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Zajac sign Long Term Deal


Colin226

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wtv float ur boat guys... easy to say now but id be REALLY CURIOUS to know who would have picked zajac over Parise if we would have made a poll in the last few years.

Parise's better, but not w/ that ridiculous joke of a contract when he could easily fall off the cliff. Look how much he's declined since just 09

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Parise's better, but not w/ that ridiculous joke of a contract when he could easily fall off the cliff. Look how much he's declined since just 09

oh well that i agree. Im pretty sure we dodged a bullet there cause Zach HAS TO BE on his game to produce and his body won't be able to keep up that constant beating for too long. Kovy can play horrible all game but score 2 goals with a one timer from anywhere and he's a beast.

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oh well that i agree. Im pretty sure we dodged a bullet there cause Zach HAS TO BE on his game to produce and his body won't be able to keep up that constant beating for too long. Kovy can play horrible all game but score 2 goals with a one timer from anywhere and he's a beast.

Kovy does have a hell of a shot, but I don't even he can manage 2 goals with a one-timer. Maybe two goals on two one-timers. But two goals with one one-timer? That be craaaaaaaazy!

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We'll never truly knows what goes on behind the scenes with Lou, especially because he's as secretive as it gets, but I don't think it's as simple as you make it out to be, that it would've been so easy for Lou to re-sign these guys earlier. Those guys all knew big money awaited them once they hit UFA. They also know that Lou is usually not one to dole out insane mega-deals (though Kovy was clearly the major exception to that rule, and Elias' deal was up there for the time).

I'm not sure exactly what happened with Parise...I have no idea how close they were before talks broke down (before the start of last season). I do know that 13 years and $98 million for him is silly. I liked Parise a lot (what Devil fan didn't?), but with the type of game he plays and his size, can't help but wonder how long he'll hold up. I don't like those insane long-term deals as it is (including Kovy's), but I probably would've been comfortable giving Zach 7 years, tops.

Yeah the main weird thing about Parise was that when he signed the one-year deal the previous year, he said "with the intention of signing a long-term deal" the next offseason. I honestly didn't believe at any point that he would leave the Devils. He's an interesting case, because he didn't even really sound like he wanted to leave the Devils, so much as he just really saw a lot of positives in both NJ and Minnesota. I don't blame that on Lou. I just think that if Lou had simply capitalized on the chance to sign Zach when he said he wanted to sign a long-term deal, and actually signed him to that instead of a one-year contract, he'd still be a Devil.

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Yeah the main weird thing about Parise was that when he signed the one-year deal the previous year, he said "with the intention of signing a long-term deal" the next offseason. I honestly didn't believe at any point that he would leave the Devils. He's an interesting case, because he didn't even really sound like he wanted to leave the Devils, so much as he just really saw a lot of positives in both NJ and Minnesota. I don't blame that on Lou. I just think that if Lou had simply capitalized on the chance to sign Zach when he said he wanted to sign a long-term deal, and actually signed him to that instead of a one-year contract, he'd still be a Devil.

yeah well even more when the player itself says in an interview about UFA's that if you're a few months away from free agency, why not just wait and see whats out there?

Lou fvcked that up, theres not a single doubt in my mind. You cannot wait last minute to try to re-sign your captain knowing what he could get on the market.

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yeah well even more when the player itself says in an interview about UFA's that if you're a few months away from free agency, why not just wait and see whats out there?

Lou fvcked that up, theres not a single doubt in my mind. You cannot wait last minute to try to re-sign your captain knowing what he could get on the market.

What really threw a monkey wrench into everything was Zach getting hurt in '10-'11. That likely made Lou a bit more cautious, though the sides clearly did talk for a while before Zach signed his one-year deal. The funny thing is, with the start Zach had gotten off to last season (it was slow), some of the same people who are ripping Lou for not re-signing him probably would've been ripping him for bringing him back for big dollars without seeing if he was physically sound, or at least capable of performing like the old Zach. The timing was a bit of a mess.

Of course, the fact that Zajac was signed to an 8-year deal, despite playing just 15 regular-season games last season, kind of negates the above. I think a lot more happened behind the scenes than we'll ever know with Zach. And I think tampering happens quite a bit in the NHL, and probably happened in Zach's case, though I'm sure it will be difficult to impossible to prove.

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What really threw a monkey wrench into everything was Zach getting hurt in '10-'11. That likely made Lou a bit more cautious, though the sides clearly did talk for a while before Zach signed his one-year deal. The funny thing is, with the start Zach had gotten off to last season (it was slow), some of the same people who are ripping Lou for not re-signing him probably would've been ripping him for bringing him back for big dollars without seeing if he was physically sound, or at least capable of performing like the old Zach. The timing was a bit of a mess.

