Quote:
Originally Posted by Mull
How would he compare to a Robyn Regehr? He had little offensive upside, no?
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Honestly, I'm not sure. I think that Regehr had the better hockey IQ. I thought he could read the play developing better. Personally, I thought the only thing stopping Regehr offensively was him not wanting to work on the offensive side of the puck. Again, I think it's a bit early to compare Zadorov to the best shut down D we ever had.
I think that his play would depend a lot on who he is paired with. Again, that's just an opinion but I think that he could make an elite shutdown pairing with Tanev. I also think he would work quite well on a pair with Valimaki. In my opinion, he would struggle playing with Andersson. That's because I see most pucks being dumped in Andersson's corner, and Andersson letting the forward get to the puck first so he can staple him to the corner. That's where I can see that pairing being hemmed in their own zone for long periods of time.
As for the offensive side of the puck, Zadorov has a pretty good hard shot. I think he can improve with confidence, but those are the rose colored glasses I'm wearing. Don't expect him to walk the blue line or anything, or any offensive plays except shooting the puck. One play I can see him benefiting from is when Gaudreau goes skating behind the opponents net, and finds the open D sneaking in from the point (It was one of his favorite plays with Wideman, and Hamilton). That's a play he benefited from while playing for the Avalanche.