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Around the League 2019-2024 Edition

Paces

Age 18

Zadina: 0gms, EV 0:00, 0gls/0pts, PP 0:00, 0gls/0pts --- QHL 66gms, 61gls/117pts
Robertson: 4gms, EV 11:03, 21gls/22pts, PP 1:02, 0gls/0pts -- OHL 46gms, 98gls/153pts

Age 19

Zadina: 9gms, EV 13:04, 0gls/9pts, PP 2:18, 9gls/18pts --- AHL 64gms, 23gls/49pts
Robertson: 6gms, EV 8:34, 0gls/14pts, PP 0:44, 0gls/0pts --- AHL 21gms, 20gls/63pts

Age 20

Zadina: 28gms, EV 12:37, 12gls/23pts, PP 2:31, 12gls/21pts --- AHL 21gms, 35gls/63pts
Robertson: 10gms, EV 9:47, 8gls/8pts, PP 0:28, 0gls/0pts --- AHL 28gms, 47gls/82pts

Age 21

Zadina: 49gms, EV 14:38, 5gls/22pts, PP 2:08, 5gls/10pts
Robertson: 15gms, EV 9:40, 11gls/27pts, PP 1:10, 0gls/0pts --- AHL 2gms, 41gls/82pts

Age 22

Zadina: 74gms, EV 12:20, 7gls/18pts, PP 1:50, 4gls/9pts
Robertson: ???

Age 23

Zadina: 30gms, EV 12:14, 8gls/19pts, PP 0:48, 0gls/0pts --- AHL 2gms, 41gls/41pts
Robertson: ???
Chances of getting injured

Zafina 50%
Robertson. 200%. He is currently injured
 
I mean yeah if he'd take a league minimum deal sure. But why would he do that? On the Leafs no less? He'd get buried. He'd get big minutes and potentially even pp minutes on a Chicago or Arizona.

But even at league minimum, while it's no risk and I'd obviously do it, I don't see a high probability of much upside. 5 years of being pedestrian is a long time. At a certain point I stop caring where he got drafted. At this point he's a homeless man's Galchenyuk.
 
Highly doubt that. Before they put him on waivers, you can be sure they offered him to every team and no one was interested.

If that's the case, they would've never expected to receive a better deal than his existing one. They're looking for a better opportunity, not more money, which he's done nothing to justify with his performance.

If you take over that contract, you were stuck with everything to do with it. The cap hit, and the salary (2.73 million next season, it was backloaded), etc.

Then he hits RFA as an arbitration eligible player who just made 2.73 million with a QO minimum of 2.73 million.

So if you're interested in Zadina, but not at almost 4.6 million in real dollars and a shitty QO in year 3, you slow roll it and see what happens. Now that he's a UFA you can sign him to a multi year deal on the cheap (2x1.85 for example), spend 750K less than you would have if you picked him up on waivers and then he's a UFA at the end of the deal, you're not stuck with a 2.73 million dollar minimum caphit to keep him

Zadina is looking for the better opportunity without losing much coin. His existing 2 year deal would have expired with him as a RFA, a 2 yr deal today would end with him being a UFA.
 
I mean, yesterday the dude was locked in for 2 more years and then a RFA. Today he's a UFA at 23. Doesn't take a degree in rocket surgery to see what the hope/plan is here.
 
No, that's the thing. If he genuinely wants to prove himself, and walked away from all that dough, he has to take a one year minimum to play for a good team. Or otherwise go find the most money with some other team. But if money was his top priority, he wouldn't have let them terminate like he did, so it doesn't seem the dollars are driving him.
This just makes no sense. Where is he more likely to get enough ice-time to put up points? The 4th line in Toronto, or in Chicago with a chance to play with Connor Bedard?
 
This just makes no sense. Where is he more likely to get enough ice-time to put up points? The 4th line in Toronto, or in Chicago with a chance to play with Connor Bedard?
Well, we wouldn't bring him in to play him on a line with Reaves. The idea would be to give him a shot.

