Player Discussion Trevor Zegras : Part III

[70sSanO]

We all will look back in 5 years when Zegras is Datsyuk and wonder if we all were too rough on Cronin lol.

There was a Datsyuk-Babcock connection.

Since Cronin and Babcock are tied for the 3rd worst coach to play for, maybe the Zegras-Datsyuk stars are aligning.

John

 

[GermanRocket7]

You just don't trade Z unless it is for a clear upgrade.

Right now, who would be a clear upgrade over him?

McJesus
Draisaitl
Bedard
Kucherov
Matthews
Marner
Bennett (?)
Tkachuk 1 and 2
Barkov
Celebrini (possibly)

That's about it.

Now, who of those is even remotely available?
Marner and possibly Brady Tkachuk. Both of which are highly unlikely to end up here and coming with much higher price tags salary-wise. Marner would be a UFA, Tkachuk would cost an arm and a leg in a trade.

Do any of these fit our age group?
Marner will turn 28 at the end of the season, so he fits in somewhat, but is probably 1-2 years too old for a long-term contract with our core group.
Tkachuk just turned 25 and fits our core group, but we would probably have to add heavily in a Zegras <> Tkachuk swap, which makes it, effectively, undesirable.

We could very well throw 12M per season at Marner and hope he actually likes playing off the microscope rather than sitting in the hockey world's hotbed. But would he really change the needle so much for our organization?

 

[Gliff]

You just don't trade Z unless it is for a clear upgrade.

Right now, who would be a clear upgrade over him?

McJesus
Draisaitl
Bedard
Kucherov
Matthews
Marner
Bennett (?)
Tkachuk 1 and 2
Barkov
Celebrini (possibly)

That's about it.

Now, who of those is even remotely available?
Marner and possibly Brady Tkachuk. Both of which are highly unlikely to end up here and coming with much higher price tags salary-wise. Marner would be a UFA, Tkachuk would cost an arm and a leg in a trade.

Do any of these fit our age group?
Marner will turn 28 at the end of the season, so he fits in somewhat, but is probably 1-2 years too old for a long-term contract with our core group.
Tkachuk just turned 25 and fits our core group, but we would probably have to add heavily in a Zegras <> Tkachuk swap, which makes it, effectively, undesirable.

We could very well throw 12M per season at Marner and hope he actually likes playing off the microscope rather than sitting in the hockey world's hotbed. But would he really change the needle so much for our organization?

That is a little bit of a stretch. There are definitely more players then this that are a clear upgrade.

 

[AngelDuck]

You just don't trade Z unless it is for a clear upgrade.

Right now, who would be a clear upgrade over him?

McJesus
Draisaitl
Bedard
Kucherov
Matthews
Marner
Bennett (?)
Tkachuk 1 and 2
Barkov
Celebrini (possibly)

That's about it.

Now, who of those is even remotely available?
Marner and possibly Brady Tkachuk. Both of which are highly unlikely to end up here and coming with much higher price tags salary-wise. Marner would be a UFA, Tkachuk would cost an arm and a leg in a trade.

Do any of these fit our age group?
Marner will turn 28 at the end of the season, so he fits in somewhat, but is probably 1-2 years too old for a long-term contract with our core group.
Tkachuk just turned 25 and fits our core group, but we would probably have to add heavily in a Zegras <> Tkachuk swap, which makes it, effectively, undesirable.

We could very well throw 12M per season at Marner and hope he actually likes playing off the microscope rather than sitting in the hockey world's hotbed. But would he really change the needle so much for our organization?

This is crazy. I really like Z but there’s about 40 players clearly better than him

 

[anezthes]

Right now, who would be a clear upgrade over him?

I love Z, but there are a lot of better players right now. That said, many of them will have aged out or will already be on the decline by the time we're contending.

 

[GermanRocket7]

Well, did I include Crosby? I was left under the impression that it was obvious I only used players who are remotely interesting/sensible age-wise.

 

[Gliff]

I'm hardcore in the "Zegras is a star with the right coach" camp. But lets not act like he is that guy yet.
Just going down the teams alphabetically, here are the no brainer forwards I would trade Zegras+ for:
Pastrnak
Tage Thompson
Aho
Svechnikov
Jarvis
Rantanen (Extended)
Bedard
MacKinnon
Robertson
Raymond
McDavid
Draisaitl
Barkov
Tkachuk
Reinhart
Hughes
Bratt
Hischier
Stutzle
Tkachuk
Konecny
Celebrini
Thomas
Point
Matthews
Nylander
Marner (Extended)
Keller
Eichel
Connor

And a ton others that are close or I would trade 1 for 1.

 

[ScarTroy]

Well, did I include Crosby? I was left under the impression that it was obvious I only used players who are remotely interesting/sensible age-wise.

Robertson, Hughes, Petterson, Stutzle, Thompson. That’s just barely thinking about it

 

[mightyquack]

I can see why some other teams fans think Zegras is a bit overrated

Zegras has potential, but he has a ways to go before he's a quality top 6 forward, let alone one that only a handful of forwards in the NHL are worth trading him for...

 

[Gliff]

I can see why some other teams fans think Zegras is a bit overrated

Zegras has potential, but he has a ways to go before he's a quality top 6 forward, let alone one that only a handful of forwards in the NHL are worth trading him for...

I mean, it's one opinion. An interesting one lol.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I'm out of the loop here. What prompted this statement?

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I'm out of the loop here. What prompted this statement?

Nothing I'm aware of. The statement came without context so unless others know the context, it hasn't been mentioned here.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Nothing I'm aware of. The statement came without context so unless others know the context, it hasn't been mentioned here.

Probably one of Cronin's motivational impulses b/c nothing has prompted that statement. It's very weird. Weeks ago, Cronin said that Mac is a third liner. Now, he is praising Z. Cro' kinda everywhere, a high event motivational intentions in both good and bad deliveries.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I still think he'll have better success as a center and prefer him there at this point. It's tough when you have so many people used to playing C.

I feel that Z better understands the importance of the D side of the game and has committed more to it to the point where he won't be a black hole defensively, at least with the right teammates. I think that playing C allows him to control more of the pace of the game when he's out there, and let's be real. His brilliance is in his overall awareness and ability to make plays. He just needs the right wingers to allow him to do what he's best at, and to allow that line to be a skill line that always pushes toward the O-zone. And there is no winger in our system that would get him to the level he could be at otherwise. Can you imagine if he had a Nylander or a Pastrnak on his wing? If he had a Stone he could worry less about D.

There are 0 wingers in our system that are true #1 / franchise players...Terry's maybe close based on our team, and would do even better on a better team, so maybe he would qualify, but I still don't like how Terry hangs on to the puck too long sometimes.

Cronin cited we're a rush team, but we're really a counter team. Both are similar such that we are just racing down the ice just to get shots off. Whereas Z is a controlled offensive player, buying time with his skating to add more players into the mix so his creativity on the offensive side expands offensive opportunities. Controlled offense is why Z can score 60 pts and 23 goals under Eakins, but very muted under Cronin.

Cronin already admitted that he cannot sacrifice any defense for offensive production. Since we aren't running any type of controlled pace, Z at center is kinda useless. Z at wing allows Z to be forward coming into the zone after the puck is established in the zone. The more teammates in the Ozone with Z, the better b/c Z thrives in chaos b/c he can see things so many other players and goalies cannot.