Nikita Zaitsev by Josh Tessler
Zaitsev’s performance over the course of last season was shaky.
When Zaitsev wasn’t in control of the puck, he didn’t appear to be that bad. His positioning at times was decent. But, as soon as he would take control of the puck, he would make plenty of mistakes.
He just appeared to be rather timid when it came to puck possession. Almost every time that Zaitsev touched the puck, he just appeared to look skittish. Instead of looking for the optimal pass or trying to drive up the ice, he decided to dump the puck.
In addition, his WAR per minute (Sean Tierney) was the second worst on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Whenever Zaitsev was on the ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs were in jeopardy of coughing up a goal.
With the promise of his strong rookie season now far behind him, Zaitsev has a terrible contract that the Leafs would love to move.
With how ineffective Zaitsev was, you can’t possibly give him a good grade. Our grade for him is a C-.