if you think Z is bad then I'd love to know why every leaf fan on this website is slobbering to acquire him, and to get him 50% retained.

To be fair, Zadorov is the absolute best 3rd pair defenceman on the flames. And as well all know, 3rd pair defenceman on any team, regardless of how good or bad they are, are all automatically #1 elite star players on Toronto. Why? Because that's the rules on this site. Rationality and any semblance of intelligence is gone from these threads. Now it's just bros getting off on lobbing just the dumbest insults around.

yeah man, those three guys who make 4 agms a day that are basically identical are totally every leafs fan slobbering over him. But hey, you're the one who made your own agm talking about how bad leafs fans are at evaluating player values so what does that tell you? If These leafs fans want him so bad then he must be pretty bad right?

The deal included Reaves when that comment was made. Settle down. The Flames can go get a prospect or a better pick than what the Leafs offer. I like that he's always a "3rd pair guy" when talking about his value but then he's a 2nd pair guy when the lines are put together on the post

I know their names sound similar but Nikita Zadorov and Nikita Zaitsev are not remotely the same player

He's just included there as a contract going back, it's not about his value. C-prospects being sent over in deadline trades or just trades in general isn;t anything new. He's just telling you why he and others included Abruzzese in particular and not someone else.

Right, one is a decent 4th defender who cant carry a pairing and the other is an ahler

He's not bad, he's a good 3rd pair defenceman who offers some stuff the team could use. It's this sort of nonsense that makes this site just dumb. People like you just can't see things straight. Saying a guy is a 3rd pair defender isn't calling someone trash. It's a reasonable assessment based on reality. Zadorov is the #3 LD in Calgary. He was also 3rd pair in Chicago and Colorado. It's what he is and he isn't going to become something else as he moves into his 30's. That is the an insult on him or undervaluing him. It's stating what he is. 3rd pair defenders don't get the insane prices flames fans want for him. This desire is all just fools licking their chops hoping to see their team screw over the Leafs. Because any sensible person just looks at the player, what he brings and what similar players have brought in the past.

Last season a 3rd pair physical defenceman was actually acquired by TO. It was Schenn and he cost a 3rd. Comparing Zadorov to actual top 4 defenceman or going back to Chairot (who had been a top pair defenceman in Montreal for a couple years and was top 4 in Winnipeg prior to) isn't reasonable. Why on earth would anyone pay such a high price when if we look back to last season, better defenceman were had for a package of a 1st plus. These guys are asking for Orlov prices and he's way better than Zadorov. Likely better than Tanev. McCabe was obtained last season for a 1st and was half retained for 2 more seasons.

So tell me, with all that considered, do you still feel like you're being anything but silly here?

Go ahead and explain Zadorov’s value and why you think he’s a 3rd Pairing LD, when he’s continuously inserted at 2LD and 2RD (and even occasionally at 1RD) in Leafs AGM’s and why CapFriendly has him Rated as an 80-P2

You guys are just guessing on here and never provide anything of substance to support or prove your positions

When asked a question, you simply try to change the subject or revert to insults, it’s rather weak, pathetic and annoying tbh

If you’re not willing to pay the price for a 2nd Pairing D-Man, go pursue Schenn, Lyubushkin, Tinordi or Phillip Myers already

This is getting old and the sheer hypocrisy and delusion of arguing Big-Z’s a 3rd Pairing D-Man and then immediately inserting him at 2LD or 2RD, completely destroys any argument or suggestion you’ve made and any credibility you may still have had left….

Abruzzese & Timmins have virtually No Trade Value. Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong and why!? Look what Tyce Thompson just got Traded for, that’s Abruzzese’s value and Timmins can’t even stay healthy enough to be worth anything, hence why he was Traded and TOR acquired him for virtually nothing in the 1st place. Give your heads a shake 🫨

So then why are you acting like he's only worth a 3rd? And not being able to carry a pairing when paired with a bona-fide AHLer is not a hard thing to believe. Zadorov carried his pairing the last 2 years when paired with Stone and Gudbranson. Don't blame him for playing with DeSimone and Gilbert this year

If he's a top 4 defenceman in TO. The Leafs still aren't good enough to win the cup. Anyone that says otherwise is just hopeless.

He is a 3rd pair guy, I'd welcome him but only because of his physicality. I don't at all trust him to shutdown top players. No one in his career has trusted him in those spots because he isn't good enough to do it.

