Rumor: Nikita Zaitsev will sign a contract with SKA (KHL)

[Kshahdoo]

Зайцев подпишет многолетний контракт со СКА

Как стало известно «СЭ», Никита Зайцев подпишет многолетний контракт со СКА.

m.sport-express.ru

It's Sport-Express, pretty respectable Russian outlet.

Click to read more...

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

There goes Chicago's future...

 

[Mrfenn92]

good luck to nikita

 

[biturbo19]

It's still pretty wild how quickly he went from ultra-hyped import with the Leafs and signing a sizable long-term deal...to a completely unplayable dumpster fire cap monstrosity.

He really got his decent play out of the way early to maximize his cashing in on it.

 

[belair]

It's still pretty wild how quickly he went from ultra-hyped import with the Leafs and signing a sizable long-term deal...to a completely unplayable dumpster fire cap monstrosity.

He really got his decent play out of the way early to maximize his cashing in on it.

He got the big contact that Cody Franson didn't.

 

[biturbo19]

He got the big contact that Cody Franson didn't.

Ah good ol' Cody Franson. At least when Zaitsev first showed up though, it seemed like he could skate well enough. Even that seemed to dissolve pretty quickly though.

 

[Eat The Rich]

It's still pretty wild how quickly he went from ultra-hyped import with the Leafs and signing a sizable long-term deal...to a completely unplayable dumpster fire cap monstrosity.

He really got his decent play out of the way early to maximize his cashing in on it.

And people say the Leafs should have kept Lou.

 

[biturbo19]

And people say the Leafs should have kept Lou.

idk. He's still pretty good at signing insanely long deals for bottom-pairing defencemen. That Mayfield one is a masterpiece in the art.

 

[Cogburn]

I had a heart attack at Nikita Z...

I misread that in a bad way.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

He was a pretty decent #6/7 guy for Chicago.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

He was fine in Chicago in #6/7 role and should have played more over that worthless slug Tinordi but the coach loved that no talent loser

Figured he would go back to Russia to find stability. Won't have to worry about facing risk of being back riding buses in minors, etc. over there and will play regularly

 

[WarriorofTime]

It's still pretty wild how quickly he went from ultra-hyped import with the Leafs and signing a sizable long-term deal...to a completely unplayable dumpster fire cap monstrosity.

He really got his decent play out of the way early to maximize his cashing in on it.

He was pretty OK this most recent season in my opinion, overpaid notwithstanding. Probably could have gotten signed as a league minimum 7th DMan type somewhere had he really wanted to, but didn't want to wait until July 1st when SKA could likely offer more money, certainly offer a better and more certain role and he's probably ready to go home at his age.

 

[SEALBound]

Always felt bad for him...to an extent. Cashed in after one good year and it was a burden for seven years. Dude got paid but man it must wear on a guy a bit to know that you're a cap dump for 6 years.

I long for the return of short term bridge contracts. A bridge deal of $2mil x 2yrs would have prevented a lot of this.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Always felt bad for him...to an extent. Cashed in after one good year and it was a burden for seven years. Dude got paid but man it must wear on a guy a bit to know that you're a cap dump for 6 years.

I long for the return of short term bridge contracts. A bridge deal of $2mil x 2yrs would have prevented a lot of this.

I doubt he's too upset. He didn't grow up with Leaf or Senators pajamas to put extra pressure on himself and he's not really notable enough to get that much negative notoriety. He made a gamble coming over to the NHL when he did, he proved he could play in the best hockey league in the world and secured a bigger payday than he could have ever gotten in the KHL. He's probably sleeping fine.