The Boston Bruins made some big signings when free agency began on July 1. After having very little cap space to spend last summer, this time around, general manager Don Sweeney had a little over $20 million. A good portion of that will have to be used to re-sign restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman, but even factoring that contract in, the team could make a real splash.
While the Bruins’ biggest need this offseason was bringing in a top-end center, there was also a need to bring in someone to help the team’s depth on the blue line. They have some great top-end talent in their defense core with Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Hampus Lindholm, and newcomer Mason Lohrei, who is coming off a great postseason performance. But outside of those four, there are a lot of question marks.
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Matt Grzelcyk struggled under head coach Jim Montgomery, and fell out of the rotation during the playoffs for the second year in a row. Derek Forbort, another depth guy, struggled with injuries this past season. It was no surprise that both guys have signed elsewhere this month. Additionally, last season, Kevin Shattenkirk, Parker Wotherspoon, and Ian Mitchell rotated into the lineup on various occasions, and the only one who really made a lasting impression was Wotherspoon. Andrew Peeke was a trade deadline acquisition, and was good in a small sample size before his injury in the postseason.
Enter Nikita Zadorov, who the Bruins signed to a six-year, $30 million deal. At 6-foot-5, the 29-year-old certainly fits in with the team’s size on the blue line (Lindholm, Lohrei, and Carlo are all 6-foot-4 or taller) and will slot in nicely on the team’s depth chart.
Road to the NHL
Zadorov was born on April 16, 1995, in Moskva, Russia. He spent a season playing juniors in the MHL, the premier junior league in Russia. Most of the teams in the league are subsidiaries of the adult professional leagues, primarily the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). But Zadorov made the switch to North American hockey much sooner than players from Russia typically do.
In 2012-13, Zadorov joined the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the three major junior leagues in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). He appeared in 63 games that season, registering 25 points and was a plus-33. He was also named to the 2013 OHL All-Rookie Team.
Going into the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Zadorov had some tremendous momentum going for him. The left-shot defenseman was praised for his size and abilities as a shutdown defenseman. Given his skills, size, and potential, it was presumed that he would go in the first round, maybe even jumping into the top 10.
Buffalo Sabres
Zadorov ended up being selected by the Buffalo Sabres at 16th overall. He began the 2013-14 season in the NHL as an 18-year-old and scored his first NHL goal in his second career game. The opponent? The Boston Bruins. After seven games, he returned to the Knights for the 2013-14 season and made an appearance for Team Russia at the World Juniors, where he contributed four goals and five points in seven games, helping Russia earn the bronze medal.
The following season, 2014-15, Zadorov spent the entire time up in the NHL with Buffalo. He appeared in 60 games and registered three goals and 15 points. He led all rookie defensemen in hits that season with 134 hits. He also set the record at the time for the youngest defenseman in Sabres history to score an overtime goal.
Following that season, Zadorov was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in June 2015 as part of the trade that sent Ryan O’Reilly to Buffalo. He was the cornerstone of the return for the Avalanche, and despite his ups and downs, his beginnings with the Sabres had laid the groundwork for the player he was to become in the NHL – an aggressive, menacing presence on the ice.
Colorado Avalanche
Zadorov began the 2015-16 season in Colorado but was sent down that November to play with the San Antonio Rampage in the American Hockey League (AHL). There were concerns about his maturity, and despite a lot of people believing him to be a talented defenseman who just needed some more maturing and good coaching, the Avalanche quickly lost trust in him after 11 games and sent him down.
He spent 52 games in the AHL that season, appearing in only 22 games for the Avalanche. He stayed up in the NHL for the entirety of the 2016-17 season, appearing in 56 games. But Zadorov did not score his first goal as an Avalanche until the 2017-18 season when he had seven in 77 games.
In total, Zadorov spent five seasons in the Avalanche organization, and it’s important to note, that in the early part of his career, the Avalanche were in a rebuild and only posted 48 points during the 2016-17 season. He played on the roster through the transition from one of the worst in the league to one of the best, and saw an improvement and maturity in his game.
He found success playing with Erik Johnson, in particular. His playing style relies on his size and aggressive play, something that makes him controversial at times, but is best when paired with a more reliable defenseman that frees him up to move wherever he wants to on the ice.
