Zegras - Unimpressive

[SoundAndFury]

if you only looked purely at the points he was putting up maybe, but if you watched him at all it was always incredibly obvious that Hughes was going to be a superstar eventually

The only "incredibly obvious" thing is confirmation bias.

 

[Sol]

A lot of people don’t watch Zegras. He’s the only one on the ducks who looks good.

 

[Leonardo87]

I'm impressed. He's a 21 year old about to put up back to back 60 point seasons playing with one of the worst rosters in the league.

Had this long reply about his line-mates, coaching, and blah blah, but this is more than enough. Thanks!

Ducks fans, what do you think Zegras’s ceiling is? I’m having a tough time figuring him out.

80-90 point player. Would be there now if our PP coaching and execution, and defense wasn’t so bad.

We are not expecting or need him to be our best player moving forward. Especially if we can land a Top 3 pick in this stacked draft.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

He’s the only one on the ducks who looks good.

While that's just not true, he's not even their best player at this point in time (Terry). McTavish has also been pretty impressive for a kid in his age 19 season, increasingly so as the season has gone on.

 

[D Wakaluk]

He's 'up there'

 

[Chuck Downie]

He needs Torts as his coach

 

[Machinehead]

According to the fancy numbers, his offense is elite and honestly...that's probably not the worst defensive card on the Ducks.

Well it might be, I didn't look at all of them. But who cares? He's 21. Defense from centers is overrated.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

View attachment 655114

According to the fancy numbers, his offense is elite and honestly...that's probably not the worst defensive card on the Ducks.

Well it might be, I didn't look at all of them. But who cares? He's 21. Offense from centers is overrated.

I'd love to know what the fancy numbers would look like for say a 21 year old Datsyuk. I don't believe he would have necessarily been any further ahead at that age.

I'm not saying Zegras will be as good as his peak, but that's his upside.

 

[Machinehead]

I'd love to know what the fancy numbers would look like for say a 21 year old Datsyuk. I don't believe he would have necessarily been any further ahead at that age.

I'm not saying Zegras will be as good as his peak, but that's his upside.

Datsyuk fell in the draft like he did because he had a reputation for being bad defensively.

Also, fun fact, Messier fell to the third round because he had a reputation for being soft. Eye test, can't take it anywhere.

But yeah, it's something that tends to go up with age, whereas offense peaks early. He could be a two-way center someday.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Kid is 21 years old and leading his team in scoring.

He's on a terrible team. Put him on a team like the Devils and he's probably already at 60 points.

 

[TGWL]

He's on pace for almost 70 points on a really bad team, while only 21 years old. I don't think anybody was expecting absolute star in the league. He has the personality that is easily marketable and gets younger kids excited. He's not a franchise player. Hopefully he'll be a very good player for the Ducks. I think just because the NHL put a spot light on him fans are expecting 100 point seasons from him.

With that said, I do think his 2-way play needs to improve. It's not terrible but from watching here and there, I don't think it's above average like a poster above mentioned.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

What was the OP expecting on this roster?

 

[NYI365]

He's Mat Barzal of the Western Conference. That's the most accurate description I can think of. He's handsome, flashy, will put up points in a more offensive minded system but not sure if he'll be considered amongst the elites at his position. Like Mat Barzal.

 

[Dominance]

Dude gets some of the most favourable usage in the league, including 72% offensive zone starts, so the Ducks’ general weakness isn’t much of an excuse. Out of his most common linemates, he’s not even the best player (Terry). And 60 points is hardly something of great note in today’s NHL - there’s 125 players at that pace.

The reality is he’s a very good player who got grossly overrated as a talented American, like Mittelstadt and Keller and others before him. He can still be a legit 1C.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

if you only looked purely at the points he was putting up maybe, but if you watched him at all it was always incredibly obvious that Hughes was going to be a superstar eventually

I feel like same thing could be said about zegras.


People look at his stats and think he’s a okay player, or they just see the Michigan plays and think he’s a 1 trick pony.

He’s not hughes good right now, but there is def another level or 2 for zegras to move up.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Ducks fans, what do you think Zegras’s ceiling is? I’m having a tough time figuring him out.

As the team gets better he should also get better and better time avoiding tough matchups.

I think PPG player, may push as high as 90-95 points. He’s not as bad as people make him out to be defensively(he does have mental lapses in dzone occasionally tho), annoying to play against due to the fact he never shuts up. 1 of the most

 

[wintersej]

He's relative xGF% is Bergeron tier. His defensive play is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. If anything, it's above average for a very young offensive player.

His team just happens to be a complete disaster, so even with him being ridiculously dominant compared to his teammates he's just treading water.

