Confirmed with Link: Maple Leafs re-sign Nikita Zaitsev for 7 years, $4.5M per

[Pi]

Playing Matt Martin isn't questionable.

Which current contender has a face puncher on their top line?

Even Ottawa of all teams sat Chris Neil in the playoffs. Leivo had more points than Martin despite playing 70 fewer games. He was one of our best possesion players in that span and absolutely creating offense every other shift with an NHL shot.

Martin is only good at fighting. He doesn't even kill penalties like most 4th liners.

 

[1specter]

I want to drink all the tears from people who don't like this deal.

 

[fahad203]

Signing a guy for 7 years in 2017 is saying, "We're going to win multiple Cups with you."

I don't see it, though. He was awful during the playoffs. And during the regular season: 49% CF%. <48% SF%. <49% SCF%. So it wasn't like his awful +/- was just bad luck/low PDO.

I get that he played big, tough minutes. It's true.

He played big, tough minutes, and folded like a *****.

Last night Matta looked pretty bad to me. Caps team is a stacked team. Don't take that away from them. The fact that Fleury and Crosby brought them this far is lost in lot of people

Caps will make a lots of D in this league look bad

 

[TheDoldrums]

Should you not consider sample size? Isn't that kind of important with respect to advanced stats? The dude played like 4 friggin games!

And he wasn't right, obviously. He's always represented Russia in the past, if he's sitting out than he really needs to recover.

I do not care for the term here but I'm not going to hold the playoff performance against him. And with our horrible RHD depth we could not afford to lose him.

 

[Pi]

They are not going to expose Martin Come on dude, Martin took a punch in the face for protecting Matthews. He's the reason why Matthews doesn't get run over every game
Why Marner didn't but fake tough guys in NHL

Wow.

The best player in the league got concussed yesterday. What the heck did having Kuhnackl in the lineup do?

Having enforcers does not prevent injuries or cheap shots.

 

[Animal]

I believe in a coach that has won on every level in hockey over some random internet poster's thoughts.

Leivo will find his way on this roster soon. Settle down.

I'm happy you believe in him, not sure what that has to do with anything.

I never said I should replace Babcock lol this board is hilarious. The fact that he has won on every level doesn't mean every decision he makes is perfect

 

[zeke]

Top-5 Toughest Usage Dmen by opponents' TOI:

1.Vlasic 30.09
2.Braun 30.04
3.Zaitsev 29.93
4.Hjalmarsson 29.89
5.Keith 29.83

Their possession in that elite tough usage (score/zone adjusted):

CF%

1.Zaitsev 50.94
2.Hjalmar 50.15
3.Keith 49.91
4.Vlasic 49.28
5.Braun 48.09

CF% Relative

1.Keith -0.43
2.Hjalmar -1.31
3.Zaitsev -1.57
4.Vlasic -4.89
5.Braun -6.20

Expected Goals %

1.Vlasic 51.22
2.Braun 50.91
3.Zaitsev 50.89
4.Hjalmar 48.47
5.Keith 46.50

xGF% Relative

1.Hjalmar -1.17
2.Braun -2.39
3.Keith -2.90
4.Vlasic -3.27
5.Zaitsev -3.40

So he received similar usage and performed as well or better than the two toughest usage d-pairings in all of hockey - 2 of whom are keystones to the best defense corps in the world (Team Canada), and a 3rd who is the shutdown dman for the 2nd best Dcorps in the world (Team Sweden).......not to mention he himself is the #1 dman for Team Russia. Those 2 dpairs were also the key dpairings for 2 of the best teams in the league this year.

Not only that, but Zaitsev played fulltime duty on both special teams, both of which were top 10 special teams....and he pitched in a near 40pt pace to boot.


And oh yeah....he did that as a rookie.

 

[Animal]

Which current contender has a face puncher on their top line?

Even Ottawa of all teams sat Chris Neil in the playoffs. Leivo had more points than Martin despite playing 70 fewer games. He was one of our best possesion players in that span and absolutely creating offense every other shift with an NHL shot.

Martin is only good at fighting. He doesn't even kill penalties like most 4th liners.

BUT BUT BUT BABCOCK HAS WON AT EVERY LEVEL !

Ottawa started icing a 4th line that can score and all of a sudden they're a much more dangerous team. This idea that every needs a policeman is so flawed. Matt Martin starts more brawls than he prevents.

 

[Pi]

^^ good numbers but doing that as a 25 year old rookie is a lot different than an actual rookie.

If he can improve and become a steady 40 point D, it's a good deal. If this season was his best, it's bad.

 

[Drew75]

I believe in a coach that has won on every level in hockey over some random internet poster's thoughts.

Leivo will find his way on this roster soon. Settle down.

Leaf Management said 'we believe in this Anderson guy in net so we'll lock him up for 5 years' -
HF Boards said "What???? crazy!!! Too much money, too much term!!!"

9 months later .....

Leaf Management says 'we believe in this Zaitsev kid, so we'll lock him up'
HF Boards says "What???? crazy!!! Too much term!!!"

Lets see what happens in 12 months

 

[Pi]

BUT BUT BUT BABCOCK HAS WON AT EVERY LEVEL !

Ottawa started icing a 4th line that can score and all of a sudden they're a much more dangerous team. This idea that every needs a policeman is so flawed. Matt Martin starts more brawls than he prevents.