Using where someone put him in the lineup as your reason for wanting top 4 or even top pair prices in a return is silly. You guys watch him every night, he is not a top 4 defenceman on your team and your defence hasn't even been all that great this year so saying you are deeper is irrelevant. He's a 3rd pair defenceman and will be on a true contender.

He has been a 3rd pair defenceman his whole career. Including the team he currently plays on. That's his usage. This isn't hard to understand. The most puzzling part of this crazy ongoing nonsense is that he is in fact a 3rd pair guy on the team you apparently cheer for and watch.

While it's still ridiculous when fans of terrible teams argue a player is top 4 because they play that position on a bottom feeder team, they at least are playing the minutes of a top 4 guy. Zadorov doesn't and hasn't. He plays 3rd pair minutes, and generally gets more offensive zone starts and changes on the fly. He sees less defensive zone faceoffs than the actual top 4 defenceman in Calgary because they are all better than him. That's been his whole career.

Now before you go ballistic and start tossing out your just hilariously bad insults, take a deep breath and stay with me here.

None of this means he's a bad player. He isn't, he's a good NHL defenceman, that has value. Where you keep getting lost is when you want value for what you want others to see him as and not for what he is. You may just be falling victim to how many think these days "if you disagree with me than you think the opposite of me and I hate you". Just stop it with that crap, it only makes you look like a sensitive cry baby. No one is picking on you. A rational assessment of the player looks at his career and usage. What he has been in his career is a 3rd pair defender who is physical, above average defensively but takes too many penalties and offers not much else. He isn't good enough to be a top 4 shutdown defenceman, never has been. So he's a 3rd pair defender.

Rental 3rd pair defenders aren't getting 1st rounders. Sure yell about Chairot some more, but that has been universally panned as a terrible overpay. But he was also playing top pair minutes in Montreal at the time he was traded and was a top 4 defenceman for much of his career. You can't say the same thing for Zadorov. So what you are asking for is quite simply just ridiculous.

Please respond with some rational thought

Because guys who are best suited to the bottom pairing without a guy who can carry them, especially older, not cheap pending ufas, are worth about a 3rd when it isnt deadline pricing.

Huh? He doesn't need to be carried, we just went over this. If you don't like Zadorov that's fine but don't go talking nonsense like he's worth a 3rd. He's a strictly better player than Luke Schenn. Hell he's strictly better than Chiarot. On a team with deep defensive depth he's a 3rd pair defenseman, on a team like Toronto he's almost certainly 2nd pair unless Brodie plays the left side

Lol, 2nd pairing

Yeah, he does need to be carried if he's not on the bottom pairing, and being on a 2nd pairing and beign a 2nd pairing guy are two very different things.

You honestly must be the biggest moron on this site if you think a 3rd pairing expiring Zadorov is fetching you a top prospect a 1st and a roster player. Can’t wait to come back to one of these threads you’re always ranting and raving on and pointing at and laughing at how stupid you are when Zadorov gets traded for half this package at the deadline LOL

Point out where I said that there sweet heart.

Our 2LD is Jake McCabe,(better player) Zadorov would not be on our 2nd pair nor would he play 2nd pair on any team trying to acquire him. You flames fans are so blinded by your desire to get one over on your old GM it’s almost comical at this point. Jake McCabe went for a 1st and a conditional 2nd at half retained with 2 years left on his contract. You are straight up delusional if you think you’re getting more than that. Hell you won’t even get half that. It’s astonishing to see the sheer ignorance of some flames fans on this website.

You literally just went on and on about how Zadorov is worth more than a 1st, B prospect and and a top 6 RD if you think that package will be topped you need to get an MRI to check for a brain injury

I find it absolutely hilarious that you truly think you actually have a clue what you're talking about, when you're clearly just guessing and never provide anything to back up or support your position...

And then you try to lift yourself up above me as being more mature and reasonable, when you're the one who always starts with the insults or tantrums, to which I just mirror your attitude to give you a little taste of what you're putting out there, except I'm much better and completely shut down and finish the conversation every time. You get a fresh start on each new thread and start this all over again, until I wrap you up like the piece of trash you are and toss you in the garbage where you belong, only to have you meltdown and throw an absolute tantrum, hissy fit and insult fest. Look in the mirror Rippy, you're exactly what you just tried to describe me as and you're so obsessed with me and trying to bring me down, you just keep coming back and I just keep smashing and slapping you around. At some pint you have to realize your insane, right!? You're never gonna get a better result or win these annoying banter sessions with me, you need to go down a few levels and find easy bait and work your way back up

