The Nikita Zadorov contract situation is over.
Zadorov, the young Avalanche defenseman who missed Friday’s opening day of training camp because of a contract stalemate, has agreed on a new contract, BSN Denver has learned. The deal is a two-year contract worth $4.3M total, making it an annual average value of $2.15M. His actual salary is $2.1M first the first year and $2.2M for the second year.
Zadorov, who is coming off his entry-level contract, could be on the ice Saturday, pending final agreement on the deal.
The signing of Zadorov, 22, gives the Avs four defenders under contract that have extensive NHL experience. At 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Zadorov is one of the bigger defensemen in the league and was a key part of the Avs’ trade with the Buffalo Sabres that sent Ryan O’Reilly there.
0 Comments (7 conversations)
Unit5
Good.
Jon
Good news.
pixelrebirth
Finally….. now trade Duchene before he starts lethargically gliding on the ice all the time to fulfill his contract…
“Im just here so I dont get fined.” ….. the guy is a cancer right now. He does not deserve the A right now with his hissy fit.
The only cancer in the organization is Sakic. He has screwed up so many contracts and deals that he now feels like he needs to get a kings ransom for Duchene. Duchene suffered through a terrible season last year after Sakic was forced to find a new coach because he couldn’t agree with Roy on much of anything and Roy finally had a enough.
Sakic has dangled and kept Duchene in trade limbo for almost 9 months and he’s be a professional about it. I certainly don’t blame him for showing up to camp and refusing to talk about it. He’ll play hard for his teammates and the fans but you can’t blame him if he is cold to management and the organization. They made so many mistakes handling this situation it should cost Sakic his job. But the Kroenke’s don’t care so Sakic will still around and hold team back for a few more years at least.
Kuhlkk
‘+1…
I really, really hate it that Duchene will get traded… I know it has to happen because of the ownership and front office’s ineptitude on how this was handled… I will cheer on Duchene wherever he goes! (except if it is to the wild)
While I agree with you that Sakic has not proven himself as an NHL GM (far from it), Duchene has not covered himself in glory over this matter either. His point totals from 2016 back that up, as does his reported moping and poor locker room behavior last year. He has been a good pro here, but there have been consistent questions about his mental makeup that he has not yet answered. Yes, Sakic has left him dangling unfairly, but to me, Duchene has never been strong enough mentally to lead this team as a player of his ability should.
Bob_W
No, the only cancer is the fair weather fans like you 2. Sakic has done a spectacular job of rebuilding this team’s farm and prospect system. All he is asking is fair value for Duchene and not taking the garbage and leftovers that other teams have offered so far. If Duchene is in fact displeased with the Avs he is not justified but he has not said he is displeased with them. The only dangling of Duchene has been done by the media. If I were Duchene I would be so pissed with the media that on my return to training camp I would only issue a terse statement about how I was here for my team and then say nothing else. Oh, yeah, that’s what he did.
Dan G
This is the media’s fault? You’re grinding a political ax and making excuses for Sakic to do so. Just two seasons ago Duchene was a 30 goal scorer and the organization threw him under the bus when he did it.
And you’re misquoting Duchene. He did not say “only.” You sound like the MSM…
Bob_W
Not sorry that I prefer facts over opinion. If you want to call that grinding a political axe or as making excuses that is your problem. All the rumors(and that is all they ever were) were reported by the media over and over again. Sakic did not say “we are disenchanted with Duchene and are therefore seeking to trade him” that was the media saying that stuff. He said that he would listen to offers for any player but would not take less than fair value. The fact is that the Avs have an overabundance of gifted centers and are in need to top 4 defense men and the only way to fix that is to listen to offers and try and get the best deal. Good young defensive prospects are at an extreme premium these days and so to get one you are going to have to part with an equal value.
Dan G
You honestly believe that Sakic was never and isn’t still actively shopping Duchene? Are you unaware that he was in active trade talks with NYI at the draft that all centered around Duchene? The media made all of that up?
Can you provide the reference to the whomever in the media wrote or stated that Sakic said, “we are disenchanted with Duchene and are therefore seeking to trade him?” Since you are so clearly dealing in facts and not opinion, that should be easy for you.
Bob_W
You certainly seem to enjoy distorting other’s comments. I never said that Sakic was not seeking a trade for Duchene(please read the last 2 sentences of my post). There is no evidence that he initiated any trade conversation but that is possible. Do you have video tapes or audio tapes of the negotiations between Sakic and the Islanders. I do not believe the media did and so what they published about the content of such talks was by definition rumor. My comments about what the media is portraying was intended as rhetorical and not an actual quote of any particular representative, sorry that you misunderstood. Are you honestly saying that the media has not implied that sentiment?
Spectacular? Sakic has a 50% track record on first round picks and everyone else has been terrible so far. Bigras can’t make the team after 4 years, Bleackley was such an epic bust they didn’t even bother signing him. All these prospects have yet to actually contribute anything.
Sakic has repeatedly given out bad contracts to veterans, which is why we have the privilege to pay Beauchamin to play for the Ducks, and McLoad the play for Nashville. He has done nothing to address defensive weaknesses for 3 years now.
