60 5v5, 4v4 and 3v3? They must be? Because their numbers don't match up with what gets quoted here for 5v5 regularly...Hockey Reference also uses "EV" scoring (EVEN)

Regardless QuantHockey list Zacha as:
2.192 ES P/60 93rd in the league
2.448 P/60 92md in the league

They list Tatar as:
2.040 ES P/60 117th in the league
2.402 P/60 98th in the league

I certainly do understand the importance of 5v5 scoring - But in this case, if we are eliminating success Zacha has had 4v4 and 3v3 and trying claim Tatar had a "better season" based on a subset of the total Even Strength scoring it starts to seem a little like bullshit? Don't you think?

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Pavel Zacha is not even close to as good as Tatar and I do not give a shit about him getting scratched in the playoffs.

Tatar is a good addition to the Devils, but he isn't much better than Zacha. I don't know which one is better, but there isn't a big difference between them.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Tatar is a good addition to the Devils, but he isn't much better than Zacha. I don't know which one is better, but there isn't a big difference between them.

Maybe in some alternate universe. But in this one, Tatar has a very positive impact on games and Pavel Zacha doesn’t.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Maybe in some alternate universe. But in this one, Tatar has a very positive impact on games and Pavel Zacha doesn’t.

We'll see. I'm positively surprised if Tatar is so good, that we can say he is much better than Zacha.

 

[Billdo]

Zacha has not proven to be more than a bottom six player.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

Last year, Tatar had 10 goals and 30 points in 50 games and was a healthy scratch for his team in the playoffs. Last year, Zacha had 17 goals and 35 points and was the best player on his team for multiple stretches. This is not a "lol no he isn't" because this is not three years ago. Tatar is a 30 year old who was a 2nd line winger in his prime, which is behind him. Zacha was the better player last year.

People bashing Zacha must be reading their 2019 notes or re-experiencing 2019 all over again. He was great last season. If he improves he is finally becoming a real asset.

 

[RememberTheName]

Some of you guys really like to shit all over Zacha for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Zacha was literally our best player last year and paced for nearly 60 points over 82 games last year. If Zacha is no more than a bottom 6 player, then we really have an damn awful team.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Look I love Zacha as much as the next person, probably more, but he only played on the wing regularly this past season, and even then it wasn't too much. And while he did look much better there than at center, where he was pretty bad let's be honest, it was still a small sample size.

I am a firm believer if he continues to play wing he'll grow into a solid top 6 player. I'm not writing it in stone just yet though.

And why pit Tatar and Zacha against each other like this, they're on the same team now!