Toronto Maple Leafs: Nikita Zaitsev Player Profile

If there is one player who divides Toronto Maple Leafs fans, it’s defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.

Plucked from the KHL, Zaitsev is a tale of two seasons. His time with time Toronto Maple Leafs began with a 36 point campaign that saw him establish himself as a formidable presence along the blue line. Then Lou Lamoriello signed him to an enormous contract and the following season Zaitsev broke his foot, missed games with an illness, and his statistics plummeted. Suddenly he’s seen as a defensive and cap space liability.

I’ve already voiced my opinion on giving Zaitsev another chance to prove himself, but a lot of eyes will be on him to see if he can return to the form he showed in his first year or if last season was a sign of things to come. The Leafs’ defensive core needs Zaitsev to be better.

Will we see Zaitsev return to form as the shot blocking, puck moving Russian who contributed on the power play, or the massive hole in the Leafs defense he proved to be last season?

Player Profile: Nikita Zaitsev

Zaitsev began his career in the KHL. He played his first 181 games with Sibir Novosibirsk, contributing 25 points. He also played 11 playoff games with Sibir, where he tallied 1 goal.

After three seasons with Sibir, Zaitsev played 136 games in the KHL with CSKA Moskva, where he found his offensive groove, putting up 70 points. He also acquired more playoff experience with Moskva. Starting 40 games in the postseason scoring 6 goals and 17 assists. Moskva made it all the way to the Gargarin Cup Final in 2016, only to lose in 7 games to Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

After 3 years with Moskva, Zaitsev signed a 1-year, $1,775,000 contract with the Maple Leafs.

2016-2017

Zaitsev showed the money invested in him for one season was worth it. He played in all 82 games, racking up 36 points, with 12 coming on the power play. He averaged 22:01 minutes of ice-time and recorded 176 hits and 136 blocked shots. His possession game could use some work (-1.8% Relative CF%) and he could tone down the turnovers (58 giveaways) but otherwise Zaitsev’s first season in the NHL was a success.

Zaitsev played in four games during the Leafs playoff series against the Washington Capitals. He didn’t put up any points but he did have 14 hits, 8 blocked shots and averaged 21:45 a game.

Then on May 2nd, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Zaitsev to a 7-year, $31.5 million deal, carrying a cap hit of $4.5 million per year.

2017-2018

Then things went downhill.

As the season started, Zaitsev seemed to be playing as he did the year prior. Playing in 34 games, he had 10 points, 69 hits and 94 blocked shots. Unfortunately Zaitsev broke his foot on December 15th and wouldn’t return until January 31st. After an illness kept him out for 5 more games, Zaitsev’s rest of the season was poor. 26 games, 3 points, 49 hits and 40 blocked shots. His giveaways rose (76) and his relative Corsi dropped to -4.1%. The only starting defenseman with a lower relative Corsi was Ron Hainsey with -4.5%.

Unlike the year before, Zaitsev started every game in the Leafs’ series against the Boston Bruins. He had 2 assists, along with 25 hits and 12 blocked shots.

2018-2019?

Nikita Zaitsev is not getting traded anytime soon. The Leafs aren’t going to give up in a talented defenseman after just two seasons, and there are 6 years left on his contract. Getting someone to bite on that kind of term would be difficult, even if right defensemen are a commodity in the NHL.

Zaitsev will probably be starting on the second pair with Jake Gardiner. He’s had plenty of time to make a full recovery from his broken foot and has had an entire summer to work on his game and return to the form he showed in his first season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs need their defensemen to step up this year, and Zaitsev should be up to the challenge.

Statistics courtesy of hockeyreference.com

Salary figures courtesy of capfriendly.com