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Zuccarello Appreciation Thread Part 2

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Very much agree with this post. Brass fo % is not that bad though, at 47 % for the season. Can't believe Zuke is on Third line and 2nd pp unit NOW, when he is so hot. And playing in the middle. Should be Down right.
 
To no-ones surprise, Mats is going to the Olympics.

Full Norway roster:

The Gs:
Lars Haugen, Dinamo Minsk (BLR)
Lars Volden, Espoo Blues (FIN)
Steffen Søberg, Vålerenga (NOR)

The Ds:
Alexander Bonsaksen, VÃ¥lerenga (NOR)
Jonas Holøs, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (RUS)
Henrik Solberg, Stavanger (NOR)
Daniel Sørvik, Vålerenga (NOR)
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Färjestad BK (SWE)
Mats Trygg, Lørenskog (NOR)
Henrik Ødegaard, Missouri Mavericks (USA)

The Fs:
Morten Ask, VÃ¥lerenga (NOR)
Anders Bastiansen, Färjestad BK (SWE)
Robin Dahlstrøm, Örebro (SWE)
Kristian Forsberg, Modo (SWE)
Mads Hansen, Storhamar (NOR)
Marius Holtet, Färjestad BK (SWE)
Sondre Olden, VÃ¥lerenga (NOR)
Ken André Olimb, Düsseldorfer EG (GER)
Mathis Olimb, Frölunda (SWE)
Mats Rosseli Olsen, Frölunda (SWE)
Niklas Roest, BIK Karlskoga (SWE)
Martin Røymark, Färjestad BK (SWE)
Per-Åge Skrøder, Modo (SWE)
Patrick Thoresen, SKA Saint Petersburg (RUS)
Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (USA)
 
For what it's worth, Zuccarello was split third in Corsi rating against Toronto, and split second against Columbus.

Against Toronto both MDZ and DMoore had a corsi above 20, and MDZ had 27. That means he was on the ice for 27 more shot attempts for than against.

(Source: nicetimeonice.com)
 
Its funny that AV genuinely dont see a spot in the top6 for the lead point scorer.

Zucc is definitely the odd man out atm, if the tell tale signs are true that Pouliot and Brassard are descending into black holes again.

Hags-Richie-Callahan are clicking atm so no reason to touch that, and the Kreider line is seemingly beyond touchable
 
Glennsoe said:
How about a PPG via a wraparound?

Would that make your day Sir?
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A very good start thank you:) Never thought we would have this one. Understand that both Lundqvist and Staal had great games too. So important for this team. If AV continue to play Zuke on the third line while letting the big earners occupy the top lines without producing, they might find themselves in an ackward negotiation when they are gonna re-sign Zuccarello. He's probably just happy to sign, and not the least bit gready, but when cap size > merit he has few incentives to sign cheap? He's not an idiot. It's like with banking maybe? The richest clients always gets the most attention and cuts the best deals.
 
BlueshirtBlitz said:
Why is this guy on the 3rd line?

Should be with Kreider, and then when Nash realizes he can score goals put him with Nash.
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Well, do you see MZA on the third line as a demotion or perhaps that the coach feels he can move him around to potentially ignite other players? Zucc is the one forward on the team who can blend with pretty much anyone, while potentially making those players better. His defensive play is solid, which makes him a guy you can move around the lines with confidence that he will only add to what's there without subtracting from it. Putting MZA with Brassard could actually get Brass going a bit, and that may give the team a better scoring dynamic so that if a given top 3 line isn't going, the other two might pick up the slack. Gives the team a little balance, especially since the guys on the top 6 shouldn't need Zucc to get them all going. All this is all the more true with how evenly AV seems to distribute ice time between lines. Look at the top three lines and the distribution of ice time last night:

MZA 14:42, Kreider 15:56, Richards 15:50, Nash 16:11, Hagelin 16:05, Stepan 18:23. I mean Cally is over 20 mins, but with almost 3 mins on the PK. Otherwise, AV spread the TOI really well, and the team maintained pretty nice pace and energy last night. What baffles me is that these guys can't consistently show up with the work ethic and level of determination they had last night.
 
There is a difference when you have 15 mins when the team is rolling 4 lines compared to Torts only rolling three.
 
Zucc was amazing on the PP, but his line was freaking terrible 5v5. AV needs to get the lines sorted, although it seems counterintuitive to demote Callahan after what might have been his best game of the season. Though in the long run Nash, Zucc, Kreider, and Hagelin should be our top-6 wingers 5v5 as they have proven (small sample for Kreider, but you get what I mean) to be a cut above the rest in that situation.
 
