Tavares or Zibanejad?

[SnowblindNYR]

Two players that used to be very good but are now whipping boys for their team's fans. Who is currently better?

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[Xspyrit]

ZibanejAINEC

 

[Coffee]

Zibby. But wanna say I’m a big fan of these types of polls where it’s interesting and out of the box style

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Zibby. But wanna say I’m a big fan of these types of polls where it’s interesting and out of the box style

Thank you, I haven't been following Tavares that closely so I was worried that the poll was going to be lopsided in one direction. I just knew that Leafs fans shit on him and Rangers fans shit on Mika.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Tavares, much less susceptible to 5G electromagnetic radiation

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Rags fans. What happened to Ziba , has he lost his love for the game? This guy used to be way better or am i crazy

 

[DitchMarner]

I don't know. Apparently Zibanejad isn't a very good ES player these days but can produce on the PP. Tavares can still shoot and is decent at shielding the puck and can make good opportunistic plays, but this guy can be inept with the puck these days. He bobbles it a lot. Combined with his slow, sluggish skating, his puck handling can make it difficult for him to create offense (at ES and on the PP).

 

[Aashir Mallik]

if it’s Tavares against a first liner, it’s the first liner AINEC
If it’s Tavares against a second liner, it’s the second liner AINEC
If it’s Tavares against a third liner, it’s the third liner but I’d have to think a little

He is so beyond cooked it’s incredible, only time he looks “good” is when he’s fed chances by nylander or Marner

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Rangers fan saying Tavares. Zibanejad is the biggest hindrance to us winning the Cup. Routinely gets caved in the playoffs at even strength against good centers. The same thing happens in the regular season, but you don’t play a good team every night and there’s more special teams in the regular season, so it matters a little less. In the playoffs it becomes crystal clear when you play the same good team time after time.

Rags fans. What happened to Ziba , has he lost his love for the game? This guy used to be way better or am i crazy

He’s gotten a little worse the last few years, but he’s never been that great at even strength. It was always suspected that Buchnevich drove the line with Kreider and Zibanejad at even strength. When he left, problems started. Kreider has slowed down at even strength the last few years as he’s gotten older. Kreider was always a great play driver too, so now Zibanejad is getting exposed without having two play drivers carry him around at even strength. Kreider’s still amazing on the PP and pretty good on the PK. Zibanejad is pretty good on the PK, but declining on the PP. A lot of fans want Lafreniere to take his PP spot.

 

[lipstickjunkie]

As a Leafs fan, I haven't seen Zib play as often as Tavares, but I promise you Tavares is worse.
JT is awful, and I mean awful. He can't skate, can't take a pass, can't stick handle. All he is good for us winning a faceoff and occasionally he can still manage to get off a decent shot if he miraculously hits the net with it.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Last year I'd probably say Tavares, but this season I'd say Zibanejad because Tavares losing the C probably killed a bit of his spirit, and he's worse now for it.

 

[hamzarocks]

Tavares needs a miracle

He doesnt look like he shluld be in the NHL as of Oct 20 2024

Dude is 34 years old, but looks worse than 2021 Joe Thornton did for the leafs in a small 5 game sample size

He was also bad for most of last year and horrific vs the bruins

This is a guy who is needs a miracle to rebound

 

[Nogatco Rd]

The same thing happens in the regular season, but you don’t play a good team every night and there’s more special teams in the regular season, so it matters a little less.

There are actually more penalties called in the playoffs than the regular season, it just feels like less because the games are so much more physical that there are a lot of infractions that go uncalled

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

There are actually more penalties called in the playoffs than the regular season, it just feels like less because the games are so much more physical that there are a lot of infractions that go uncalled

Any stats for that? It really has seemed like refs decide not to blow their whistles the later it gets in the playoffs.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Any stats for that? It really has seemed like refs decide not to blow their whistles the later it gets in the playoffs.

From 2016 to 2022, there were 3,759 power-play opportunities in 589 playoff games, or 3.2 power plays per game.

In the regular season over the same span, there were 3.0 power-play opportunities per game.

It’s worth noting that there are generally more power plays early on in series compared to later in series, and more in early rounds as compared to later rounds

Again, I’m not disagreeing that refs tend to swallow their whistles in general. My point is that there are more penalty-worthy plays overall, which results in more power play opportunities, and perhaps paradoxically, more “missed” power play opportunities

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Tavares needs a miracle

He doesnt look like he shluld be in the NHL as of Oct 20 2024

Dude is 34 years old, but looks worse than 2021 Joe Thornton did for the leafs in a small 5 game sample size

He was also bad for most of last year and horrific vs the bruins

This is a guy who is needs a miracle to rebound

Doesn't his magical amulet that he peddles help him cast miracles? Or has he not unlocked that spell yet?

 

[sr edler]

Zibanejad can at least skate. He's also better than Panarin in the playoffs.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Zibanejad can at least skate. He's also better than Panarin in the playoffs.

I'd honestly take issue with this.

At this point, I don't know that we can say this so definitively. Panarin at least battled Zibanejad to a draw in the playoffs last year. Arguably did better. He didn't hurt the team as much because he was getting carried by the two best forwards for the team in the playoffs. Zibanejad was a huge liability.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Not sure. Which one can hook me up with an amulet to protect me from the wi-fi?

 

[biturbo19]

I guess i'd take Zibby. Both are a little bit of a problem even strength as Centers. Difference is, Zibanejad can still skate and shoot and stuff, so he'd probably be okay if you could make him a winger. Tavares skating basically makes that impossible.

Plus Zibby can still be a Powerplay asset.

But mostly just...he can skate.

 

[ZEBROA]

Is Zib a 34 year old third line C who realy suck at PP1? If not we take him.

I just think he would play better with Nylander then Tavares do. Only based on speed.

 

[Fatass]

Both over the hill. I’ll take JT because he’s more stout.