Of course, the fact that Zajac was signed to an 8-year deal, despite playing just 15 regular-season games last season, kind of negates the above. I think a lot more happened behind the scenes than we'll ever know with Zach. And I think tampering happens quite a bit in the NHL, and probably happened in Zach's case, though I'm sure it will be difficult to impossible to prove.

I know more about knee injuries than I do about Achilles injuries, but it could be that a knee injury is more likely to he permanent.

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Yeah the main weird thing about Parise was that when he signed the one-year deal the previous year, he said "with the intention of signing a long-term deal" the next offseason. I honestly didn't believe at any point that he would leave the Devils. He's an interesting case, because he didn't even really sound like he wanted to leave the Devils, so much as he just really saw a lot of positives in both NJ and Minnesota. I don't blame that on Lou. I just think that if Lou had simply capitalized on the chance to sign Zach when he said he wanted to sign a long-term deal, and actually signed him to that instead of a one-year contract, he'd still be a Devil.

Well, it was with the intention of signed a mega deal. Lou was rumored to only be offering half the contract Zach ended up getting. His agents knew what he could get on the open market.

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wtv float ur boat guys... easy to say now but id be REALLY CURIOUS to know who would have picked zajac over Parise if we would have made a poll in the last few years.
I was a huge Parise fan. I raged with the way he left, as I'm sure most will recall. However, even if you polled me in July, if I could absolutely have only one or the other, I would've chosen Zajac. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good 2-way centers? Guys who can center the first line, score, kill penalties, play the power play? They're insanely hard to find. After a shut-down #1 defenseman, there is no harder to find commodity in the NHL than a top 2-way center. When you find one, you don't let the guy go. Zach Parise will do well in Minnesota and we will miss him, no question- but losing Zajac would've been an absolute disaster. You can replace a Zach Parise MUCH easier than you can replace a Travis Zajac. That's a fact.
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I was a huge Parise fan. I raged with the way he left, as I'm sure most will recall. However, even if you polled me in July, if I could absolutely have only one or the other, I would've chosen Zajac. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good 2-way centers? Guys who can center the first line, score, kill penalties, play the power play? They're insanely hard to find. After a shut-down #1 defenseman, there is no harder to find commodity in the NHL than a top 2-way center. When you find one, you don't let the guy go. Zach Parise will do well in Minnesota and we will miss him, no question- but losing Zajac would've been an absolute disaster. You can replace a Zach Parise MUCH easier than you can replace a Travis Zajac. That's a fact.

Especially if Parise doesn't get back to being a PPG player. You can find guys like Matt Moulson and Joffrey Lupul to put up similar numbers on the scrap heap.

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I was a huge Parise fan. I raged with the way he left, as I'm sure most will recall. However, even if you polled me in July, if I could absolutely have only one or the other, I would've chosen Zajac. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find good 2-way centers? Guys who can center the first line, score, kill penalties, play the power play? They're insanely hard to find. After a shut-down #1 defenseman, there is no harder to find commodity in the NHL than a top 2-way center. When you find one, you don't let the guy go. Zach Parise will do well in Minnesota and we will miss him, no question- but losing Zajac would've been an absolute disaster. You can replace a Zach Parise MUCH easier than you can replace a Travis Zajac. That's a fact.

Additionally, I think Zajac can play the game he plays longer than Parise will be able to. Parise will find it harder to get the dirty goals as he gets beat up. Unless he's a Dino Ciccarelli type who did it forever...

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Yeah the main weird thing about Parise was that when he signed the one-year deal the previous year, he said "with the intention of signing a long-term deal" the next offseason.

Well, technically, he *did* sign a long-term contract this offseason, so it all falls into place. ;)

I'm on the "overpaid" wagon, when it comes to Zajac. It feels kind of funny coming here saying that while, on another forums, I'm convincing people (not Devils fans) that he in fact *is* a good two-way player (they seem to think Subban, Benn and O'Reilly make Trav look like a pee-wee player, lol), but yeah: all in all, he got overpaid. We couldn't afford to let him go, we need those two forwards on long-term contracts to build the team around, so I can stand it, but I still gotta admit 5,75M for 8 ys for him is a big, risky deal.

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Stereo I completely agree that Zach is an amazing player. And losing him hurts. I think we need to get a top 6 forward if we are ganna have any chance of getting to where we were last year. But i want players on my team that are going to come up big in the pressure situations. And if in going to to throw the world financially at a player he better be someone that will be a game breaker and come through in the pressure situations. And I don't think there is an argument that when looking over Zach's entire devils career that we can say that he is that player. As has been said before, his biggest play ever wasn't even in a devils sweater.

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Additionally, I think Zajac can play the game he plays longer than Parise will be able to. Parise will find it harder to get the dirty goals as he gets beat up. Unless he's a Dino Ciccarelli type who did it forever...

