[Signing] Flames sign Zadorov to 1 year deal worth $3.75 mil

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

This is the problem with running too close to the cap every year. They couldn't afford to go long with Mangiapane, and so now they're going to pay for it, which gives them even less flexibility going forward.

This isn't really a cap management issue. This is simply a cap issue, period. All teams deal with it, and all teams have to get creative with their contracts.

[savardandjokinen]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Not sure if the Flames have the room but Zad is well worth 4x4. He isn't just big. He also is young and has skills he is just now starting to put together.

He might be worth that. But I would not pay our #5 that. We got valimaki and mackey (and maybe Kinnvall) coming up too, I'd rather use the money to re sign our top guys

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by savardandjokinen

He might be worth that. But I would not pay our #5 that. We got valimaki and mackey (and maybe Kinnvall) coming up too, I'd rather use the money to re sign our top guys

Zadorov has a massive impact on games...I would try and find a way to do both

[TheScorpion]

The Flames have so many guys to sign this summer. Zadorov is gonna be like #6 on their priority list. Can't see a guy that far down getting a 4x4 from them.

[FBI]

I’ve been pretty impressed with Zadorov’s skating lately. Reminding me of a mini Kylington.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

The Flames have so many guys to sign this summer. Zadorov is gonna be like #6 on their priority list. Can't see a guy that far down getting a 4x4 from them.

He would be 4th on my list

Zadorov and Gudbranson have totally transformed this team, like Darryl I don't consider them a 3rd pair. Truth be told I can see teams lining up for Zadorov though, especially if he has a big playoffs.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by dino7c

He would be 4th on my list

Zadorov and Gudbranson have totally transformed this team, like Darryl I don't consider them a 3rd pair

Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Mangiapane, Kylington ... all of those should be much, much, much higher than Zadorov.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by devo22

Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Mangiapane, Kylington ... all of those should be much, much, much higher than Zadorov.

I forgot about Kylington...although he is an RFA with one decent season so it shouldn't be too complicated


All I am saying is I would try really hard to keep Zadorov, you can't teach his size and his improvement this season has been remarkable. Him and Gudbranson have teams straight up throwing in the towel on games. After seeing the Flames get pushed around for a decade I want to keep those guys...especially if Lucic is on the way out.

Zadorov is also 26, people sometimes act like he is 36...the guy is just entering his prime

[Azure]

He is also going to get lots of money on the open market because of the great season he is having.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by dino7c

All I am saying is I would try really hard to keep Zadorov

I'm sure they will, I just don't think they'll have the money to do it. With all the other guys in need of a long-term deal and/or a raise, I guess they'll just have to find cheaper solutions for the third pair.

[tony-soprano]

Loved that defensive play by Zadorov last game, and easy rag doll of Hartman.

Theirs no doubt our smaller guys can play with more of an edge cause we’ve got some big guys who aren’t shy about dropping the mitts to back them up. Would love to keep that Gudbranson-Zadorov pairing intact somehow.

[PugnaciousIntern]

Originally Posted by FBI

I’ve been pretty impressed with Zadorov’s skating lately. Reminding me of a mini Kylington.

Gotta be honest, nothing about Zadorov screams ‘mini’ to me, especially not relative to our smallest defenceman!

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by devo22

I'm sure they will, I just don't think they'll have the money to do it. With all the other guys in need of a long-term deal and/or a raise, I guess they'll just have to find cheaper solutions for the third pair.

Ultimately this is what it comes down to.

Zadorov made sense at his cap hit because he was supposed to be a top four defenseman.

Kylington took his top four spot, and will likely take his caphit++

even ignoring the situation with the forwards' salaries, there's only so much to go around on the blueline.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Ultimately this is what it comes down to.

Zadorov made sense at his cap hit because he was supposed to be a top four defenseman.

Kylington took his top four spot, and will likely take his caphit++

even ignoring the situation with the forwards' salaries, there's only so much to go around on the blueline.

That's the bottom line. As good as he and Gudbranson have been - and they have been great - they are the 5th and 6th Dmen on this team. And there is only so much money available for those positions next year.

