{"id":9368,"date":"2017-05-02T13:58:04","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T17:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com?p=9368&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=9368"},"modified":"2017-05-02T14:06:23","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T18:06:23","slug":"toronto-maple-leafs-sign-nikita-zaitsev-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/05\/02\/toronto-maple-leafs-sign-nikita-zaitsev-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Nikita Zaitsev to an Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs have looked up another piece of their core, making official a contract that Bob McKenzie had reported was close in late March. They have signed pending\u00a0RFA defenceman <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zaitsni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikita Zaitsev<\/a><\/strong> on a seven-year deal worth $31.5 million. \u00a0The contract features an AAV or cap hit of $4.5 million, and a limited no trade clause.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As I reported on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSNHockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TSNHockey<\/a> Leaf broadcast, TOR and Zaitsev working towards extension. Not done. May be as long as 7 years. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSNBobMcKenzie\/status\/847617592621543425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 31, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This makes the Russian defenceman the second highest paid blueliner on the Leafs behind only <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/riellmo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Morgan Rielly<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MapleLeafs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MapleLeafs<\/a> have signed D Nikita Zaitsev to a seven-year contract extension. Annual value of the contract is $4.5M through 2023-24 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TMLtalk?src=hash\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TMLtalk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LeafsPR\/status\/859451266593939457\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Nikita Zaitsev&#8217;s extension includes a limited no-trade clause.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reporterchris\/status\/859452907296575493\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Nikita Zaitsev to an Extension<\/h3>\n<p>After seven seasons in the KHL with Sibir Novosibirsk and CSKA Moscow, Nikita Zaitsev came over to Toronto last spring, when he signed a one-year entry-level deal on May 2, 2016. Coming out of Russia at the age 24, nobody really knew what to expect out of Zaitsev. Most thought he would slot in on the bottom pairing, where he could chip in offensively while adjusting to the North American game. Starting at the World Cup of Hockey with Russia in September, Zaitsev quickly dismissed that notion and immediately placed himself in the Leafs&#8217; top four.<\/p>\n<p>As a right shot, Nikita Zaitsev has\u00a0played most of the season with Morgan Rielly on the top pairing, taking big minutes and tough assignments. This pairing lasted until the 7-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on March 14th. Since that awful showing, Zaitsev has been paired with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/gardija01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Gardiner<\/a><\/strong>, where the Russian has returned to form.<\/p>\n<p>Zaitsev finished with 36 points in 82\u00a0games as a 25-year old rookie. That puts him second on the team from the blueline and third league-wide in defensive rookie scoring. Unfortunately Zaitsev was injured, suffering a concussion, in the Leafs final regular season game. He returned for game three of the Leafs first round series against Washington, but did not look the same as he did previously. \u00a0He did not play for Russia in the World Championships due to the injury.<\/p>\n<p>His current contract maxes out at $1.775 million if he reaches all of his rookie bonuses. On the new seven-year extension, the renewal buys five years of unrestricted free agency.<\/p>\n<h3>The Comparables<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/klingjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Klingberg<\/a> <\/strong>(7 years, $4.25 million), <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/klefbos01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar Klefbom<\/a><\/strong> (7 years, $4.2 million), and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/brodijo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonas Brodin<\/a><\/strong> (6 years, $4.2 million) all signed similar deals to Zaitsev&#8217;s reported extension with similar production. The unique part of Zaitsev&#8217;s extension will be the age at which he signs it. The reported seven-year extension would bring the Russian until age 32 and buy five UFA years. The three contract comparables were all signed at age 21 or 22, only buying one or two UFA years.<\/p>\n<p>A young, right-handed defenceman who will finish with close to 40 points as a rookie should\u00a0not come cheap. Zaitsev is going to get\u00a0paid, cementing his spot on the Leafs blueline for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/648288006\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.666667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/648288006?et=E92gqskOT75wwMW9whAAYA&amp;tld=ca&amp;viewMoreLink=on&amp;sig=OHWCljRwCtnPsgg1XXGmCutDnGplnKH5uQxZEpSZaec=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs are nearing a seven-year extension with 25-year old pending restricted free agent defenceman Nikita Zaitsev. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1858,"featured_media":9369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,34],"tags":[37,38,400,72],"class_list":["post-9368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leafs","category-news","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-nikita-zaitsev","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1858"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}