I'm going to jump in with my own personal observations...
Back when we had Marc-Andre Bergeron and he was paired with Zidlicky on the power play, things were going well. Zidlicky saw the ice, could easily determine if he had a shooting lane, and if not, pass the puck to MAB.
That season, 2008-2009;
MAREK ZIDLICKY 76gp 12g 30a 42p
-12 10 PPGs 1 ENG
MARC-ANDRE BERGERON 72gp 14g 18a 32p
+5. 7 PPGs 0 ENG
Arguably, Zidlicky's best season with the Wild and yet, he was STILL a -12. Marc-Andre "I suck at Defense" Bergeron was a PLUS 5.
The next season, without MAB, Zidlicky was a -16, with only 4 PPGs and 6 goals. Relatively dismal figures for a Power Play Quarterback.
Two snide, side points; Anyone who was flaming me on the WMBs for saying Zidlicky was worthless even in 08-09 can kiss my ass.
Anyone who was flaming me on the WMBs for saying MAB was worth twice his salary can also kiss my ass.
Now, for my point?
Zidlicky is an idiot. The best thing about Marek Zidlicky is the Youngblood auto-correct to
Mark Idiocy.
1. He's been sheltered for most of his NHL career by players who either are more of a threat on the PP (MAB) or better defensively. He's always been a minus player.
2. I've never actually seen him run a power play effectively. MAB was always way more vocal on the ice during a PP, than Zidlicky was... After MAB went away, our powerplay basically turned to ****.
3. His play even strength is junk. Always has been, even when he was with Nashville.
4. His play this season has been horrible. Frankly, I've lost count of the number of times that he passes the puck immediately
back to the person who just passed it TO him.
One notable memory is that Koivu passes the puck to Zids because there were three Edmonton players in his shooting lane. There were ZERO in Zids way. Zidlicky had a straight shot to a screened goalie (Khabi) and... He passes it right back to Koivu. Koivu passes it right back to him, because his shooting lane hasn't changed. Zids tosses it RIGHT BACK TO KOIVU. Koivu shoots, shot blocked, puck cleared (and actually out...)
During that sequence, Zidlicky had two prime shooting opportunities which he didn't take. The first, he had a clear shot at the goalie. The second, he actually had a screen (Brodziak? don't remember) with open net on either side of Khabi.
This very specific example is indicative of his play this season and last. Without someone who is perceived as a bigger threat on the other side of the ice from him, he doesn't know what to do.
Simply put, he also isn't a Power Play Quarterback.
He has also lost the ability to see the ice due to him being the only "perceived" threat on the blue line during a power play.
Simply put...
He needs to go to a team that has a major threat on the point already.
However, I may be the only one that sees that...