The great thing about our team is, we are not depending on Zherdev. He is going to "add" 20+ even strength goals this year and that is exactly why we signed him. He improved our offensive totals over Gagne while Giroux has taken over the defensive responsiblities. That makes it a win/win.
I would however like to see him on the 2nd PP unit more often. Next year - I doubt he is a Flyer. But he does add depth to our top 3 lines and another 20 goal scorer who other teams have to account for. If the Briere line is off, The Giroux line gets you. If they are off the Richards line gets you. You can't put your checking line against all three of our scoring lines. Zherdev helps with that depth and potentially will improve the PP?
We would be exactly where we are now with or without Zherdev. He isnt hurting the team, but he isnt exactly helping either. He is just...there
An extra 20 goals per year never hurts. Esp when ur paying next to nothing for it.
He's an extra weapon and in the PO grind you'll need every weapon you can get. I can easily see a few critical PO games where everyone else is exhausted, Z is fresh cuz he's been relegated to fourth line minutes, and as a result he is the difference-maker.
Hey guys Rangers fan here, I come in peace. I haven't been able to watch any Flyers games so far this year, and was wondering what you all thought about z? I see he has 9 goals and one assist on the season, but was wondering how his play has been? I'm curious if he changed his game since going to the KHL. Has he seemed motivated? Or his usual disappearing reappearing act. Thanks ahead of time guys! And LETS GO RANGERS!
Hey, I am also a Rangers fan, but recently hanging around Flyers boards to get the feeling of how Zherdev is doing, and also insert my 2 cents on the subject. I am also trying to watch their games (not been easy, believe me) whenever they are on MSG or Versus. So, here is my take...
They signed him to score 25 goals, and they will get it. They don't really need anything else from him.
They play him about 10 min a game, w/o any significant PP time. Of those he usually plays about 5 min with our good friends Betts and Shelley (4th line), who don't really know what offensive hockey is. The remaining 5 min he usually plays with local "superstars" Carter, who never passes and always shoots (usually wide) and Giroux, who is a fine player, but the problem is he is a puck posession guy, like Zherdev is, so all plays go through Giroux. Zherdev in this combo, I figure, is supposed to play a pure goal scorer, without the puck, which is obviously not who he is.
On top of this, Flyers style of play is mostly dump-in and forcheck, which again, is not where Zherdev is at his best.
Given all this, I am surprized he has managed 9 goals this far, which is quite an outstanding pace considering his TOI and lack of PP time. He has almost no assists due to total lack of chemistry with his linemates (always changing). This has never happened to him before (he has always been an awsome playmaker), so I assume this is Flyer's fault. OTOH, again, they probably just don't need this from him.
Does he disappear at times? Of coarse he does -- Zherdev is Zherdev. But I think his effort this year is much much higher than we've seen before. I don't think even many Flyers fans complain about his effort. Risky individual plays are criticized the most, I guess.
Also I think his reaction to benching/scratching/punishment of any sort is much more mature now than before. He actually picks up his game after this -- totally different than what we've used to see.
Overall, I think he is doing what he can. It's not much, but probably enough for them to keep him till the end of the season. It's not enough for him to put in kind of stats that will grant him a good contract, so I guess we'll see at least one more highly motivated year from him. Probably not with the Flyers -- this wouldn't make sence. I am hoping Caps (instead of Semin) or something like this, where he could play his kind of hockey with his linemates being on the same page.
And yes, let's beat them in a week. Let's go Rangers
An extra 20 goals per year never hurts. Esp when ur paying next to nothing for it.
He's an extra weapon and in the PO grind you'll need every weapon you can get. I can easily see a few critical PO games where everyone else is exhausted, Z is fresh cuz he's been relegated to fourth line minutes, and as a result he is the difference-maker.
Till he scores 20 with the Flyers, he has done nothing for me.
Hey, I am also a Rangers fan, but recently hanging around Flyers boards to get the feeling of how Zherdev is doing, and also insert my 2 cents on the subject. I am also trying to watch their games (not been easy, believe me) whenever they are on MSG or Versus. So, here is my take...