Going into this season we have are once again going to rely unproven prospects that haven’t been able to make the team in the past, but all of a sudden this is going to be their year? I sure hope so, but if any Bigras, Siemens, Lindlholm or any of the others were any good they could have made the team last year and actually contributed something meaningful.
I’m not a fair weather fan because I realize Sakic has been a terrible GM. You are just blinded because of his name. The way he has handled Duchene will harm the organization going forward. The Avs are dumpster fire and will continue to be until proper leadership is brought in.
Bob_W
Defense men do not become NHL worthy overnight. They take much longer than forwards to develop. Unless a trade occurs Bigras, Lindholm, Siemens, Mironov, and Meloche are all contending for the 5 and 6 spots. These are exciting young defensive prospects that will make this team strong for many years to come. The reason we have so many prospects is because we are rebuilding. Do you honestly believe that a team almost totally bereft of prospects could be turned around in just 3 years? All of theses very exciting prospects and were acquired by Sakic along with Zadorov, and Barberio on defense. On offense Sakic has added Yakupov, Wilson, Toninato, Rantanen, Kerfoot, Jost and Greer to name a few. These prospects are head and shoulders above what was in our prospect list when Sakic took over. Sakic came in as a rookie GM and sure he made some mistakes with contracts for veterans but he has learned from those mistakes and has this team on track to climb out of the hole it was in when he started. He may not be GM of the year but he has vastly improved this team where it needed it, at the prospect level. Anyone who thinks any other GM could come in here and turn this team around overnight without going through the rebuilding of the farm and prospect pool is crazy.
Other than Rantanen and Jost, none of the prospects mentioned are considered high end guys. We all have our fingers crossed that Greer can turn into something useful. If Kerfoot or Toninato make the team and contribute I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Because the team has no depth thanks to Sakic, they’ll get their chance. Sakic has been the GM since 2013 and the team had one miracle run to the playoffs his first year and has gone downhill ever since. Not one Free agent deal that Sakic has signed has worked out, Soderberg, Comeau, Colburn are all a waste of space. Stuart, Beauchamin and Iginla were all over priced FAs that didn’t live up to their contracts and the first two were so bad the team bought them out . Not one trade that Sakic has done has worked out. O’Reilly and Buffalo are laughing about that trade, Iginal was given away for free, not even a late round pick. Holden was traded for 4th round pick and then played good in NYC while the Avs continued to have the worst defensive corps in the league.
This team is rebuilding again because Sakic couldn’t build a team around Duchene, MacKinnon and Landeskog the first time. He doesn’t deserve a second chance. I don’t think you understand how historically bad the team was last year. They scored the fewest goals in the league and gave up the most, that’s unheard of. And you think a bag of mid level prospects is going to turn this team around? I’m jealous of your optimism, but in reality it will take a huge turnaround from everyone on the roster just finish less than dead last in the league.
Bob_W
You cannot build an NHL team around NHL players under the salary cap. You must build your foundation first. Sakic has (correctly) not tried to build his team around the 1st round picks because he recognized that it is not possible in today’s NHL salary cap environment. The players you mentioned that he signed were by all indications good bottom 6 players. Colburn had just had a 20 goal season, Solderberg in his 1st season with the Avs had a 50 point season. Their collapse last season was not predictable and wasn’t limited to just them, each member of the entire team had near career low season. That was not something that Sakic could control. Every time a GM signs a player he takes a risk that the player will play at the level he has played at in the past. With aging players the risk is higher but Sakic did not have any decent alternatives at the time. This team is rebuilding because it was decimated by the policies of Lacroix which left it with a farm system that was so depleted that for several years the Avs had to share an AHL team with other NHL teams because they did not have enough prospects to fill a roster. This team did nothing effective about that problem until Sakic took over as GM. The primary method of adding prospects to a team are through the draft. The draft has 7 rounds so you get 7 players per year. Of those you are lucky if more than 3 ever make it to the NHL. Rebuilding takes time. The depth in the Avs farm system today is vastly better than it ever was before Sakic took over going back to at least 2005. Anyone who is looking for the Avs to be playing in the playoffs in the next few years is fooling themselves. You cannot rebuild from scratch that quickly. The Avs have handily won the O’Reilly trade with Zadorov, Greer and Compher. Meanwhile Buffalo is stuck overpaying a mid-level center at nearly twice what he is worth.The Avs got nothing for Iginla because he was no longer able to play effectively in today’s high speed game. Age had caught up with he relexes and speed. Holden did not play very well when he was here. I suspect his play in NY was boosted by who he played with. If you are too impatient to watch and enjoy the new players coming in and trying to become NHL players then I understand your jealousy.
Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AceODale
Por fin!
Dan G
Glad that Z is signed and the price is about right. Credit to Sakic for being patient on that one.
That being said, if Sakic were to quit or get fired (never gonna happen) would he get a job offer to be GM on any of the other 30 NHL teams? Like Roy and the question being about coaching, the answer is, “no.”
mladen
You were right Dater.I was wrong. They were bickering all summer over half a million. I’m just shaking my head