Canucks will allow surprise postseason standout to hit free agency
Nikita Zadorov
The Canucks won’t be agreeing to an extension for UFA defenseman Nikita Zadorov, general manager Patrik Allvin confirmed (via Patrick Johnston of The Province and The Vancouver Sun). He’ll be one of the more sought-after defense options available when the free-agent market opens Monday.
It may not take them very long to find his replacement, though. The Devils are “actively looking to move” right-shot stalwart John Marino, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports. He adds Vancouver has been in the mix for his services, specifically as a fallback option if they couldn’t come to terms on a new deal for Zadorov.
We had our first indication that Zadorov may be heading out the door when Allvin moved to get Tyler Myers locked into a three-year, $3M AAV extension Thursday night. His re-signing, along with the retention of pending RFA Filip Hronek earlier in the month, meant four of the Canucks’ spots on defense next season were firmly accounted for. Noah Juulsen remains an option after skating in 54 games last year, and depth blue liner Mark Friedman will be back in the rotation after signing a one-way extension over a week ago.
Vancouver parted ways with a third-round and fifth-round pick to get Zadorov from the Flames back in November, marking one of the first truly consequential in-season trades. This generation’s “Big Z” was a natural fit in a bottom-four role, putting up 14 points and 102 PIMs in 54 games as a Canuck while seeing 17:04 of ice time per contest. The playoffs were where Zadorov made his killing this year, though, as the normally stay-at-home defenseman became a factor on the scoresheet with four goals and eight points in 13 games.
Where he’ll land is anyone’s guess at this stage, but he’ll have plenty of suitors and won’t take long to find his next home. He’s expected to seek a six-year, $36M pact ($6M AAV), per a report from Seravalli last month, although that’s likely too rich for anyone’s blood, given he doesn’t have a consistent history of top-four minutes. He should still be able to cash in significantly with his value at its peak, though, and could land a longer-term deal closer to $5M per season.
The Canucks may well have to give up significant assets to acquire Marino as his replacement, but he checks in at a much more attractive $4.4M cap hit for three more seasons compared to what Zadorov was asking for. Marino is also two years younger and has averaged at least 20 minutes per game since breaking into the league with the Penguins five years ago, consistently seeing tougher usage and heavier penalty-kill responsibilities.
Marino served as the Devils’ de facto top right-shot defender for most of last season, with Dougie Hamilton missing all but 20 games with a pectoral injury. He checked in about expected offensively, recording four goals and 25 points in 81 games but did have a career-worst -6 rating. That was certainly exacerbated by poor play from New Jersey’s rotating cast of goaltenders, though, as he still managed to control 51.1% of shot attempts at even strength, roughly in line with his career average.
It’s worth noting Marino has an eight-team no-trade list that goes into effect on July 1. It would be odd to see the reigning Pacific Division winners hold a spot on his NTC, but in any event, it’s likely a reason why Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald is trying so hard to get him moved before free agency opens. They’re looking to upgrade their second-pair right-shot man behind Hamilton, with soon-to-be-former Hurricane Brett Pesce a person of interest.
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