They signed him to score 25 goals, and they will get it. They don't really need anything else from him.
They play him about 10 min a game, w/o any significant PP time. Of those he usually plays about 5 min with our good friends Betts and Shelley (4th line), who don't really know what offensive hockey is. The remaining 5 min he usually plays with local "superstars" Carter, who never passes and always shoots (usually wide) and Giroux, who is a fine player, but the problem is he is a puck posession guy, like Zherdev is, so all plays go through Giroux. Zherdev in this combo, I figure, is supposed to play a pure goal scorer, without the puck, which is obviously not who he is.
On top of this, Flyers style of play is mostly dump-in and forcheck, which again, is not where Zherdev is at his best.
Given all this, I am surprized he has managed 9 goals this far, which is quite an outstanding pace considering his TOI and lack of PP time. He has almost no assists due to total lack of chemistry with his linemates (always changing). This has never happened to him before (he has always been an awsome playmaker), so I assume this is Flyer's fault. OTOH, again, they probably just don't need this from him.
Does he disappear at times? Of coarse he does -- Zherdev is Zherdev. But I think his effort this year is much much higher than we've seen before. I don't think even many Flyers fans complain about his effort. Risky individual plays are criticized the most, I guess.
Also I think his reaction to benching/scratching/punishment of any sort is much more mature now than before. He actually picks up his game after this -- totally different than what we've used to see.
Overall, I think he is doing what he can. It's not much, but probably enough for them to keep him till the end of the season. It's not enough for him to put in kind of stats that will grant him a good contract, so I guess we'll see at least one more highly motivated year from him. Probably not with the Flyers -- this wouldn't make sence. I am hoping Caps (instead of Semin) or something like this, where he could play his kind of hockey with his linemates being on the same page.
And yes, let's beat them in a week. Let's go Rangers
He doesn't get the ice time he deserves because he doesn't commit to the system. If he wanted to he could play the Flyer's style of play he chooses not to.
I do however agree he has a natural scoring touch and the fact that he has 9 goals playing mostly on the 4th line with a touch or 2 on the 1C line, is pretty outstanding although lately he has played with G and Carter a lot more which only bodes well for him if he starts to build chemistry with his linemates.
The last bolded part really is what gets me though he was benched and scratched cuz he ran to Holmgrem to whine he wasn't getting enough ice time. Sure maybe he isn't given the amount of opportunity he's used to. But at the same time the only 2 teams that hes played for in the NHL he was on the first line and relied upon to score the majority of goals on this team he has to earn his time and not buying into the system or doing what Lavi tells him to do is not doing him any favors. Going to the GM of the team to complain rather then talking man to man with the coach is an even bigger hit. But I think he will work his way out and get more comfortable with G and Carter near the end of the year heading into the playoffs
For what we're paying him and the ice time he's getting I'm pretty happy what we're getting out of him. He's got problems and his effort isn't always there, but he isn't the disaster defensively he was made out to be (I particularly note one play last night against the leafs where in the defensive zone he checked a leaf from behind and stole the puck away). Plus the amount of goals for the limited ice time and the added fire power to such a good line up I can't say I'm that upset. He can take more ice time with out me complaining if their are injuries and if thing continue as is I'll be fine too.
I like the way Zherdev's been playing, for the most part. He's got amazing skill, and he takes the body more than I expected. Loved the couple big runs he took at Chara a few games back. He backchecks too, so it seems like he's getting what's expected of him.
He's still finding his way in the deep lineup and in Laviolette's system, but I really like the explosive potential and goal scoring ability he offers. In a tight playoff game, his gamebreaking ability might make a huge difference.
And he's made a lot of great plays, unfinished by his linemates, which accounts for the lack of assists. I'm sure it'll even out over the course of the year.
I agree with this !especially the part about his potential during close playoff games.I gotta believe defensemen hate it when Z is out there in a close game .
