Yesterday, we broke down the rumours that popped up this week surrounding Vancouver Canucks defenceman Nikita Zadorov.
Those rumours started after a few NHL insiders, most notably Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, brought up Zadorov’s name unprompted this week when discussing the Canucks’ trade deadline plans. Friedman mentioned Zadorov alongside Andrei Kuzmenko as a potential option for clearing cap space in advance of acquiring a big trade target on the Jeff Marek Show Monday morning.
After Friedman’s hit, Donnie and Dhali‘s Rick Dhaliwal reported that Zadorov’s agent Dan Milstein didn’t buy into the notion of the Canucks shopping his client. But his co-host Don Taylor threw an extra match on the rumour fire during Sportsnet’s Canucks Central that afternoon.
Don Taylor on Zadorov's name being in trade rumors:
"You're starting to hear the odd thing, I'm wonder how happy they are with him and I don't mean just on the ice. I'm wondering how he's meshing in that room…I'm not so sure there's a mesh there right now…"
Canucks Central
— Taj (@taj1944) January 30, 2024
Couple that with Sportsnet 650’s Jason Brough also saying he’s heard Zadorov’s name around trade circles on Tuesday morning, and you’ve got yourself a full-blown rumour.
On Wednesday, Rick Dhaliwal offered an update on the rumours:
“I’ve been told the Canucks are not trying to trade Nikita Zadorov,” said Dhaliwal. “I believe these Zadorov rumours caught the Canucks off guard. As of now, I can report the Canucks are not trying to move Zadorov. I think that whole thing that happened this week has caught everybody off guard. As of now I can report they are not trying to move him.”
The Canucks acquired Zadorov, 28, at the end of November after an injury to Carson Soucy left the club’s blue line shorthanded. Zadorov has seemed like a solid addition, as his physicality and puck moving ability are welcome additions to the Canucks’ defence corps. More recently, he’s seen his minutes slashed and the occasional benching following some poor in-zone defending. Zadorov is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, both David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal voiced their support for the Canucks keeping the hulking defenceman, who should prove incredibly useful during the playoffs. You can watch yesterday’s show by clicking here, and can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts!
