Zadorov's value in a a Points Only Keeper?

[loco man]

Acquired Zads as a toss recently and was about to drop him to the wire as I thought he was another year away (I only want roster players). Until I starting digging around and found that he has a legit shot at playing in the NHL this year. See below from Dale Hunter:

"The well-connected head coach of the London Knights believes star trio Nikita Zadorov (Buffalo), Max Domi (Arizona) and Bo Horvat (Vancouver) will be given every opportunity to play themselves into the big leagues as 19-year-olds.

“We’ll be a young team,” Hunter said Friday morning at the club’s 13th annual golf tournament, this year in support of Investing in Children and The Children’s Nutrition Network, at FireRock Golf Club. “Max, Bo, Z — they’ve got them pegged in to play in the NHL. That’s great for them, it’s the dream."

I know very little about him, but I am in a quasi rebuild and would love to have another young potentially offensive D if he is worth keeping.

Any insight and expectations appreciated

[vitun-tyhmä]

No value this year even assuming he does make the roster and stick, I can't see him being more valuable than the D you have currently.
Long term I agree he has potential, he's huge and loves to hit and can score, but short term I wouldn't count on much.

[The Bottlenecker]

I don't see Zadorov being the next Jacob Trouba, and taking the NHL by the scruff of the neck and saying:" go ahead, try to stop me". He will get his chance to play in Buffalo, but he won't put up a ton of points especially given that the forwards aren't exactly the most prolific goal scorers themselves.

[loco man]

No value this year even assuming he does make the roster and stick, I can't see him being more valuable than the D you have currently.
Long term I agree he has potential, he's huge and loves to hit and can score, but short term I wouldn't count on much.

On my end, I am OK to have him as my 7th D if he is worth holding onto. Since we are points only and heavily D goal weighted, it boils down to chancing if he continues to find his offensive game. Hard to say and for such a big guy, the fact that he is finding it makes him tempting to hold. Just don't want to hold too tightly if his value lies more in a multi-cat league, when a guy like Adam Glendenning is sitting on the wire.

Guess I will see if he sticks and go from there. Would love it if he was a hidden gem but my expectations are low

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

Zadorov's value definitely is more in multi-cat, but he can have some value in a points-only. I think it's going to take a few years before he really gains that value, though. He's a guy who can maybe hit 40 points eventually, but it's a maybe....if everything goes right and he continues to develop on a good path. But there's still a chance the offense never really develops and he becomes a 25 point, defensive guy. Z might be my favorite prospect currently, but he's a risky own in a points-only.

[NikW71]

Not much value this year at all (not even sure he makes it past 9 games this year) but I may be more inclined to keep him over Hamhuis or even Nikitin. At the chance he does play the whole season, I think it is realistic he can out point one or even both of them. He owns a real heavy shot and could be a PP fixture down the road

[loco man]

Not much value this year at all (not even sure he makes it past 9 games this year) but I may be more inclined to keep him over Hamhuis or even Nikitin. At the chance he does play the whole season, I think it is realistic he can out point one or even both of them. He owns a real heavy shot and could be a PP fixture down the road

This is my best case scenario hope for him.

[Dakkster]

Zadorov's value definitely is more in multi-cat, but he can have some value in a points-only. I think it's going to take a few years before he really gains that value, though. He's a guy who can maybe hit 40 points eventually, but it's a maybe....if everything goes right and he continues to develop on a good path. But there's still a chance the offense never really develops and he becomes a 25 point, defensive guy. Z might be my favorite prospect currently, but he's a risky own in a points-only.

Have you seen his shot, skating and how he moves the puck on the PP? I think it's fairly certain that he'll hit 40 points sooner or later. He'll be the bomb shot on the PP for years.

[loco man]

Have you seen his shot, skating and how he moves the puck on the PP? I think it's fairly certain that he'll hit 40 points sooner or later. He'll be the bomb shot on the PP for years.

Now we're talkin. Does this project to be his role if things work out?

[VincentVega]

I'm a big fan of he guy and he does project to have excellent offensive potential - he tool huge strides last year - I think the wait time for him might be too long. Probably won't play in the NHL this year (not because he's not fully ready but because the Sabres have no reason to rush him and will only call him up if he absolutely blows everybody's expectations out of the water). You're looking at 2-3 years time-frame and maybe more. But long-term, I like this kid a lot.