Filip Zadina, who the Detroit Red Wings selected one spot ahead of Quinn Hughes at the 2018 NHL Draft, has signed a two-year deal with Swiss club HC Davos.
The 24-year-old Zadina collected 13 goals and 23 points in 72 games with the San Jose Sharks during the 2023-24 regular season, but it wasn’t enough for the Sharks to tender him a qualifying offer in June as a pending restricted free agent.
“Filip brings, despite his young age, a lot of experience and offensive qualities,” HC Davos general manager Jan Alston said in a statement on Monday. “He is still very young and has not yet exploited his potential.”
HC Davos announced the signing on Monday through their official Twitter account, along with a video message from Zadina himself.
The Red Wings passed on Hughes, who played in their own backyard at the University of Michigan, to take Zadina with the No. 6 overall selection in the 2018 NHL Draft. Having been passed on by five teams, Zadina infamously proclaimed on draft day that he would “fill their nets with pucks” for years to come.
After making his NHL debut with the Red Wings in 2018-19, Zadina bounced back and forth between Detroit and the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins for a couple of seasons before establishing himself as an NHL regular in 2020-21. However, he never replicated the scoring prowess he displayed with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, topping out with 10 goals in 74 games in 2021-22.
Meanwhile, Hughes debuted with the Canucks at the end of the 2018-19 season and almost immediately made himself known as one of the top defenders in the entire NHL, finishing as a Calder Trophy finalist in 2020 after leading the Canucks back to the playoffs for the first time in five years. Most recently, Hughes won the 2024 Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman.
Through 262 career games over parts of six NHL seasons with the Red Wings and Sharks, Zadina collected 41 goals and 91 points. The 6′, 190-pound winger has never played in a single Stanley Cup Playoff contest.
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