Certainly can't argue with the price. A lot less than i'd expected he'd go for. Especially with so much time left, and not just a pure deadline stretch rental.
I've always liked Zadorov. More so since he's started to kind of find his footing a little bit more recently. I think it bodes relatively well that he started to actually really round his game out with more consistency under Sutter of all coaches, and it even all started while playing with a plug like Real GudBranson. If he can play good hockey with a guy like that, i like his chances of finding some chemistry with someone here. He's even played solid hockey with other afterthoughts like the bad Stone and Tiny Stretcher. He's probably been at his best with Weegar, but i think it bodes well that he can play effectively without a top tier partner as well.
I also think his ability to potentially play RD is interesting. Obviously this staff are hesitant to go there. But i do wonder if Gonchar might help put a word in for Zadorov if it comes to that, which it very well should if everyone is healthy.
On that note...i joked in some other thread that Jacob Trouba would probably be the ideal partner for Hughes. Zadorov obviously isn't that...but he's about as close to a "Trouba lite" as you're gonna get. The thing he's probably best as, is aggressively separating opponents from the puck...and physically just separating them from their grounding in space and time. There are only a handful of Top-4ish D in the league who have that knack for timing that stuff up and the aggressiveness to go for it. That's something that could be hugely beneficial to someone like Hughes, or even Hronek...neither of whom really excels at that. The quicker you can kick the puck lose, the sooner you can have those type of puck-mover partners turn it around in quick transition.
But in any case...he's f***ing enormous, he plays to that size, and he can actually really skate.
I believe he was quoted post draft as describing his game as, "i like to hit people and score goals". Which is...exactly what he does.
He's obviously a guy who is still right on that borderline as a bit of #4/5 Tweener D. But he's a very dynamic version of that. Physically, mobility-wise, and even with his booming shot and willingness to use it and jump up in the play to cap off a sequence. Makes him a bit unique among those types. Even if we now have basically 3 flavours of the same 4/5 tweener with Cole/Zadorov/Soucy.
So weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Big Zaddy Daddy coming through. Gonna be fun to watch. Hopefully Canucks fans can appreciate what he does and don't turn on him. Because there are going to be some mistakes.
