The Red Wings are going to place Filip Zadina on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract today, and TSN’s Travis Yost wonders whether Zadina can find his professional form with another team:
What does the future hold for Detroit Red Wings forward Filip Zadina?
For starters, he may not be playing in Hockeytown much longer – the sixth-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft has sorely disappointed the Red Wings front office over 190 regular-season games, so much so that the team is seriously considering a buyout of the remainder of his contract.
Whether it’s by way of a buyout or the organization convincing the player he needs more time in the American Hockey League (which at present time, appears unlikely), Zadina’s days in Detroit are numbered. That means it’s open season for every other NHL team. But can the player be salvaged? Can the right organization illuminate what made Zadina such a success with the Halifax Mooseheads, or is that merely a pipedream at this point?
It’s something teams are chewing on as I write this. It made me wonder about the likelihood of being able to salvage a player with Zadina’s background and profile – while organizations can be notoriously patient with blue-chip prospects (as opposed to your typical third-round skater, anyway), successful reclamation projects seem few and far between. That’s exactly what a team needs to be prepared to do if they dip their toe in Lake Zadina.
I do want to emphasize one piece: This is certifiably a reclamation project. Zadina has not only been a below-replacement level player over the course of his career, but his production also just painstakingly pales to his peers.
Somebody will take a run at RW Zadina at $775,000 after his contract is terminated. Holland drafted him in Detroit in 2018 but Oilers really have no cap room to add him
— Jim Matheson (@jimmathesonnhl) July 6, 2023
