babblemoth
my heart and I agree
I'd hope for their sake they sign him to a contract extending past one "date". Hopefully they plan to have Zadorov's baby and then marry him so to speak? That would tell of a much more competent management corps.
LD Nikita Zadorov (2013, 16th, BUF; traded to COL)
- Thread starter HockeySauce
- Start date
I'd hope for their sake they sign him to a contract extending past one "date". Hopefully they plan to have Zadorov's baby and then marry him so to speak? That would tell of a much more competent management corps.
Paxon
202? Stanley Cup Champions
I still think he's juniors-bound. He needs work on consistency in positioning and effort. I'd love for him to be AHL eligible, but alas. I wouldn't be shocked if he makes the team but if he does it's because they just don't want him in juniors anymore.
They were clearly going to take Reinhart. It was obvious within a couple weeks before the draft and was confirmed afterwards.
They were clearly going to take Reinhart. It was obvious within a couple weeks before the draft and was confirmed afterwards.
MacOfNiagara
Registered User
Going to be interesting to see what happens with Zadorov. Clearly not ready for the NHL but I don't see another year of juniors helping him at all. Not sure London would be able to move him. Perhaps Buffalo can loan him to the KHL.
Starry Knight
Tele-Wyatt
Considering his play in the OHL playoffs last year, no one would pay assets for him. He clearly isn't interested in playing junior hockey anymore.
Starry Knight
Tele-Wyatt
Go ahead, ask any Knights fan. We all saw it last year.
It's what ErieOttersNews is referring to.
Name a London player who didn't regress and give up in the Memorial Cup. Even Horvat looked like he would rather be elsewhere at times.
Starry Knight
Tele-Wyatt
Very true. Only those without an NHL contract really seemed to care throughout the year. A lot of the blame should fall on the coaching staff for not motivating the team well.
I'm not saying Zadorov is some bust that Buffalo fans should give up on, just that Buffalo should find him some other place to play. He didn't progress as the season went along in London.
there are only 3 teams in the league with open import spots. and yes it's a bit of a hyperbole to say "he's totally disinterested in junior hockey" but if you watched him play last season he certainly did not look very motivated. Again I don't know for sure how he would react but I'm sure other teams saw this as well and wouldn't exactly be jumping at the chance to dump 2nd round picks on London for him.
tsujimoto74
Moderator
- May 28, 2012
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I really find it hard to believe that London would struggle to find a team wanting a 6'5" 240lb defender who could probably be a PPG player in the OHL this year.
Zadorov
Nobody questions his ability, its the attitude and it affects the room, not worth paying a high price for someone who could care less being there
Nobody questions his ability, its the attitude and it affects the room, not worth paying a high price for someone who could care less being there
He showed dramatic improvement from his previous year in juniors, even in the playoffs. He doubled his offensive output (points per game) while remaining very solid in his own end.
What exactly do you look for to define "progress"?
KaseMeOutside
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Snippit
Registered User
- Dec 5, 2012
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As a Knights and a Sabres fan, I can say the London fans are right here. Zadorov didn't play hard enough and didn't play as well as he should have defensively. Even in the regular season he wasn't particularly consistent. If he can play smarter in his own zone, he will be a top pairing D-Man.
They should still send him back to London, though. He needs to adjust his mentality and he'll be fine for one more year on whatever contending team he gets traded to.
They should still send him back to London, though. He needs to adjust his mentality and he'll be fine for one more year on whatever contending team he gets traded to.
Again with the assumptions. The guy might've been gassed from playing 35+ minutes like he has to with all the injuries to the knights blue line. Unless there is a quote directly from him saying he didn't care, you can't say he didn't because it would be jumping to conclusions.
I think he'll follow suit with Grigorenko's maturity and play hard this year. Saying he just didn't care is assuming too much. And as Mosaku mentioned, no on played hard on that team. Especially in the mem cup after a 30+ day break.
there are 3 teams he can be dealt to. and like it has been mentioned over and over again there is a question of his attitude. So yes I think London may struggle to move him more than you think.
Of course this is assuming they'd move him. The Hunters could very well keep him and cut Miromanov to go for it again.
Starry Knight
Tele-Wyatt
His offensive game most definitely improved, but he stopped putting in the same effort in his own zone that we saw the previous year.
KaseMeOutside
Based
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zadorov belongs out of the CHL you can't put too much weight into juniors, the kid got a taste of the NHL and showed he could hang, it's natural to have a letdown when you are traveling on buses instead of on charter jets
He still needs work though, he's raw. We saw it at Traverse City this year, a tournament where if he was on his best game he should've dominated like Risto but didn't. If Risto isn't in the NHL (which I doubt, he will be playing in Buffalo when the season starts IMO), there's no way in hell that Zad should be in the NHL. Risto is on another level compared to Zadorov right now and this is coming from someone who said that Zadorov was more impressive than Risto in the viewings shortly after they were drafted.
SuperNintendoChalmrs
Registered User
So far it looks like Grigorenko has "woken up". Perhaps Zadorov will follow the same pattern. Zadorov needs to follow Girgensons and Ristolainen as examples.
DrJenniferHanson
Cursed By A Gypsy
As someone who watched each London game sans two last season, I vouch for 100% of Starry Knight's commentary. In fact, if one peruses the London thread inhabited by fans who missed very few games last year, there hasn't been a single dissenter from his opinion.
You are right that Zadorov's offensive numbers improved (doubled). But his icetime skyrocketed out of the team's necessity in rolling 5 D and playing 27-30 MPG. The increased production is partially attributable to the increased ice time and offensive zone starts relative to the prior season. Starry Knight (or any Knights fan) won't refute Zadorov's offensive progression, but will note that the stats overstate that progression to an extent. But the much larger emphasis Starry Knight is making, and Knights fans here universally agree with this, is Zadorov's defensive game stagnated and his compete level regressed. This was highlighted during the Edmonton/Guelph Memorial Cup games (they're available for purchase on Vimeo if you couldn't catch them). There were 4 goals in those 2 games that were primarily his fault. One of the Bertolucci goals comes to mind where Z was plain outhustled to the net by Bertolucci who was on the sideboards (Z was inside the faceoff dot) enabling Bertolucci to snipe a goal uncontested when the puck came to him while Z was solely accountable for him on the play. On all 4 goals, it came down to heart, and Z was beat. I won't inject some of the off-ice rumblings regarding his focus, but if true -- they weren't pretty. And I was far from the only fan to hear rumblings.
If I was ranking last year's Knights by heart/compete level (irrespective of ability), I would rank Zadorov dead last. I would also wager the vast majority of Knights fans would rank Zadorov dead last too. Ask this question on the Knights thread in the OHL forum, and I would be shocked if Zadorov didn't accrue at least 90% of the votes.
Ability-wise, I think Z can develop into a top pairing defenceman in the NHL. But he'll need a heart transplant (metaphorically-speaking, not literally). It's entirely possible playing in the NHL rather than OHL can do that for him, but only Z knows the answer.
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