Does a change of scenery make Nikita Zaitsev fantasy relevant again?

[Bubba55]

Title pretty much says it all. I would suspect that Zaitsev is available in all but the deepest leagues. Teams are usually looking for a top four defencemen, is there a good fit for Zaitsev out there? Thoughts?

[Eskimo Brother]

He could have some limited value in leagues that count hits and blocks as well as scoring, but there are plenty of darts I would throw before that one.

[lucafen4]

in 14+tms if he gets regular PP2 time then perhaps 30pts. He'd be good as a 5/6 on PP2 - with those MC stats.
My god if a team could just make him shoot. He has a good slap shot.. it just never gets used.

[ericdaoust]

Regardless of where he goes he's a pure gamble going into next year. He did well in his one year with constant PP time but you would think playing 20 minutes per game on a high-scoring team this year would net a guy more than 14 points just from being on the ice.

[DusterDave]

Zaitsev is a great streaming option for hits and especially blocks, that’s about it though.

[Bubba55]

OK, thanks guys. Seems no one is overly optimistic that Zaitsev is likely to duplicate the numbers he put up in his first year with the Buds regardless of where he might land.

[Dobber]

I think he can duplicate that first year on the right team, but we're talking 3 or 4 teams out of 30 here so odds are slim

[Bubba55]

Thanks Dobber, would you be inclined to take a shot at which 4 teams ????....... (:

[Dobber]

Thanks Dobber, would you be inclined to take a shot at which 4 teams ????....... (:

Ha, well, I would but that would take some analysis. I don't actually know which teams, I would just imagine there are some that would put a righty D on the second PP and pair him at ES with an offensive D that is less of an anchor than Gardiner

[pmorrow]

Thanks Dobber, would you be inclined to take a shot at which 4 teams ????....... (:

I remember he was linked to St Louis earlier in the year. Not sure if they're still interested in doing that of course

I think it depends where Zaitsev lands. If he lands somewhere like Ottawa that badly needs minute munching dmen, he could produce more than people expect. He would be a defensive minutes guy under DJ Smith who knows him well, but he would play a lot of minutes and probably get points.