A Saturday morning tidbit: I believe that it bears noting that Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli has consistently included Red Wings forward Filip Zadina on his “Trade Targets Board” every day for the last month.
I’m not sure whether Zadina is in play, but it’s a thought given his struggles to break through offensively as a 21-year-old with the Wings last season:
23. Filip Zadina
Right Wing, Detroit Red Wings
Age: 22
Stats: 75 GP, 10 G, 14 A, 24 Pts
Contract: Pending RFA, not eligible for arbitration
Scoop: 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. He 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 and Steven Stamkos) can consistently score in today’s NHL from the outside.
The Red Wings are the Vatican of sports organizations: You might see some white smoke or black smoke when they elect a new Pope, but that’s about it leak-wise. I was surprised when Kevin Weekes nailed the Derek Lalonde hiring a day early, but he’s Kevin Weekes. He knows.
Long story long, would you trade Zadina, or do you feel that he’s worth one more season’s worth of auditioning for a top-six role? And if you were to trade Zadina, for whom would you try to trade him?
The Z question is complicated: 2 years ago he was all over the place making defensive plays, last year not so much. He continues to shoot from the right circle and every goalie and Wing fan above 7 years old knows that as well. He shows little to no movement on the PP, nor do any of the Wings players. See TB and the Avs PP for movement and creativity. How much was bad coaching? How much was a lack of creativity and understanding by the players? Give him one more year, but if he fails the Wings will lose any value in trade that he has today.
Agreed, it’s a hard decision to make, which is why I went with the hypothetical. His work ethic is certainly there some of the time, but he’s got that Ovechkin Spot for lefties at the bottom of the right faceoff circle, and he seems to refuse to shoot anywhere else, which mutes his offense.
I actually thought that Blashill had a point in calling him a player who needs to give-and-go instead of trying to lug the puck up ice himself, but what do I know?