What’s going on with Zegras?

[ohcomeonref]

I don't understand how this can be. I was told that his uncanny ability to scoop the puck off the ice with his stick blade guaranteed he would be an elite player in this league. I mean they don't make ANYBODY an EA cover athlete!!!!!

Why are you still upset about something so irrelevant?

 

[57special]

He hasn’t been until the last 2 games, and they were by far the best games of the season for him.

He is a center. The winger experiment has to end for him to succeed.

But you want your Centers to be able to win FO's, and play some defense.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

But you want your Centers to be able to win FO's, and play some defense.

People are sticking to that narrative…. But he’s actually been fine defensively the last couple years. Aware of posistion, battling in corners, making good reads, covering the point he doing all of that. He’s cut down on taking bad penalties, and losing his temper. He’s doing everything you want your young player to do, but the points havnt started flowing yet. Not for lack of chances/trying.

At this point people are going to blindly claim he’s not playing defense unless he wins a selke.

Face offs sure he can improve but it’s not some uncommon thing for young centers to struggle in the dot…. He’s got quick hands I think he’ll be able to get better in that aspect of the game in time.

 

[FiveTacos]

But you want your Centers to be able to win FO's, and play some defense.

Would you rather have a 60+ point center who's mediocre in the dot, or would you rather turn that same player into a 30 point winger? Which brings more value to a team?
As mentioned, defensively he's much improved. 90% of it starts with effort, and he's got that.

McTavish is better at faceoffs but worse defensively, and objectively worse than Zegras at nearly all other aspects of being a scoring line center, so why isn't he the candidate for being moved to wing? Hell, Carlsson is down at like 25% on his draws, no one's talking about moving him.

Its not like those things aren't important, but you also would never choose to play a checking line center with stone hands as a scoring line player, just because he plays defense and wins faceoffs. There's other aspects to being a center.