Chicago Blackhawks & Calgary Flames
In the fall of 2020, prior to the start of the 2020-21 COVID-shortened season, Zadorov was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks along with defenseman Anton Lindholm in exchange for Brandon Saad and Dennis Gilbert. Colorado had an overflow of defensemen in their pipeline and needed some help offensively, making Zadorov dispensable.
Once again, Zadorov found himself on a team that was about to begin a major rebuild. His one season in Chicago was not particularly remarkable as he struggled in the shortened season. He appeared in 55 games but only had one goal and eight total points. He was still a very forceful player, but was not a priority (and wanted more money) for a rebuilding team to bring back.
After the 2020-21 season, Zadorov signed a one-year, $3.75 million contract with the Calgary Flames and went on to have one of the best seasons of his career. He was averaging a career-low in time on ice (16:55) but had four goals and 22 points. It was the second time in his career getting over 20 points, the first one being in 2017-18 when he hit exactly 20. He then signed a two-year deal to stay in Calgary, and followed up the 2021-22 season with an even better season in 2022-23 when he had 14 goals in 82 games. He was averaging almost two more minutes of ice time a night and was a top-four defenseman.
His time in Calgary saw him take valuable steps forward in his game and become a more reliable, top-end defenseman. But it was not in the cards for him to stay long term there.
Vancouver Canucks
This past season, things began to sour between Zadorov and the Flames. He was mainly playing on the third pairing, and he eventually asked for a trade early in the 2023-24 season. The team had a disappointing start to their season that didn’t get much better, and once again, Zadorov was on a team that was looking close to a rebuild and wasn’t a legitimate contender. In November 2023, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2025 third-round selection.
Zadorov had a fine season in Vancouver. He had five goals and nine points in 54 games. All five of those goals came at even strength. The most impressive part of his tenure with the Canucks came in the playoffs though where he had four goals and eight points in 13 games while averaging around 20 minutes of ice time a night, well above his career average of 18:05.
There was interest in Vancouver in potentially re-signing him, but he ultimately decided that the Bruins were the team that would give him the best shot at a championship. It’s also important to mention that Zadorov arrives in Boston with Elias Lindholm, who he played with in both Vancouver and Calgary.
Good Fit in Boston?
Zadorov wanted to play on a legitimate contender and win a Stanley Cup. All his press so far has made it quite clear that he wanted to play for a contender after spending most of his career so far with teams in the middle of or on the verge of a rebuild. It makes sense why’d he go to Boston given they have the longest active playoff streak in the NHL and have a very good shot to continue to be competitive in the upcoming season.
Zadorov will be entering his 12th NHL season this fall and it has certainly been an interesting journey so far. The former first-round pick has been on six different teams and part of three trades. The longest he has been on one team was five seasons, so if he stays through the entirety of this contract, Boston will be his longest-tenured team.
Over those 12 years, his game has matured and grown. He’s become smarter, no longer taking as many ill-advised penalties as he did in his early seasons. He’s held onto the part of his game that has gotten him the most attention so far, the physicality, while improving his puck-moving and general situational awareness. This past playoff run has also shown that he is ready for more responsibility and can become a guy who plays 20-plus minutes a night. The postseason also showed that in the right situation, he can contribute more offensively, an area of his game he wants to continue to grow. He can be a legitimate top-four defenseman on any NHL team.
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The addition of Zadorov gives the Bruins options. He’s an upgrade on the left side. Between him, Lindholm (Hampus, not Elias), and Lohrei, the left side will be covered on all three pairings. This gives the coaching staff opportunities to mix and match, and really figure out who plays well together. Zadorov is a legitimate option to play with McAvoy as their styles should match pretty well together.
This is an excellent signing for the Bruins that should pay dividends in the 2024-25 season and beyond. As someone who is not a huge fan of six-plus-year contracts in most situations, I do wish this was a four-year deal, but free agency will always lead to bigger contracts and paydays than one would usually anticipate. At the end of the day, the Zadorov contract is good as far as free agency signings go, and will be viewed even more favorably if he is everything advertised and more. This was a necessary signing to get a piece that will almost definitely provide a lot of solutions and help them be competitive come the playoffs.
