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Filip Zadina

Filip Zadina Signs In Switzerland

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Former Detroit Red Wings first-round pick Filip Zadina has reportedly signed a deal with Swiss club HC Davos (as per HC Davos X account). The signing ends Zadina’s time in the NHL for now, as inconsistency and inflated expectations have plagued the former sixth-overall pick. It was reported last week that Zadina would sign a PTO with an NHL team, however, his agent poured cold water over those rumors.

Zadina was never able to live up to the expectations of being drafted so high and eventually asked for a fresh start to try and get his career on the rails. Detroit mutually terminated his contract in July 2023 which allowed the 24-year-old to sign with the San Jose Sharks last summer and start with a clean slate. With the Sharks, Zadina posted a career-high 13 goals to go with 10 assists in 72 games, but his overall game wasn’t strong enough to warrant a NHL contract this summer.

Zadina likely could have received an NHL offer through a professional tryout, particularly with some of the teams lacking forward depth, however, he has opted for more certainty and a guarantee in Switzerland. His signing effectively pauses his time in the NHL and could allow him to regain the offensive touch the made him a high draft pick. Davos has historically been a powerhouse in the National League with 31 titles but has struggled as of late finishing sixth last year in the regular season and getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

Evening Notes: Islanders, Ducks, Wild

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Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News wonders if the New York Islanders would benefit from bringing in a player like Filip Zadina before training camp. The Islanders badly needed a top-six forward this summer but didn’t have the cap space or assets to make a move towards improving their forward group. Zadina has been linked to the Buffalo Sabres and has potential interest from a handful of other teams. He is also reportedly close to signing with an NHL team.

The 24-year-old hasn’t been able to live up to his draft status as a sixth overall pick and will now join his third NHL team in just seven seasons. The Pardubice, Czech Republic native, scored a career-high 13 goals last season and tallied 23 points in 72 games with the San Jose Sharks. But, despite being on the worst team in the NHL, he failed to play more than third- and fourth-line minutes and given the current state of his game, it’s unlikely he would help out the Islanders’ top six forwards. However, he could carve out a depth role in their bottom six.

In other evening notes:

  • The Anaheim Ducks announced that they’ve partnered with A Parent Media Co. Inc. to stream all of their regional games this season free of charge. The games will be available on the soon-to-launch Victory+, allowing Ducks fans in the Los Angeles regional market to watch Ducks games for free. The app for Victory+ will be available for fans outside the Ducks’ television region as well, but the games will not be free. However, the app will allow fans in other parts of the country to view the extra content that the team produces outside of their games.
  • Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin spoke with KFAN FM 100.3 today and discussed the upcoming season, where his expectations are for the Wild to make the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. Guerin has had to navigate some very rocky waters the past couple of summers regarding the salary cap, as the Wild have had to account for $14.74MM in dead cap space for two years due to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. However, he has managed to keep the team competitive and believes that if his current group stays healthy, they will be in the mix come playoff time. Minnesota didn’t make many changes this summer and will count on many internal improvements from young players if they hope to improve on the disappointment of missing the playoffs last season.

Filip Zadina Linked To Sabres, In Talks With Other Teams

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9:45 a.m.: There are as many as three clubs in discussions for Zadina’s services, Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports.

8:34 a.m.: It appears the Buffalo deal may be a fallback option for Zadina. His agent, Darren Ferris, tells Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that he’s “in the process of completing a contract for Zadina with another team.”

8:24 a.m.: Right-winger Filip Zadina is expected to attend training camp with the Sabres on a professional tryout agreement, reports Pavel Barta of Deník Sport.

Zadina, 25 in November, has never made the impact most expected when the Red Wings selected him sixth overall in the 2018 draft. Until 2023, Zadina had mediocre results in a bottom-six role with Detroit, consistently shooting well below 10% and posting average possession metrics. Over those five seasons, he made 190 appearances for Detroit with 68 points, 0.36 per game. His -51 rating, 7.4% shooting rate and 0.62 hits per game were nothing to write home about, although he did manage to keep his head above water defensively with a 0.2 relative CF% at even strength.