You want to talk Hockey!? You never answer questions or provide anything to support your position or arguments, I do. Look at Zadorov's on ice Stats from before and after he joined the Flames, especially his SF%, CF% and xGF%: Zadorov Natural Stat Trick

Look how well he's produced offensively with such little ice time playing on the 3rd line and carrying guys like Gudbranson, Michael Stone, Dennis Gilbert, Jordan Oesterle and Dennis DeSimone, because he's certainly not taking away ice time from Andersson, Weegar, Hanifin of Tanev. When he does play 2LD for us with Tanev or Weegar, he's excellent and gets to play how he wants, without having to worry about covering for the other guy. Since his Agent threw him in front of the bus with that Trade suggestion Tweet, he's embarrassed and lost out there and in a slump, but again, he's playing with AHL'ers for Partners as well

Put Zadorov on the Top Pairing ad on the Power Play (right in front of the net actually) and I bet he WAY out produces Chiarot and comes close to Chara like Offensive Stats. He's definitely nowhere as good defensively as Chara, but come the Playoffs, he doesn't need to shut down Top-6 Players, he'll simply lay or put them out with open ice hits or bone crushing board checks, in which I guarantee they won't be skating though the neutral zone or trying to enter the o-zone without caution, pure fright and hesitancy. It completely throws them off their game

Now to your point about o-zone and d-zone faceoffs, if a player has 60% CF&SF%'s, it means the play is usually in the o-zone and thats where the play stops, hence why he has so many o-zone starts compared to d-zone starts. Zadorov's Hits are not going down because he's getting softer, it's because he doesn't need to hit so much, he's focussing on carrying the puck, driving the play and contributing offensively instead. You can say his 14 goals last year was pure luck, but he can carry the puck from end to end like a forward, take the puck to the net and he has a career average shooting percentage of 6%, which is phenomenal for a Defensemen

Zadorov is Younger & Better than Chiarot and Savard were when they were Traded and clearly TOR Fans are desperate and drooling at the idea of having him, but so are a ton of other Teams, so we'll sit, wait, be patient while the offers come in and we'll move him at the Deadline for what TOR Fans will cry and whine was a universally panned terrible overpay

I don't hate you, I just feel bad for you, especially because you think & believe you know what you're talking about. Thinking you are more reasonable, rational and mature than me is a joke as well. Sure, I lower myself to your level and wrestle you in the gross dirty little pig ben you love to live in and thrive upon, but that's because I'm not gonna let some rat little weasel like you talk down to me and get away with it. If you're good to me, I'll be gold to you. If you poke or agitate me, I'm gonna bite you like a Rattlesnake or Cobra and watch you wince, tremor and roll around in pain to a very slow and painful death

The post was a pick the Leaf fans expect to be 32 a 3 year cap dump that's still owed 4+ million in real money and a 25 year old AHL'er. The Flames are better off going and getting a B prospect, a pick that isn't tied to a cap dump etc. etc. It's a no benefit trade for the Flames, I'm not talking about Zadorov's value anywhere, not once, you can't find where I mention Zadorov's value at all.. Trades are beneficial for both teams. This trade is zero benefit for the Flames. You need to work on reading comprehension.

LOL 😂 Hyuck, Hyuck LMFAO 🤣 HeHe 🙃 Haha 😆

Yup, 2nd Pairing. Exactly where he’d play on the Leafs, when he plays with Weegar & Tanev and where Cap Friendly has him Rated as = 80-P2


You don’t really believe that nonsense, do you!?

Zadorov >> McCabe. All McCabe does is throw Weak Hits that have no sting and block shots, which is what’s required, because the play always ends up in TOR’s own zone when he’s on the ice… That wouldn’t happen with Zadorov and unlike McCabe, he can actually score lol

McCabe sucks dude, that’s why Leafs Fans are constantly Trading for Big-Z and Tanev and inserting them above McCabe in their lineup’s. Here’s what TOR’s depth chart would look like:

Reilly
Tanev
Brodie/Zadorov
Giordano
Liljegren
Timmins
McCabe
Benoit
Lagesson

you do realize that schenn and lybushkin, two guys you said were 3rd pairing guys all by yourself without anyone else even bringing them up, played on the leafs top pairing the past couple years right? So by your own account Zadorov is a 2nd pairing guy on the leafs, so he's clearly worse, right?

Give me a break lol. Only morons use logic like that. Go get Schenn or Lyubushkin then, I bet they cost more than a 3rd too. They're both also small fractions of the player Zadorov is

What a stupid post, you should kick yourself for being so dumb