NHL

Zadina: One of the reasons I wanted to go to San Jose is Hertl. He’s one of the best centers in the league, I’m really looking forward to seeing him

Filip Zadina showed great courage a few days ago. He opted out of his contract in Detroit, leaving a certain $4.6 million on the table, and took a $1.1 million contract with San Jose to kick-start his career. One of the reasons Tomas Hertl joined the Sharks.

Published

1 year ago

17. 7. 2023

Jirka Malý

Filip Zadina was predicted to have a big future. Detroit picked him as the sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft, and he was seen as a “steal” as some said he should have gone even earlier.

But Zadina never really kicked off his career with the Red Wings. Hockeytown just didn’t suit him, he didn’t build a good position on the team, he lacked confidence, which was reflected in his points.

The highlight was this past season, when he played only 30 games and scored three times due to injury. So he asked for a trade elsewhere where he could start anew, but with his $2.2 million salary for the season, no team chose him.

He could have stayed in Detroit, but he would have been on the edge of the roster and if his training had failed, he might have ended up in the AHL. So the only way to stay in the NHL for sure was a somewhat drastic solution.

End his contract in Detroit, leave $4.6 million on the table, and sign somewhere else for a lot less money. That’s what Zadina did in the end, and a day after his stint with the Red Wings, he had already signed in San Jose.

He admitted afterwards that he had better teams to choose from, that he was surprised by the interest. But that wouldn’t have solved his problems much, because he wouldn’t have gotten the space he needed.

San Jose is currently one of the worst teams in the league and has virtually no one except Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson and Logan Couture. This is where Zadina should get a lot of space in the top 6 and on the power play.

“One of the reasons I wanted to go to San Jose was to play with Tomas. He’s one of the best centers in the league and I would love to play with him. He texted me when I came to San Jose and he was excited,” Zadina explained the new Czech connection to club TV.