After being released by the Red Wings last summer via a mutual contract termination, walking away from over $4.5MM in salary, he landed a one-year, $1.1MM deal with the Sharks. Nothing changed for the Czech winger in San Jose, though. Without much of a supporting cast, he did manage to score a career-high 13 goals in 72 games, but his 23 points fell one short of his best mark with Detroit, and his -44 rating was the worst of his career while averaging a conservative 13:20 per game. Most blame can be placed on the team’s porous defense and inconsistent goaltending, but Zadina’s 43.3 CF% and 39.0 xGF% at even strength was below the team average.

As such, the Sharks opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his deal expired this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent for the second year. Still, without a contract, Zadina isn’t giving up on an NHL dream, fishing for PTO offers rather than heading to Europe.

For the Sabres, it’s a sensible low-risk option for some depth scoring with professional experience. He has strong numbers in the minors, last posting 16 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2019-20. He also had a strong showing with Czechia’s HC Oceláři Třinec in 2020-21 while on loan during the pandemic, scoring eight goals and 14 points in 17 games. His shooting percentage continuously drying up upon reaching the NHL remains an enigma.

If Zadina lands a deal out of camp, it’ll likely be a two-way pact. After the Sabres reshaped their forward corps this summer with a specific eye on filling out their bottom six, there isn’t a clear roster spot for him if he signs. He’ll likely land on waivers and begin the season with their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. There, he’ll play alongside Buffalo’s crop of next-wave players and compete for call-ups with other depth wingers like Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen and Lukáš Rousek.

Sharks Expected To Non-Tender Calen Addison

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With the deadline for qualifying offers now being less than a week away, teams will soon be making their final decisions on who to keep and who to let go.  The Sharks appear to be ahead of the game on that front as GM Mike Grier told reporters today including Eric Stephens of The Athletic (Twitter link) that they’re engaging in contract discussions with RFA wingers Filip Zadina and Luke Kunin.  However, he also revealed that the Sharks will be moving on from defenseman Calen Addison, meaning he’s likely to be non-tendered on Sunday.

San Jose acquired the 24-year-old from Minnesota in an early-season trade that saw them part with winger Adam Raska and a fifth-round pick.  With Addison on the outside looking in at a regular lineup spot with the Wild and the fact he was coming off a 29-point season, the move made a lot of sense for the Sharks to potentially bring in someone who could be a longer-term fit.

However, things didn’t go particularly well for Addison this season.  He managed just one goal and 11 assists in 60 games with his new team while he struggled considerably in the defensive end.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see San Jose try to add some veterans on the back end to help try to stabilize things somewhat after a season to forget which would help push Addison out, especially being arbitration-eligible where his 2022-23 performance could have landed him a sizable raise on the $825K he made this season.

It’s worth noting that both Zadina and Kunin are also arbitration-eligible next month.  Zadina’s checks in at $1.1MM so as long as his asking price isn’t too exorbitant, there’s a good chance he’ll be tendered.  However, Kunin, who had just 18 points in 77 games, is owed a $3MM qualifier so if talks don’t go well in the coming days, it’s possible that he could be let go if a new deal isn’t reached by Sunday.

Multiple Sharks Players Shut Down For The Season

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In an article from Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, multiple members of the San Jose Sharks did not travel with the team for their current road trip to Western Canada, officially ending their season with the organization. Pashelka notes that Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, Filip Zadina, Alexander Barabanov, Jacob MacDonald, Jan Rutta, and Mackenzie Blackwood will not suit up for the team’s final game against the Calgary Flames, and may have played their last games in San Jose.

Of the seven players listed, four will go to unrestricted free agency, one will go to restricted free agency, and two are signed into next year. Realistically, Labanc, Hoffman, and Barabanov will all head towards greener pastures, while the team may opt to keep MacDonald as a depth piece for the 2024-25 NHL season.

Even though Zadina will become a potential non-tender candidate this offseason, he may not find any interest outside of the Bay Area. Producing moderately well with 13 goals and 23 points in 72 games for the Sharks this season, Zadina’s defensive metrics from this year may be too ghastly for other teams to overlook, indicating that if he does play outside of San Jose, it will likely be in the AHL.

