Should Flyers Make a Play for Flames’ Nikita Zadorov
By Scott Cole
When you look at how things are in Philadelphia with the Flyers, it could be a consolation that things here aren’t as bad as other teams. One of the teams that are a hot mess is the Calgary Flames. Despite having a talented roster, the team pretty much exploded at the beginning of this offseason.
That mess has carried over into this season. Calgary has won four games, but is not playing well. The losing ways have made one of their stars unhappy. Nikita Zadorov has reportedly requested a trade after a 5-4 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Calgary is 24th in the league in goals scored and goals against, but they are pretty decent on the penalty kill (4th best unit).
Zadorov is a 28 year old blueliner. He has a goal with four assists so far this season and holds a -6 on the +/- scale. Last season, he lit the lamp 14 times with seven assists. The goals were a career high tally while his 21 points were one shy of his career high. While he had topped the 200+ hits mark twice as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, he had doled out 174 hits last season.
It should be added that Zadorov has ties to Toronto and maybe he is making a request to go there. Toronto’s general manager, Brad Treliving, was let go of his duties in Calgary this offseason as part of the team’s shakedown. Maybe there is a connection there. However, if Zadorov wants off, the Flyers should look into a trade.
Zadorov is on the final year of a deal that is paying him $3,750,000. That’s a reasonable price for a shutdown defender who, in a typical season, adds four-to-seven goals a year while playing 18 minutes a night. For someone entering his prime, he could command a higher salary as a free agent and could be a good rental for a team looking to make a Stanley Cup push.
Because of that, he could be in high demand near the trade deadline. However, if he keeps making his demands public, it could drastically lower what Calgary could get in return (see Kevin Hayes trade).
Every hockey team can always use help on defense. It’s not the Flyers’ weakest point, but it couldn’t hurt to add to it. Rasmus Ristolainen is still out with an undisclosed injury and Marc Staal is still hurt as well. Travis Sanheim has rejuvenated himself. Cam York has struggled a little bit at times, but is playing well enough. Louie Belpedio has surprised everyone with scoring two goals so far this season as a call up option. Sean Walker has actually played well and could be in line for a re-sign this offseason if not traded . Yegor Zamula has actually outplayed a lot of the expectations for himself. Likewise, Emil Andrae, and others, are waiting in the AHL to prove what they have.
It’s unclear if the Flyers need Zadorov. I would only make the move if he would commit to a sign-and-trade sort of deal. Even then, what would Calgary want in return? Their other issue is that they have virtually no cap space to play with. The Flyers have some, but it would require them to perhaps move Ryan Ellis. But there could be another solution.