Nikita Zadorov Sheds Light on Darryl Sutter, the 2022 Playoffs, and His Departure From Calgary

The lifestyle of an NHL player between the ages of 26 and 28 is often the most chaotic of a player’s pro career.

After all, the CBA dictates that a player becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) if their current contract ends after either seven Accrued Seasons or they are 27 or older as of June 30 of that year. An Accrued Season is defined as a season in which a player has been on an NHL roster for 40 or more games.  

Nikita Zadorov during this 2023-2024 regular season has been no exception. In fact, you could make a case that his life leading up to unrestricted free agency has been even more dramatic than the average NHL player.  

Now 28 years old and with his contract expiring on July 1, 2024, Nikita has been through a coaching mutiny, a general manager exodus, a subsequent coaching change, a contract stalemate, a trade request, an eventual trade to the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 30 and a move to a new city. All in the past calendar year. 

And he still doesn’t have an extension providing clarity on where he will live and how much he can expect to make at his potential peak in value as an NHL player.  

Zadorov spoke about his situation with NHL All Star John Scott on a Dec. 18 episode of Dropping the Gloves. Topics included the drama in Calgary, what happened in the 2022 NHL Playoffs, as well as how much the Moscow native is enjoying life in Vancouver.  

The 6-foot-6, 248-pound defender started on the Calgary talk by discussing the Flames strong 2021-2022 regular season and described the first round of the playoffs, where Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger pushed the series to seven games. Things got interesting when the conversation moved to round two – a five-game loss to the Edmonton Oilers.  

“Second round against Edmonton, yeah (we) came out short. Those two guys killed us pretty much.” 

“Those two guys” being superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatl. 

“That’s the reason why I think we lost. Because we didn’t really have a great game plan against them.” 

It should come as no surprise that Zadorov pointed out the Oilers power duo as difference makers. Draisatl finished the series with two goals and 15 assists in five games. McDavid did what he could to keep up with three goals and nine assists in that series.  

Nikita brushed on some technical aspects of those five games. 

“The centerman has to skate with Connor all the time.”

“Because he gains speed in the D-zone and then in their system, they’re sweeping left all the time, so the right winger and right D-man (is) passing on his forehand, and he just flies. You enter the zone all the time from that side, so I feel like your centerman has to be underneath the thing. Giving pushes, get him off stride, whatever you can, but it’s hard.” 

May 1st of the 2023 offseason featured one of the more dramatic mornings in Calgary Flames history. Before even day one of a recently signed two-year $8,000,000 contract, polarizing Head Coach Darryl Sutter was let go. The season prior had been full of strife, discontent, and underwhelming results as the Flames dragged themselves to a 38-27-17 record. Their 93-point finish had them sitting out of the playoffs by three points, or two wins – four overtime wins for those who speak 2022-2023 Calgary Flames.  

Zadorov spoke of Sutter’s impact on his game over two-and-a-half seasons:

“Listen, I personally liked Darryl because he made me a better player, but like I said in the summer, he wasn’t a perfect fit for that team, so I was – I wasn’t pissed (that) they fired him.”

Zadorov continued. “I wish I had Darryl when I was 18. I saw (Rasmus) Risto(lainen)’s comment about Torts, same thing. He said he wished he had Torts when he was 18. I said (the) same thing. I wish I had Darryl as an 18-year-old because you can learn so much, and you can help the D-men, any player, I think – if you can handle it. Yeah, he’s hard. Yes, he’s going to be asking you every day, but he will get all the details, he will make you professional, he will tell you everything to do. There are just so many specific things for defencemen, (and) how he helped me, increased my game, helped my game so much (in the) past few years, so I’m going to be thankful for him for the rest of my life for sure.” 

Zadorov briefly alluded to the issues in the dressing room as well as his thoughts on current Head Coach Ryan Huska. “There was a lot going on. Husk was in the system, so he knew what was going on, so he knew what were the issues between the coach and the players, so he came in. I feel like he did a good job as a coach, too.” 

Zadorov’s time in Calgary came to an end on Nov. 30 when the hulking blue liner was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2024 fifth round pick and a 2026 third round pick. When asked about why he left Calgary, things may have gotten personal. 

“I wanted to stay there, and I did not get an offer. Everybody else did get an offer. All of the UFAs. By that time, it was just, I think it was time to move on because there are other teams that are super interested.” 

With notable soon-to-be UFA status players, including defencemen Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, Nikita was likely edged out of a top four spot in the lineup, as well as the cap allocation that comes with such a role. With that in mind, Nikita seems happy with his new role in Vancouver. 

“They’re super friendly, and it’s a great environment inside the room because the players and the coaches are connected; they’re like best friends,” Zadorov explained. “But we’re also super respectful to them and listening to them. It’s just a great chemistry between (the) coaching staff and the players.” 

With a so-desired spot in the top four alongside fellow towering defenceman Tyler Myers (6-foot-8), it appears Zadorov may have found a happy home and potentially a long-term landing spot. Much like the Calgary Flames, the Canucks have an impending exodus of blue liners to unrestricted free agency this offseason.

With significant pieces such as Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek to extend, Zadorov may have to wait. Until the smooth-skating defenceman puts pen to paper on a contract – the chaos will continue for Nikita and his agent, Dan Milstein.