If Chicago wants to give him 1st line minutes, then sure, grab it.

But I don't think he's looking for or will receive any sort of multi-year deal for $2M like Mindz is saying. He's going to get a one year deal and try to show he has more to give.
 
Well, we wouldn't bring him in to play him on a line with Reaves. The idea would be to give him a shot.

If Chicago wants to give him 1st line minutes, then sure, grab it.

But I don't think he's looking for or will receive any sort of multi-year deal for $2M like Mindz is saying. He's going to get a one year deal and try to show he has more to give.

Why would a team want a 1 yr on him though? If he's good, he bolts as a UFA at the end of the year. Why does a bad team trying to build for the future want that?
 
None of us are inside the kid’s head, so who knows what he’s thinking. But I’ll be surprised if he walked away from that contract just to go in search of someone who’s willing to give him an equivalent deal.

I’d lean more towards this being a “bet on yourself” type of move where he’s going to take a cheap one-year deal from whatever team gives him the best opportunity to show his stuff and cash in on his next deal.

I don’t think that team is the Leafs, though.
 
Why would a team want a 1 yr on him though? If he's good, he bolts as a UFA at the end of the year. Why does a bad team trying to build for the future want that?


If he signs a one-year deal, he’ll be an RFA when it expires, not a UFA.
 
I'm guessing it's a waste of time.

Dude literally doesn't have one impressive even partial season under his resume anywhere. ~6th overall picks bust all the time. and that draft wasn't even a very good one and he was one of the oldest in the draft. He doesn't seem to have the skating to make him dangerous in the NHL.

TBH the more i look at his resume the more i'm convinced that this is just another classic World Juniors overhype situation. 7gls in 7gms in the WJC seems to be the only remotely elite thing he's ever done.
 
I'm guessing it's a waste of time.

Dude literally doesn't have one impressive even partial season under his resume anywhere. ~6th overall picks bust all the time. and that draft wasn't even a very good one and he was one of the oldest in the draft. He doesn't seem to have the skating to make him dangerous in the NHL.

TBH the more i look at his resume the more i'm convinced that this is just another classic World Juniors overhype situation. 7gls in 7gms in the WJC seems to be the only remotely elite thing he's ever done.
If he is truly a bust, one thing that wouldn't fit with that narrative is walking away from $4M guaranteed. He wouldn't want to, and his agents wouldn't let him. In theory.

The fact that he ditched the safety net in an effort to get a change of scenery is impressive in itself. I'd be inclined to reward that bravery and take a chance that he's right about himself. When else have we ever seen something like this?
 
You sure?


Yep. Unless you get bought out, have your contract terminated or don’t get a qualifying offer, there are only two paths to UFA eligibility.

The most common is if your contract ends after you’ve accrued 7 NHL seasons and/or if you’re 27 or older on June 30th. At the conclusion of next season, he’ll be 24 years old and have five accrued seasons.

The other path is the one Bunting took. And that’s if you’re 25 or older with three professional seasons & fewer than 80 NHL games to your credit. He’s already at 190 GP & will be 24.

So he’ll be an RFA.
 
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yeah maybe.

or maybe he's rich or knows the russians will pay him a ton of money if he flames out anywyas.
I was thinking that too, that Russia is the safety net, but if he truly sucks in NA (which a poor showing with another team would cement), why would Russia pay him anything special to suit up for them? The risk he's taking is very real imo.
 
If he is truly a bust, one thing that wouldn't fit with that narrative is walking away from $4M guaranteed. He wouldn't want to, and his agents wouldn't let him. In theory.

The fact that he ditched the safety net in an effort to get a change of scenery is impressive in itself. I'd be inclined to reward that bravery and take a chance that he's right about himself. When else have we ever seen something like this?
You're acting like he has some hidden secret about himself and only he knows that he's an elite player. Yes he's taking a risk. But that doesn't have to mean he knows something that we don't. He could simply be making a poor decision. Quite frankly his track record as a prospect wouldn't even rank all that highly in the leafs ok just ok prospect pool.
 
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