Till he scores 20 with the Flyers, he has done nothing for me.
Do you really think there is a chance that he won't score 20 goals?
I think he has an outside shot at 30 if he can keep stable linemates and minutes.
I'm not his biggest fan, he certainly has his flaws, but he absolutely can contribute to this team. We've been very lucky with injuries but it's going to be nice to have an offensive weapon to bump up in the depth chart if a key player goes down for any length of time.
Defensively, he has not been the void in the line up that some people say. However, it's certainly true that he's been nothing special and has made some inexcusably poor decisions.
Hopefully he gets his **** together. I had predicted him to have a stellar year since 30 goals would have allowed him to cash in big time in the offseason. I also thought that Giroux would be able to feed him a ton of pucks and vice-versa but that, obviously, has not happened.
But, for 2M, he was absolutely worth the gamble and Homer did the right thing in signing him.
His lack of defense, his one-man showmanship, and his floating are just fuel to the fire that is the fact that he likes to overstay his shifts. Every time he does that, Laviolette blows a gasket and puts him on the 4th line. He wants to prove himself, that much is obvious. He just goes about proving himself the wrong way.
Part of me wants to see him succeed, but most of me doesn't really care all that much. It might be harsh, but I've learned to accept Zherdev as he is. He's helping us a bit in his own way. For now that's good enough. We don't need him to be the best thing since sliced bread for our team to be successful, and everyone here knew that when we signed him.
I hope he finds a good home at the end of this season far away from Pittsburgh or Washington, places where his style of hockey is rewarded.
At least he's better than Comrie or Guerin by a TON, and it's not even close. I'd rather have MacArthur, but MacArthur was the FA winger I wanted from the get go.
I wish people would just accept Z for the player his is, instead of wanting him to be a protypical flyer. It gets a little tiresome. Zherdev is going to pot 25 goals while playing on the 4th line. Give me another player that is going to do that this year?
How many of his goals have been scored by him while on the 4th line?
The only reason he's been put on the 4th line is because he keeps making dumb moves and Lavi gets pissed. His play in the third period is always less than in the first 2 because he can't be trusted defensively.
Rumors are starting that Zherdev might be the one to go to make room for Leighton.
Flyers are looking to move salary to get Leighton back on the roster. Zherdev is one name they're talking about.
that would be outright stupid, so i wouldnt put it past Shooter. Leighton deserves nothing at this point. Keep zherdev as at some point there will be injuries. I hope Shooter has the balls to admit his mistake with Leighton and correct it to moev on.
Nikolay Zherdev was a healthy scratch with Dan Carcillo coming back in the lineup. Within two weeks, the Flyers will have to move someone if they want to reactivate Michael Leighton. Do they trade Zherdev? What about Matt Walker? Rumors abound that the Flyers would like to move Zherdev. A problem for some clubs is that if they have someone on long-term injury, they can’t inherit Zherdev’s full cap hit of $2 million. Zherdev almost needs to go to a team near the floor. Given so few clubs showed interest in Zherdev over the summer in free agency, he won’t be easy to move.
Put Walker and Lappy on LTIR, then we have enough room right?
This is from mid-October (philly.com).
Quote:
Even with Walker out close to 3 months, Holmgren said he would be unlikely to utilize the Long Term Injured Reserve cushion in the salary cap for Walker’s $1.7 million salary. Michael Leighton’s $1.55 million salary is already on LTIR. The Flyers said they would rather not put Ian Laperriere’s $1.16 million on the LTIR as it could impede future moves, even though Laperriere is likely out for the entire season.
yeah but with Leighton coming back they should put Lappy on
I'm not completely sure about that, but I think if they put Laperriere on LTIR this season, they can't next season (35+ contract). I think that was the reason the Devils traded Malakhov to the Sharks with a first in 2006. If they put Laperriere on LTIR this season they save his caphit now but can't next season, if they don't they can next season and get rid of his caphit. This can be completely wrong though.
