Zadina signed in San Jose! He showed tremendous courage and threw away his money for the love of hockey. Will this bet work out?

Few players have such courage as Filip Zadina. The Czech forward gave up $4.6 million just to play somewhere other than Detroit. He signed with the San Jose Sharks.

Filip Zadina was one of the brightest talents in Czech hockey. He went sixth in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit fans were wringing their hands about what a bombshell they got when they thought he should have gone a few spots earlier.

But the Czech shooter didn’t fit in Hockeytown. Throughout his NHL career, he seemed kind of stuck, stagnant, unable to sell his potential at all, even though he had some decent flashes.

It all culminated this past season, when he played only 30 games due to injury, scoring only three times. And that’s very little for a player whose main strength is supposed to be shooting.

So he asked Detroit GM Steve Yzerman for a trade to start over somewhere better. No team responded to the offer, so Zadina went on the waiver list. Any team could have pulled him from it without compensation, they just had to assume Zadina’s salary, which was $2.3 million per season.

But no team would take him for that kind of money, leaving Zadina with two options. Stay in Detroit, where he didn’t want to be anymore, or get out of his contract and try to sign elsewhere for less money. Few hockey players would do that, but Zadina showed a tremendous love for hockey that he put before money.

In fact, he gave up the guaranteed $4.6 million he was due under his two-year contract to try elsewhere. So he signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the San Jose Sharks, where he has to prove he’s up to the task and earn a better contract.

So it’s a huge bet on his ability, with Zadina believing he can prove his quality to everyone and earn a better contract. With San Jose currently one of the worst teams in the league, he should get plenty of room, hopefully in the first two lines where his skills should shine. Maybe even playing with Tomas Hertl can help him.

Source: NHL, San Jose