Not to mention the dumb penalties he ALWAYS takes in those situations. I don't want to derail this thread but LOL if Martin is one of the players protected. We might just have an analytics team for show if Martin is protected. Dubas might just have been hired to appease us.

 

[67Cup]

Smith played until he reached the threshold to be one of the exposed forwards for the expansion draft. He hardly played after that. The Leafs don't want to expose Martin. If he were exposed, it is very likely he would be picked. Vegas must reach a high percentage of the cap with their draftees. They cannot only draft cheap prospects.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Which current contender has a face puncher on their top line?

Even Ottawa of all teams sat Chris Neil in the playoffs. Leivo had more points than Martin despite playing 70 fewer games. He was one of our best possesion players in that span and absolutely creating offense every other shift with an NHL shot.

Martin is only good at fighting. He doesn't even kill penalties like most 4th liners.

didn't Chris Neil retire? that would probably be why Ottawa is sitting him, no?
(I'm not dismissing what you are saying, I just wanted to correct this, that's all).

 

[zeke]

^^ good numbers but doing that as a 25 year old rookie is a lot different than an actual rookie.

If he can improve and become a steady 40 point D, it's a good deal. If this season was his best, it's bad.

He literally played as well as Vlasic/Braun/Hjalmar/Keith, as a rookie.

 

[Pi]

didn't Chris Neil retire? that would probably be why Ottawa is sitting him, no?
(I'm not dismissing what you are saying, I just wanted to correct this, that's all).

Nope Chris Neil is just scratched. Ottawa didn't play him against Boston of all teams. They iced an actual 4th line with skill and speed and it's helping them.

Now I had no problems with our fourth line with Boyle in the fold as well but it could have been even better if we swapped out Martin and Leivo.

 

[fahad203]

Back to the topic in hand. Zaitsev

I hope he gets some good rest. He played a lot of games this year.
This signing is very refreshing. At least we know what we are getting in him
Last time we gave out a 7 year contract was a guy name Clarkson. I may still puke

 

[Muston Atthews]

Which current contender has a face puncher on their top line?

Even Ottawa of all teams sat Chris Neil in the playoffs. Leivo had more points than Martin despite playing 70 fewer games. He was one of our best possesion players in that span and absolutely creating offense every other shift with an NHL shot.

Martin is only good at fighting. He doesn't even kill penalties like most 4th liners.

The Blues play Ryan Reaves ~10 mins a night.

 

[ACC1224]

Which current contender has a face puncher on their top line?

Even Ottawa of all teams sat Chris Neil in the playoffs. Leivo had more points than Martin despite playing 70 fewer games. He was one of our best possesion players in that span and absolutely creating offense every other shift with an NHL shot.

Martin is only good at fighting. He doesn't even kill penalties like most 4th liners.

Martin wasn't on the top line and isn't needed to kill penalties.
You sometimes need to throw guys out who'll run guys through the boards. Helps keep the other Team off balance.

If you don't think he has value, that's up to you. I get some need to be unique and see things differently.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with Martin.

 

[Revolt]

Good cap hit, i like it.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Wow.

The best player in the league got concussed yesterday. What the heck did having Kuhnackl in the lineup do?

Having enforcers does not prevent injuries or cheap shots.

Tom Kuhnhackl? The guy with 18 PIMs in 57 games this year? You're probably right that he didn't deter anyone from taking a run at Crosby

 

[Menzinger]

Putting up points doesn't mean anything. Schultz had like 50 points, no one will give him a 7 year deal.

Zaitsev has been a negative possession player. I'm not sure he's worth a long term deal. We should have bridged him.

I'd rather pay 3M per for two years before finding out what we are getting.

Does anyone know what we can expect from Zaitsev next season? No one knows really.

The problem is he likely doesn't accept a bridge deal - he'd get big money if he returned to Moscow.

I think prt of his possession woes has to do with the fact he was continually paired with rielly who struggled defensively for much of the season.

I also don't think there will be a big variation (ie a drop off) next season - he's a guy in his mid 20s.

 

[Pi]

He literally played as well as Vlasic/Braun/Hjalmar/Keith, as a rookie.

I'm not arguing that Zaitsev isn't a good player, we got a top four D for free and he's RHD. I just feel it's not smart to commit 7 years to any player unless they are coming right out of ELC at the age of 21 and have shown they deserve it.

I'd much rather have overpaid a bit to ensure he's only there for 5 years. If we could get Gardiner who was better at the time he signed his deal to a 4-5 year deal, we should have been able to keep this one under 5 as well.

 

[Animal]

Tom Kuhnhackl? The guy with 18 PIMs in 57 games this year? You're probably right that he didn't deter anyone from taking a run at Crosby

Wait so you mean the Penguins don't even have a true tough guy? Doesn't that help the argument that they're not needed?

 

[paulhiggins]

Which current contender has a face puncher on their top line?

Who cares? Hockey games use 4 lines, not just a "top line".

The best player in the league got concussed yesterday. What the heck did having Kuhnackl in the lineup do?

Having enforcers does not prevent injuries or cheap shots.

Enforcers are there for retribution, not prevention. However, Kühnhackl is not an enforcer. He is as much an enforcer at Phil Kessel!

 

[Menzinger]

Gardiner, Reilly and Zaitsev for a solid 13.5

Having 3/4 top 4 D men for only that much cap space is great for the Leafs