He and Gudbranson are the epitome of what Sutter identified as lacking on this team, and having tough as nails guys like that make our goalie feel protected, and some of our forwards a few inches taller knowing they have some smashers on the back end. It’s thus fed into the attitude change of the entire team, and that change and subsequent confidence cannot be discounted into how it’s translated into team success.
The fact that they’ve performed with the puck and positionally and maybe most surprisingly, offensively, very well is a very pleasant surprise. For that reason, both guys have earned their pay checks by far this year so far.
As mentioned, it would’ve been ideal I think to have Zadorov signed for this year and next, but assuming his performance keeps up, he won’t be signing a 1 year deal anywhere.
But, for him, and everyone else that may or may not go in the offseason, probably time to stop the handwringing and instead sit back and let’s enjoy the team as a whole while they are here as part of this team, and let’s enjoy this season. This team and this 10 game current streak is no fluke, that’s been proven from the very start (yes even with the ref-aided first game loss vs the Oilers where the Flames were the better team) of the season.
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