Needless to say, Detroit Red Wings forward Filip Zadina hasn’t quite made good on his promise to fill up the nets of opponents who passed on him in the 2018 NHL Draft with pucks.
With seven goals and 10 assists in 52 games played this season, he’s on pace to only light the lamp 11 times – not the kind of offensive output that the team had been envisioning. He was even made a healthy scratch earlier this season in an effort to jump-start his play.
And with the NHL Trade Deadline approaching on March 21, could Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman elect to try to unload him in order to gain additional draft capital? According to one NHL Insider, don’t be surprised to see it happen.
According to Frank Seravalli of The Daily Face-off, Zadina is one of many candidates who could see themselves on the move later this month.
“There was no shortage of excitement around Zadina when the Red Wings selected him at No. 6 overall in 2018. GM Steve Yzerman doesn’t tip his hand, but the sense league-wide is a change of scenery is in order for Zadina. Teams perked up when Zadina spent six games on the top line from Feb. 9-26, seeing it as a ‘showcase’ opportunity ahead of a potential trade. He scored twice in those six games, putting him on track for 11 goals in 80 games. Zadina is a gifted shooter, but the knock on him is that he’s become more of a perimeter player – and only a select few players (Alex Ovechkin or Steven Stamkos) can consistently in today’s NHL from the outside. Zadina was also a healthy scratch on Jan. 4 and his ice time is down more than two and a half minutes from last season – which is a lot considering the recent bump on the first line is already factored into the equation.”
Zadina is a pending restricted free agent.
– – Quotes via The Daily Face-off Link – –