After acquiring Devin Cooley and Vitek Vanecek at this year’s trade deadline, Blackwood could be an interesting trade candidate this summer. In 41 starts for the Sharks this season, Blackwood has produced a 10-25-4 record, with 24 of those measuring as Quality Starts according to Hockey Reference. Certainly not playing himself into a starting role with his efforts this year, Blackwood could become a serviceable backup option for a contending team next year.

Nevertheless, it is not necessarily a negative that most of these players will be moving out of San Jose this offseason. With the Sharks hitting rock bottom over the past two years, it is now time to thin out a very saturated roster as much as possible to create space and playing time for San Jose’s up-and-coming prospects.

Nico Sturm And Filip Zadina Returning Tonight

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Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now is reporting that the San Jose Sharks are set to welcome back Nico Sturm and Filip Zadina as they take on the New York Islanders this evening.

Sturm is returning to the Sharks lineup after missing their 6-5 loss on Sunday night to the New York Rangers with a lower-body injury. Zadina on the other hand is being activated off the injured reserve after missing the Sharks’ last five games. Both players figure to play in the bottom six as Zadina is likely to see fourth-line duty while Sturm will most likely center the Sharks third line.

Like many players in the Sharks lineup both Sturm and Zadina have struggled to find any traction offensively this season. Sturm had 14 goals and 12 assists in 74 games last year but has managed just two assists in 22 appearances thus far this season. Zadina on the other hand has three goals and two assists in 20 games which isn’t far off from the three goals and four assists in 30 games he posted last year while he was a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

After starting the season with a 0-10-1 record the Sharks have turned things around recently going 4-5-1 in their last ten games including three wins in their last five games. At 6-17-2 the Sharks are still well outside of the playoff picture and figure to be a non-factor in the playoff picture for the remainder of the season. But for players like Sturm and Zadina, they don’t have much term left on their contracts and are playing for their NHL futures.

Injury Notes: Theodore, Nieto, Rakell, Zadina, Barabanov

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Undergoing surgery only a few days ago, the Vegas Golden Knights have moved defenseman Shea Theodore from the injured reserve to the long-term injured reserve, according to CapFriendly. His placement on LTIR (which should be retroactive to November 25th) would keep him out of the lineup until the team’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 19th.

Injuries have been a concern for Theodore since coming to Vegas, but when healthy, he has regularly been one of the best defensemen on the team. Especially this season, Theodore has four goals and 14 assists in 20 games, sitting fourth on the team in scoring. Accumulating a lot of powerplay minutes as well, Theodore has shown the ability to do it all for the Vegas defensive core.

In his absence, however, the powerplay may suffer a bit, as it currently sits at 14th in the NHL, operating at a 21.35% success rate. Aside from Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo, the Golden Knights do not currently have a third defenseman that the team should be comfortable with in quarterbacking either of the current powerplay units.

Other injury notes:

  • After missing last night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers with an undisclosed injury, Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins will place forward Matthew Nieto on the injured reserve. In his absence, forward Joona Koppanen was able to replace Nieto in the lineup last night, making his debut with the Penguins, skating in just over seven and a half minutes of last night’s matchup.
  • On a more positive note with the Penguins, team beat writer, Dave Molinari shared that forward Rickard Rakell has resumed skating. Due to the requirements on players currently on LTIR, Rakell will not be able to return to Pittsburgh’s lineup until their December 16th game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nevertheless, if Rakell has already resumed skating in individual on-ice workouts, he should be healthy enough to return on that date.
  • Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that San Jose Sharks forward, Filip Zadina, is back on the ice for practice. It is unclear if he will be able to play in the team’s game tonight or Tuesday, as Miller points out the Sharks are looking for his return against his former team, the Detroit Red Wings. Zadina has been out of San Jose’s lineup for a little over a week with an upper-body injury.
  • One player for San Jose who is likely making his return to the ice tonight is forward Alexander Barabanov (X Link). Having not played since late October, Barabanov has been on the injured reserve recovering from an injury to one of his fingers. Being one of the highest-scoring players on the Sharks roster last season, San Jose could certainly use his help, as they continue to struggle as a team on offense.

