Nikita Zadorov’s monster playoffs will spike his value in free agency
The Vancouver Canucks have some major decisions to make this offseason, including what to do with pending free-agent defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
The Canucks blueliner stock could not be higher at the moment as he turned his game up another level once the Stanley Cup Playoffs began. After being acquired from the Calgary Flames, Zadorov appeared in 54 regular season games for the Canucks, registering five goals and 14 points. Once the postseason rolled around, it was an entirely different story as the 6-foot-6 defenseman found his offensive touch, collecting 13 points through just eight games.
Zadorov’s set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1; that’s, of course, if the Canucks can’t get an extension signed beforehand. He’s coming off a two-year deal he signed back in 2022 with the Flames, where he was owed $3.75 million per season. A figure now that looks minuscule to the towering Zadorov and, more specifically, his agent.
The Canucks enter the 2024 offseason with a projected $23.7 million in cap space to work with as general manager Patrik Allvin will need to figure out where his priorities lie.
During Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli was asked to highlight a pending free-agent he’d consider to be a ‘Stock Riser’, and per usual, Zadorov stood tall above the rest.
Frank Seravalli: I would say Nikita Zadorov is something who really increased his earning power, or potential. If not necessarily in AAV, probably in term. He had a monster playoff for the Vancouver Canucks. He’s someone that came in with a reputation of being a big, tough player to play against that really was a force to be reckon for the Canucks that I really think they are trying hard to find a fit to keep him there. That said I don’t know if they are ultimately going to be able to do it.
Will they place their priority in re-signing Filip Hronek? How will they dull out those dollars on the back end because you’re probably already saying good-bye to Elias Lindholm on the front end because it just doesn’t seem like they can make the math work? I think the careful part when it comes to someone like Zadorov is really trying to determine what’s the appropriate fit. How much is too much? Because I still think at the end of the day, he chipped in with some big goals, but there are some limitations there and I think when you have a player that, look, if you’re going to be giving him 5×5, or 6×5.5, or whatever the number ends up coming in at, there’s going to be a lot of nights for that type of pay in November, December and January when you’re not going to love that contract.
It may show up well and may age well for the playoffs, but you got to get there first. And, I still think he’s an upper-end number-four defenseman in this league. He’s a second-pair guy that’s a really nice support piece, but when you start to get into that pay range, you’re asking a lot of defensemen of that caliber. I’m not entirely certain of the number of teams he’s played on, he falls into that category.
You can watch the full episode here:
