OgeeOgelthorpe
Sparkplug
- Feb 29, 2020
- 17,280
- 18,456
I think it's fair to criticize the lack of scoring goals so far.
I don't think his shot is the issue, I think it's more about not consistently getting into scoring chances at even strength. When he has time and space on the PP, his shot looks plenty dangerous and effective to me.
I see the passing ability, hands, and the improved defensive play. I think he has good hockey sense. These are things I have always liked about him.
I think I expected a little more evolution in his skating and ability to generate scoring chances for himself. That said, he is still developing. I know guys like Pastrnak and Forsberg were effective earlier on, so I could see how the expectation for this year would be higher. But you also have guys like Max Pacioretty, who scored 6 goals in his first 86 games in the NHL, then went down to the AHL, then went on to become a consistent 30 goal scorer. So everyone's path is different. Hopefully he can continue improving and we surround him with better talent and things take off from there.
Almost all goalscorers in the NHL need a playmaker as their partner save for the very best such as Pavel Bure, Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin who are players that come along very seldom. Even these guys greatly benefit from playmakers.
And playmakers need guys like Zadina on their lines to bury the setups.
Ryan Smyth didn't become a goalscorer until he started getting regular icetime with Doug Weight. Bill Guerin was a 20 goal guy until he got ice with Doug Weight, Jason Allison, and Mike Modano. Matt Moulson became a 30 goal guy playing with Tavares. Joe Thornton helped turn Mike Knuble into a 30 goal guy as well. How many guys has Crosby turned into 20 and 30 goal scorers over the last 15 years?
I know a lot of these examples are different kinds of goalscorers than Zadina projects to be, but the point stands; Zadina needs someone that he has real chemistry with to create goals.
The best playmaker we have on this side of the Atlantic Ocean is Taro f***ing Hirose.