I think the Devils already got Zach's best, and at incredible cost effect. I don't think he's going to suck for the Wild, but they won't get nearly the value for him that the Devils did.

The Devils might have already gotten Zajac's best too, but at least this contract is a lot less outrageous than Zach's, and Zajac probably has a better chance at being solid for more of his deal, then Zach will for his. If Zajac is struggling in Year 6, that's only two more seasons the Devils are on the hook for. If Zach is in the same boat, that's 7 more seasons for the Wild.

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Zajac has the smarts to not have a massive decline.

Your implying that "smarts" is part of getting old?? Like if someone is smart they won't decline. I don't think that's how it works. Usually people just get old and I think Zajac will be 36 at the oldest at the end of this contract. That's the length I would have wanted Parise for with a higher cap hit.

Edited by RizzMB30
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I think the Devils already got Zach's best, and at incredible cost effect. I don't think he's going to suck for the Wild, but they won't get nearly the value for him that the Devils did.

The Devils might have already gotten Zajac's best too, but at least this contract is a lot less outrageous than Zach's, and Zajac probably has a better chance at being solid for more of his deal, then Zach will for his. If Zajac is struggling in Year 6, that's only two more seasons the Devils are on the hook for. If Zach is in the same boat, that's 7 more seasons for the Wild.

Perfectly stated. I'm not a Parise hater, but I think with his style, he's going to have the physical ailments catch up to him a lot faster than Zajac. Even if Zajac declines a ton towards the end of the deal (which I doubt) he can still be a solid 3rd line center.

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Your implying that "smarts" is part of getting old?? Like if someone is smart they won't decline. I don't think that's how it works. Usually people just get old and I think Zajac will be 36 at the oldest at the end of this contract. That's the length I would have wanted Parise for with a higher cap hit.

I mean he is a very smart hockey player. His body may wear down but is IQ will never go away. Patty is a good example.

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Your implying that "smarts" is part of getting old?? Like if someone is smart they won't decline. I don't think that's how it works. Usually people just get old and I think Zajac will be 36 at the oldest at the end of this contract. That's the length I would have wanted Parise for with a higher cap hit.

I get what he's saying, Smart players figure out ways to still be effective players. Bobby Carpenter changed his game once his offensive skills deteriorated and he became a defensive specialist for example. Zajac's so good defensively I can see him finding a way to remain an effective NHLer for a while. A lot can change in eight years though, and $5 million is a lot for a defensive specialist but its not hard to imagine an effective Zajac at 35.

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I'm with Sterio on this one. I think Zach is better than some of us are giving him credit for. I think he can be a huge asset for the Wild. And rather than seeing him break down anytime soon, I can picture him getting stronger and more clutch in the years to come. However, I still wouldn't have given him that massive contract. It's too long and for too much.

As for Travis, I am glad we re-signed him, but sometimes I worry about him getting injured. He's a smart player no doubt, but he's also not all that strong.

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I'm with Sterio on this one. I think Zach is better than some of us are giving him credit for. I think he can be a huge asset for the Wild. And rather than seeing him break down anytime soon, I can picture him getting stronger and more clutch in the years to come. However, I still wouldn't have given him that massive contract. It's too long and for too much.

As for Travis, I am glad we re-signed him, but sometimes I worry about him getting injured. He's a smart player no doubt, but he's also not all that strong.

Zajac's been injured once in his career, albeit a serious and recent injury. And Parise's already less than he was. He's never putting up 94 points again and (this is just my opinion that's probably not based on anything) it doesn't look like he has the deking/moves/shot he had in his first 4/5 years. I remember him scoring pretty goals and last year it was more garbage goals. THough that could just be from the knee recovery and this just might be my bias in remembering some stuff more

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Zajac's been injured once in his career, albeit a serious and recent injury. And Parise's already less than he was. He's never putting up 94 points again and (this is just my opinion that's probably not based on anything) it doesn't look like he has the deking/moves/shot he had in his first 4/5 years. I remember him scoring pretty goals and last year it was more garbage goals. THough that could just be from the knee recovery and this just might be my bias in remembering some stuff more

Zach used to score so many sweet crazy deflection goals... and from last year i can remember maybe... one or 2 ? he's been dominant on the forecheck and backchecking but seems like he wasnt a big danger when he had the puck. Henrique has a lot more moves and dekes than Zach

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I get what he's saying, Smart players figure out ways to still be effective players. Bobby Carpenter changed his game once his offensive skills deteriorated and he became a defensive specialist for example. Zajac's so good defensively I can see him finding a way to remain an effective NHLer for a while. A lot can change in eight years though, and $5 million is a lot for a defensive specialist but its not hard to imagine an effective Zajac at 35.

I love the Bobby Carpenter example. He's a perfect example of a guy changing his game in order to remain effective.

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