Relative xGF % being good on a bad team really just means that when he is out there, the team isn’t bad. Considering he plays with the other best players on the team with very offensively focused usage, I would put this under the “not very interesting” category of stats for Zegras. Bergeron having an awesome relative xGF% on a really good team paints a totally different picture.

 

[wintersej]

Just need to figure out if he is a 1, 1a or 1B on a contender over the next 2-3 years.

 

[ricky0034]

I feel like same thing could be said about zegras.


People look at his stats and think he’s a okay player, or they just see the Michigan plays and think he’s a 1 trick pony.

He’s not hughes good right now, but there is def another level or 2 for zegras to move up.

yeah absolutely

I was mostly just trying to highlight that if Zegras was polling well against Hughes a couple years ago then that had way more to do with Hughes being super underrated than anything to do with Zegras, the guy used to lose polls to Kakko all the time around here and got blown out in polls against Lafreniere

 

[heynowbababooey]

I've attended every Ducks home game Zegras has played in. He makes a lot of bonehead mistakes. Terrible behind the back passes to no one, bad changes, terribly timed shots and turnovers. But holy f***, when hes in the zone hes unreal. When he finds time and space (something he'll get better at) he makes something happen. Hes passionate and shows emotion on the bench and hates to lose. He has far more in his arsenal than just the michigan and anyone who spews that nonsense obviously doesn't watch him play. Hes got a lot of growing up to do but I look forward to him being a Duck for years to come. I'm thoroughly impressed.

Edit- I'll also add that I'd like to see what he does once Anaheim gets a legit coach.

 

[Space umpire]

Biased Ducks fan here.. I have to disagree with you and I couldn't be anymore impressed by the progression from him AND McTavish this season. It's hard to emphasize just how truly god awful the team is as a whole, and while the D is the most obvious eye sore, the forward group is just so, so bad. No speed or space being created or any real system seemingly going on after they spend shifts drowning in their own zone. He still finds himself a good chunk of open ice each game and with that looks to be a threat for a goal or highlight reel assist at least once a game.

Will he be a 100 pt two way transitional beast?? I mean very likely not. But I see no reason why he can't reach being a PPG+ offensive whiz, who is hopefully sheltered enough defensively and transitionally by great linemates to make up for any shortcomings while having an impressive highlight reel each season. It also helps that unlike a Patrick Kane type(not saying he will have a better career!!!!!!), he has a little more size and willingness to play physically. And I get that people are a little annoyed at his on ice antics or have some weird vendetta because some HF posters once claimed he would be better than 'player X', but I really hope he is embraced as a continued face of the NHL going forward because he has the charisma and personality that is devoid in seemingly 99% of NHL players, which is something we NHL fans often bemoan.

Many great offensive players come into the league very weak defensively because they were never asked to play it.
And trust me, 3-5 years from now when his game fills in (a little) he’ll still get ripped by fans here who don’t watch him regularly. (Kane still is and he is very much a below average defender but for years hasn’t been “awful” or disinterested like he was a decade ago.)
He doesn’t need to be Bob Gainey, just be not too far below average.
People think guys are lazy because they are not strong defensively. Creating offense takes a lot of effort as well. Especially on such a bad team.

 

[bleedgreen]

He’s got amazing talent. He seems like he has a lot of maturing to do. Seems like people want to kill the kid sometimes, and it doesn’t seem to be because they’re embarrassed by his amazing talent.

 

[Leonardo87]

.

Just need to figure out if he is a 1, 1a or 1B on a contender over the next 2-3 years.

That’s a great question. I think it’s up in the air. McTavish has looked really good as a rookie . Started out as a bottom six winger then a Bottom center and is now in the Top 6. So a lot of potential there to be a 1C.

Also depends who we draft this year. Could see Zegras maybe moving to wing. But think he plays better at C, has the puck more.

Right now think he is a low end 1C in the league with the potential to be a legit high end 1C.

 

[Daz28]

Dude gets some of the most favourable usage in the league, including 72% offensive zone starts, so the Ducks’ general weakness isn’t much of an excuse. Out of his most common linemates, he’s not even the best player (Terry). And 60 points is hardly something of great note in today’s NHL - there’s 125 players at that pace.

The reality is he’s a very good player who got grossly overrated as a talented American, like Mittelstadt and Keller and others before him. He can still be a legit 1C.

I'm disagreeing with a lot of this. OZ starts for ANA quickly end up in the DZ. That's how you get a -101 GD. Being he's winning 41% of FO doesn't help either. Terry has 9 ES goals, so he isn't gobbling up apples there. He's on pace for 68, which would put him as a low 1C. He's not Mittelstat, and Keller is a PPG guy on any other team, which would put him as a middle 1C.

 

[Pavels Dog]

He's on almost a 70 point pace on that god awful team. Kid is doing fine.