Toronto Maple Leafs: The 20 Game Impact Of Nikita Zaitsev
The Toronto Maple Leafs are at the quarter mark and their newest defender has been impressing many.
The Toronto Maple Leafs New Man In Town
A lot was made of the step-up that was going to be required from Toronto Maple Leafs defender Morgan Reilly this season, especially focusing on his defensive capabilities. Nikita Zaitsev went somewhat under the radar as he made the transition from Moscow to Toronto.
Defensemen usually escape the mass hysteria (excluding the blockbuster Subban/Weber trade) of the media and this was certainly the case here with the circus surrounding Matthews.
Assessing Zaitsev’s First 20 Games In The NHL
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Firstly, it’s his two-way game that has grabbed the attention of many, amassing 8 points via assists and yet to get his inaugural goal. Playing 352:29 minutes he ranks 2nd just behind Reilly in skaters on the ice which isn’t surprising since they’ve been the top line for a majority of the games.
He has proven himself physically, as many reports from Russia said that he could do with bulking up a bit however, has certainly handled the physicality of the NHL well.
Proving useful on the powerplay with 2 points to his name. Definitely falling into that ‘new breed’ of NHL defensemen at 6 foot 2 and south of 200lbs, moving the puck quickly with excellent passing and possesses a great shot from the point.
Hopefully we will see more of that as season goes on, it seems that Reilly is dominating offensive duties in this line.
Potential Issues
One issue with the pairing of Reilly and Zaitsev for me is that both of them can be far too offensive in their miindset. This explains the eight points that Zaitsev has but is clearly evident in his -7. I stated this before the season stated that it might be a better idea to keep Zaitsev and Reilly separate as they both can be guilty of being too offensive.
I’d like to see Zaitsev split up from Reilly more to give him more freedom to generate offense given the depth of forward talent the Leafs have.
Looking Forward
Zaitsev has been deemed a model professional by both Babcock and his teammates and has blended in well and played hard. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of deal he will be after in the long term.
Older than Reilly who just signed the 6-Year $5M deal back in April. He will be an RFA and he may push the leafs to give him a higher paid shorter term contract. Due to the fact that he is essentially coming into his prime and won’t want to be tied down to a long-term lower paid deal.
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