The Calgary Flames just completed their most electrifying game of the season. After trailing 4–1, the Flames came back to tie the game 4–4, before ultimately losing in a shootout. One of the best moments of the game was Nikita Zadorov rocking Tyler Bertuzzi, then standing and mocking the Leafs. The Leafs have been in the news recently after Brad Marchand tripped Timothy Liljegren into the boards and injured him. The Leafs team did nothing. There has been a ton of interest from Leafs fans in Zadorov, among the other Flames defencemen, so this is something to watch.
After a good performance tonight, no one expected to see any drama. However, some questions have just been raised after some interesting tweets from Nikita Zadorov’s agent, Dan Milstein of GoldStar. Milstein posted the clip of Zadorov’s awesome hit. A Flames fan asked if the Flames could keep him, then Milstein quotes this and says “I don’t think so. Not when the best D barely gets any ice time…”:
Zadorov has been stapled to the Flames’ third pairing, behind the likes of Weegar-Andersson and Hanifin-Tanev. Zadorov played 15:22 tonight, which was fifth on the Flames defence in ice time. I think he would prefer a top-four role, but with the Flames’ depth on defence, it’s just not possible right now.
Kevin Weekes says Nikita Zadorov has requested a trade
Now, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes has tweeted out that Nikita Zadorov has requested a trade. Zadorov is in the last year of his deal paying him an average annual value of $3.75M. He will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Call it good timing or call it ironic timing, The Win Column’s own Myles Ecklund broke down trade options for Zadorov just days ago. I think the Maple Leafs make a lot of sense as a destination for Zadorov. What an interesting turn of events as this story continues to unfold…
Stay tuned.
Photo by Aman Kurji.
