Buffalo Sabres Players Year In Review: Nikita Zadorov

As far as controversy goes, no Buffalo Sabre had more issues through the season than Nikita Zadorov. He made the big club after a strong training camp, but he did find himself as a rotational third pair defenseman. That fact did not seem to sit well with him in a good way.

Related – Zadorov In Limbo

Every time Zadorov found himself scratched from the lineup, he was always disappointed in himself and believed in his ability to make a difference on the ice. When he was playing he did exactly that. As a Sabres defenseman, it was very tough to find yourself, not only on the scoresheet, but on the positive end of the possession game.

As one of the top seven defensemen on the team, Zadorov actually posted the best plus-minus amongst them (which would be Tyson Strachen, Rasmus Ristolainen, Mike Weber, Andre Benoit, Andrej Meszaros, and Josh Gorges since they all played a majority of the season). That stat is important to remember and is a positive moving forwards into next year.

Zadorov had a solid start to the season and he found himself paired with Andrej Meszaros and sometimes Rasmus Ristolainen. He was’t much of an offensive threat all year, but he is not expected to be. For his offensive stats however, he posted 3 goals and 12 assists (2 more total points than Cody Hodgson) in 60 total games. For a defensive style defenseman, that many points is pretty good.

Zadorov is not meant to be a top tier scoring D-man, but he is a great man for a shut down role and he has a fantastic point shot. What he really seems to pride himself on his his physicality and his great hitting ability. Throughout the season, he demonstrated it with a vengeance.

If Zadorov continues to keep his physicality up, he’ll be a threat to any top level offenses.

Besides his solid year, Zadorov had some downs as well. The biggest down for his all year came in late January when he ended up missing practice. This was the second time he had failed to report to a team event on time and it earned him a suspension from General Manager Tim Murray.

When asked about it, Murray chalked it up to a learning curve and said that at the age of 19 (Zadorov is now 20) things like that happen, but he would learn from it.

For Nikita Zadorov, he just needs to look past this season and push hard towards next year. It will be a new fresh start and it will give him a chance to play more games and improve on his skills even more.

As I said in a much earlier piece about the Sabres defensive future, I would love to see what Zadorov can do with an experienced, and similar playing style learning partner. To see Zadorov play on a line with the likes of Zach Bogosian would create an enormous second defensive pairing. They both play hard, throw the body, can shoot it hard from the point, and have an attitude and desire to make a difference in the game.

Combining those two would be a great combination moving forwards into next year.

What do you all think?

Next: Hodgson is The New Stafford

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