Sharks Sign Justin Bailey To NHL Deal, Place Filip Zadina On IR

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The San Jose Sharks have announced that they’ve signed forward Justin Bailey to an NHL contract and placed forward Filip Zadina on the injured reserve. Bailey has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Sharks with an NHL salary of $775K and a salary of $300K at the AHL level.

Bailey had a professional try-out with the Sharks this season, which he converted into an AHL contract with their affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. The 28-year-old dressed in 16 games in the AHL, posting six goals and five assists, which was good enough to lead the team in scoring. After signing his contract, Bailey was quickly recalled by the Sharks to replace the injured Zadina. Bailey has five goals and four assists in 82 NHL games with three different NHL teams.

The Sharks also announced today that Zadina has been placed on the IR. The former sixth-overall pick left the Sharks game on Friday night against the Montreal Canadiens and did not return. He reportedly was dealing with an upper-body injury and did not dress for San Jose’s game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Zadina signed a one-year deal with the Sharks in the offseason to ignite his NHL career after struggling through five seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Thus far with San Jose, Zadina has been unable to find any traction, as he has just three goals and two assists in 20 games while posting a -19.

Injury Notes: Kraken, Sharks, Sebastian Aho

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Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol shared that Brandon Tanev’s status for the team’s upcoming four-game road trip is still up in the air. Tanev is working back from a lower-body that had him expected to miss four-to-six weeks in mid-October. It’s been five weeks and it seems his status is progressing enough to earn a questionable tag.

Hakstol also shared that goaltender Philipp Grubauer will join the team on the road trip. Grubauer was placed on injured reserve in early November and activated off of it on November 18th. He played in two games after being activated but then suffered an undisclosed injury that held him out of the team’s last two games. If Grubauer slots in for the road trip, fans can expect Chris Driedger to be reassigned to the AHL.

The early season injury has held Tanev out of all but eight games this season. He managed two goals in those games, also recording nine penalty minutes and a -3. He scored 35 points in 82 games with Seattle last season. Grubauer has played in 12 games this year, setting a .885 save percentage and 3.36 goals-against-average. Both metrics are a step down from his totals last season when he recorded a .895 save percentage and 2.85 GAA in 39 games.

More injury news from around the league:

Injury Notes: Zadina, Hischier, Martin

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During tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, Max Miller of The Hockey News reported that San Jose Sharks’ forward, Filip Zadina, will not return to the game tonight. The injury sustained by Zadina is undisclosed at this time, but the forward did leave partway through the second period of the game after playing in just over four minutes.

Signing a one-year, $1.1MM contract with the Sharks over the summer, Zadina did not officially become a free agent until July 7th, after being placed on unconditional waivers by the Detroit Red Wings for the purpose of eliminating the final two years and $3.65MM left on his previous contract. After being drafted 6th overall by the Red Wings in the 2018 NHL Draft, Detroit had tried and failed for several years to unlock his offensive potential.

Now with access to much more playing time, Zadina is actually off to a better offensive start than he was last season, scoring three goals and two assists in the first 19 games of the season. With a limited amount of talent on San Jose’s roster, Zadina has also been used on a subpar Sharks powerplay as well.

Other injury notes:

  • After being on the ice for practice yesterday, one of the notable missing pieces from the New Jersey Devils forward core tonight in the team’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets was captain Nico Hischier (X Link). The team does line up against the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night, but it remains to be seen whether or not Hischier can return to the lineup. Since his last game on October 27th, New Jersey has fallen dramatically in the standings with a 4-6-0 record.
  • Andrew Gross of Newsday reports that Matt Martin did not travel with the rest of the New York Islanders to Ottawa as he is still suffering from an upper-body injury. This will mark the fourth consecutive game that Martin has missed, but he could return Saturday as the team returns to New York. In 14 games so far this season, strictly playing on the fourth line, Martin has scored one goal and one assist.

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