The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has filed a notebook article about Filip Zadina, who is looking to establish himself as a scorer at the NHL at the ripe old age of 21:
Several Wings are looking to rebound from sub-par seasons. Zadina might top the list.
His defensive game, his play without the puck, were effective and positive. But offensively, the breakthrough many expected didn’t happen. Zadina only scored six goals, a far cry from his prolific junior hockey days. He knows what he has to do to improve.
“Hold on to the puck, play with the puck, and go to the net,” Zadina said. “Force myself to shoot the puck a little more and believe in myself and my teammates on the ice that we’ll do (our) best to score goals.”
The 6-foot, 197-pound winger didn’t make many offseason changes. He worked with the same trainer he always has, and concentrated on getting stronger.
“To get quicker on the ice and trust the process,” Zadina said. “Since last year I took a step forward. (I’m) trying to be the same player, just a better player.”
And coach Jeff Blashill explains what process Zadina needs to follow:
“We would love for him to take that step offensively,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “If he’s occupying a top-six role, he has to take that step offensively, otherwise somebody else will have an opportunity. That’s reality.”
Continued (paywall)
There were a couple of articles earlier this year speculating that Zadina had reached his NHL level of skills. I remember some of it, he was an average goal scorer at best…..
I guess 6 goals will attract flies for a fairly high draft pick. This year certainly needs him to take another step in his NHL career but writing him off is a little goofy.