Cake or Death said:
MZA 14:42, Kreider 15:56, Richards 15:50, Nash 16:11, Hagelin 16:05, Stepan 18:23.
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I really liked the first part of your post. Its also worth mentioning that Zucc's TOI is affected by the fact that neither Pouliot or Brassard manage to stay out of the penatly box.

The "concern" to have with that third line is that its excellent at the PP, not that excellent on 5v5. And as a result, while that line will struggle as long as Pouliot and Brassard are not having great games, other lines will feel like they have been put into a position to succeed.

Leaving us with 2 good lines, a 1st line with what AV sees as the best offensive threat, a 2nd line that is really pumping atm, and a third line that seemingly "relies" on Zucc to carry the show.

While it's paid off right now, when AV made the line changes it made 0 sense and on paper shafted Zucc hard.

Thats why I called him the odd man out, he's the lead point scorer, and AV dont have a slot for him in the "top 6"
 
Zuccarello-Brassard-Pouliout was the line they started the season with and they sucked big time. Now the line is back, and the line sucks. This is not a coincidence. Zucc produces because he plays power play.

I am waiting to see the Kreider-Stepan-Zuccarello line back soon. And I believe that we still havent seen the line Tortorella used last year with Zucc-Richards-Nash.
 
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Blue Blooded said:
Zucc was amazing on the PP, but his line was freaking terrible 5v5. AV needs to get the lines sorted, although it seems counterintuitive to demote Callahan after what might have been his best game of the season. Though in the long run Nash, Zucc, Kreider, and Hagelin should be our top-6 wingers 5v5 as they have proven (small sample for Kreider, but you get what I mean) to be a cut above the rest in that situation.
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His line had what, 6 minutes in the offensive zone? Only period AV played that line to any significance was period 2 where Chicago were pushing hard and got 2 goals.

Zucc does not belong on the third line. Bump Callahan to third and put Zucc with Hagelin and Richards. Pouliot, even with his improved play does not match with Zucc, and Brassard definitely does not match with Zucc.

http://rangers.nhl.com/club/stats.htm

Look there. There is no earthly reason why Zucc should be grinding on the third line with a 15p pouliot.
 
Another solid, solid game from Zucc.

He makes Brass & Poo a lot more effective as a 3rd line. That gave us three lines that all had chances last night. Threats form three lines makes it orders of magnitude more difficult for the other teams D.

Debate the merits I guess, but that's pretty important right there.
 
Pistachio said:
His line had what, 6 minutes in the offensive zone? Only period AV played that line to any significance was period 2 where Chicago were pushing hard and got 2 goals.

Zucc does not belong on the third line. Bump Callahan to third and put Zucc with Hagelin and Richards. Pouliot, even with his improved play does not match with Zucc, and Brassard definitely does not match with Zucc.

http://rangers.nhl.com/club/stats.htm

Look there. There is no earthly reason why Zucc should be grinding on the third line with a 15p pouliot.
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Quite surprised to see that Zucc actually is 4th in shots on goal and 4th in shooting perecentage... Maybe we shouldnt complain so much about him not shooting the puck....
 
Zuccarello-Brassard-Pouliot was actually an effective line in preseason and the start of the season.

If Pouliot had scored on one or two of the dozen empty netters he was given in the first few games then they probably would have stayed together and built some confidence and chemistry.

Pouliot's play was so bad it almost seemed to demoralize his line-mates on a cellular level.
 
The thing with Cally is that he SHOULD be able to play with anyone, as long as those guys are getting the puck on the net.

Zuke should be setting up our scorers.
 
Pat Leonard ‏@PLeonardNYDN 16 m
#NYR line rushes appear to have Kreider out of lineup? Poul-Rich-Zucc, Brass-Step-Nash, Hag-DMoore-Call, Boyle-Mill-Carcil. We'll see
 
Ilovemymum said:
Pat Leonard ‏@PLeonardNYDN 16 m
#NYR line rushes appear to have Kreider out of lineup? Poul-Rich-Zucc, Brass-Step-Nash, Hag-DMoore-Call, Boyle-Mill-Carcil. We'll see
Click to expand...


Pat Leonard ‏@PLeonardNYDN 7m
Miller and Falk scratched again. Forget my early line combos. Likely no change there. Kreider's playing & healthy.
 
Idlerlee said:
I wonder if Brassard and Pouliot will show up today
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Zuke is like a kind of a doctor, fixing broken players. Good news is that this line is just about to get fixed. Bad news is that Zuke then will be moved down to fix Boyle.
On a more seious note: I think Stepan is the player Zuke fits the best with. Stepan is not spectacular in any sense, but he's a dead smart hockeyplayer IMO. Adding Nash or Kreider to that would be perfect for me. So yes, please.

Edit: That respons doesn't really come out that well after your edit Iderlee:)
 
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