The Nekrasov--Okounkov hook length formula provides a fundamental link between the theory of partitions and the coefficients of powers of the Dedekind eta function. In this paper we examine three conjectures presented by Amdeberhan. The first conjecture is a refined Nekrasov--Okounkov formula involving hooks with trivial legs. We prove the conjecture. The second conjecture is on properties of the roots of the underlying D'Arcais polynomials. We give a counterexample and present a new conjecture. The third conjecture is on the unimodality of the coefficients of the involved polynomials. We confirm the conjecture up to the polynomial degree $1000$.