I am curious as to your thoughts on the impact of these two on the team this year though. You have been among the most vocal with respect to positing that size and physicality are no longer a thing in the NHL. What are your thoughts in that regard now? (not trying to be a dick, I am genuinely interested)

[timbit]

Zadorov and Gudbrandson , IMO, certainly don’t look like they are the fifth and sixth D on the Flames.

They most certainly won’t be 5 and 6 in the playoffs.

Having said that, I agree they are too expensive for next season.

[BigRed]

Originally Posted by timbit

Zadorov and Gudbrandson , IMO, certainly don’t look like they are the fifth and sixth D on the Flames.

They most certainly won’t be 5 and 6 in the playoffs.

Having said that, I agree they are too expensive for next season.

They? Has Gudbranson earned more than $2 mln+ next season? Man, I hope not.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by BigRed

They? Has Gudbranson earned more than $2 mln+ next season? Man, I hope not.

IMO, he absolutely has.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

That's the bottom line. As good as he and Gudbranson have been - and they have been great - they are the 5th and 6th Dmen on this team. And there is only so much money available for those positions next year.

I am curious as to your thoughts on the impact of these two on the team this year though. You have been among the most vocal with respect to positing that size and physicality are no longer a thing in the NHL. What are your thoughts in that regard now? (not trying to be a dick, I am genuinely interested)

I think Gudbranson has been a strong penalty killer, and as a pair they have been effective because

1) both have been good at holding the puck in the offensive zone, where Sutter has skewed their usage to my eye. In addition, they generally have good gap control owed to their skating and positioning.

2) Zadorov has been quietly underrated in moving the puck forward when they do get trapped in the D zone, and has good positioning. He had some pizzas and generally shakey play early in the season, and at the time I was pretty adamant that Valimaki was outperforming him in the role. But his play of late is better than Valimaki's play at the time

3) Sutter's systemz (that one's for you, timbit) give a
more forward support on breakouts and backchecks to someone like Gudbranson than the more defenseman-dependant styles of play he might have been asked to execute elsewhere, or even a year ago here under Ward.

4) They've been productive offensively.

All in all? They have been a very good third pair.

Do I think their size makes a difference? Insofar as it gives them reach and such yes, but a lot of the posts crediting their height and toughness for the overall team turnaround are still eyeroll worthy. The pair driving our goal differentials this year has primarily been Kylington-Tanev, who do a lot more heavy lifting and yet somehow there are still narratives about some magical trickleup effect whereby Zadorov sitting on the bench "empowers" a Kylington. It's not really worth arguing, but I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who remembers that the team was 6-0-0 with both Valimaki and Kylington in the lineup sans Zadorov, while starting 2-3-4 in Zadorov's first nine games.

They're working, and I see no need to change it, but next year if we could patch together a Giordano-Kinnvall third pair, I think that would have a ton of potential, if a guy like Gio wanted to return at a discount. Whatever it is, Tre cannot fall in love with size. The pair is good, but not every big pair would be.

[Enoch Root]

All of us see what we want to see, see what we are looking for, and see what matters to us. And I absolutely include myself in that (why wouldn't I?).

But not being able to see or recognize the value of their size and physicality to this team... well, I'll just leave it as I have a very different opinion.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Do I think their size makes a difference? Insofar as it gives them reach and such yes, but a lot of the posts crediting their height and toughness for the overall team turnaround are still eyeroll worthy..

I'm basically going by what Sutter has said in many post games about how much the identity of the team has changed with these two and how the big defensemen were one of his priorities coming into the season. I think it is definitely part of his overall plan. He mentioned in a few press conferences how he saw the defensemen and Markstrom being bullied too often in our own zone last year and he had to fix that by getting some big bodies that could take and dish out the punishment.

Perhaps having these big guys playing those tougher minutes is what has contributed to fewer injuries on the team. Everybody is healthy, especially Tanev. Canucks fans always tried to justify losing him because he never played an 82 game season, he always had injury problems. Now I see it more like other teams had no choice but to throw him into those grinding defensive roles rather than strategic because they had no choice and it wore him down. With the size of Z+G (and Lucic, etc.) I think the team has been able to stay a lot healthier and successful overall.