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Report: Nikita Zaitsev informing teams he intends to sign with Leafs

D

Deebo

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https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/690643633762992128

Elliotte Friedman ‏@FriedgeHNIC
Hearing Russian free-agent D Nikita Zaitsev is telling teams his intention is to sign with TOR next season. Would be a one-year ELC.
 
Interesting, I was kinda wondering out loud on here recently if the prospective trajectories of Soshnikov and Panarin's seasons might see him reconsider what many had said was his intention from day one, to come to Toronto.
 
Patrick said:
Interesting, I was kinda wondering out loud on here recently if the prospective trajectories of Soshnikov and Panarin's seasons might see him reconsider what many had said was his intention from day one, to come to Toronto.
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If Soshnikov was as good as Panarin is right now he's be in the NHL. And while Sosh has been good in the AHL it's not like he's dominating or proven he's too good for the league. Panarin's also 2 years older than Soshnikov and almost doubled his points total last season in the KHL. It was clear he was much more NHL-ready. Prospective free agents really shouldn't compare the two.
 
Patrick said:
Interesting, I was kinda wondering out loud on here recently if the prospective trajectories of Soshnikov and Panarin's seasons might see him reconsider what many had said was his intention from day one, to come to Toronto.
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i would assume zaitsev has been warned he would probably spend some time in the AHL to learn the system to start, but since he is not 18 , probably not that long.
 
We will see how this pays out.  After that "monster" goalie Gustafson or whatever his name was I don't have my hopes up high.  His numbers look decent in the KHL but that doesn't mean too much when he will be up against guys like Crosby and Ovechkin here.  Clearly there is no risk here to the Leafs but I refuse to get excited about anything like this.
 
Just from watching that highlight video, I've gotta say it looks like he likes to shoot the puck and has a cannon of a shot!  8)
 
[tweet]718153518884884480[/tweet]

Additional note: remind me never to celebrate anything with Radulov.
 
Potvin29 said:
From official KHL youtube:
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In case anyone missed it, the title of this video was originally "Nikita Zaitsev sends notification to Mike Babcock". It's since been changed to "Zaytsev message to Znarok on WCup roster" (guessing Znarok is Russia's GM). But it looked like even the KHL Youtube folks know what's up.

Zaitsev and CSKA are currently in the KHL Finals. Would be a nice way to cap off his KHL experience.
 
Potvin29 said:
Pretty much confirms it:

@IgorEronko

GM of #CSKA Sergei Fedorov to @rsportru: 'Right from the start of the season we knew Nikita Zaitsev agreed to terms with #MapleLeafs'
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Looking forward to seeing him play. I'm sure he's not a top-pairing defenceman, but it'd be nice to see him get paired with Rielly on the top line so Babcock can have his lefty-righty splits. Something like:

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Carrick
Marincin-Corrado
 
Tigger said:
What, no Hunwick?
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I'd like to see him dealt this summer. That's probably wishful thinking though on my part as Babcock is definitely a big fan of his. But for left-handed defencemen we have Rielly-Gardiner-Marincin and for righties we have Carrick-Corrado-Zaitsev. With Harrington/Percy/Loov/Valiev kicking around as depth. Admitedly, it's not a perfect defence, especially since Zaitsev is a big question mark, but I just don't see a role for Hunwick there.
 
I was kind of being facetious, I don't mind him as the 6-7 guy, he'll probably get dealt at the deadline so, no worries.
 
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