The Calgary Flames traded defenseman Nikita Zadorov to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday for a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick.
Duhatschek: Every year, in the early run-up to the NHL trade deadline, the overriding question is always: Will this be a buyer’s or a seller’s market? The answer usually determines the prices, and if the first few minor deals of the 2023-24 season are any indication, it doesn’t look as if the prices are all that high.
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That’s perhaps the best way to describe the underwhelming return the Flames received for Zadorov, a pending unrestricted free agent, in Thursday’s trade with the Canucks.
For Zadorov, the Flames received a 2024 fifth-round draft choice, plus a 2026 third-rounder. Not much, in other words, for a 6-foot-5, 230-pound defenseman who plays with an edge and is exactly the sort of reinforcement a team with playoff aspirations is after. Could Zadorov have fetched more at the trade deadline? Maybe. We’ll never know.
In fairness, what complicated matters for Flames general manager Craig Conroy was the fact that Zadorov made public his wish to leave Calgary. Sometimes that sort of admission gets all of the NHL’s bargain-hunters into the queue, with rival general managers looking to pay a discounted price for a disgruntled asset.
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The Flames vowed to be patient and wait until they got an offer that best served the team. Conroy praised Zadorov for conducting himself in a professional manner while the Flames worked through their options. Still, the underlying assumption is that somebody’s patience — the team’s or the player’s — was going to run out eventually. Maybe even soon. Which might explain the timing.
Zadorov was averaging 18:24 in ice time for the Flames, which was fifth among the team’s blueliners, behind Rasmus Anderson, Noah Hanifin, MacKenzie Weegar and Chris Tanev. When everybody was healthy, or not suspended, that quartet still represents the team’s two top pairs, with Zadorov considered a high-end third-pair player who at different times this season had to play up the depth chart.
Presumably, the Flames believe they can cobble together a bottom pair from among Jordan Oesterle, Denis Gilbert and Nick DeSimone.
Moving Zadorov’s money — $3.75 million — gives them additional cap flexibility, though there is no indication that they’re going to go anywhere but their minor-league team for reinforcements.
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It was the play of their call-ups that essentially helped them claw their way back into the wild-card race in the Western Conference, with a nice little run of late. Probably they still imagine themselves playoff contenders, as soon as the top four stay intact (Tanev and Hanifin are also pending UFAs next July). Zadorov tends to be high risk; that’s the negative side of his game. And if he was creating a distraction, then maybe his departure will become addition by subtraction, even if the return was underwhelming.
On the other side of it, when you think of the skill on the Canucks’ blue line, led by Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, what’s missing is a bit of snarl. In the short term, Zadorov can replace the injured Carson Soucy, who is out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Longer term, he could be part of a twin towers pairing with either the 6-foot-8 Tyler Myers or the 6-foot-4 Soucy. Interestingly, Zadorov was one of the few players who had no issue playing for a demanding coach, Darryl Sutter, in Calgary last year. Zadorov and Canucks coach Rick Tocchet seem like a match made in tough-guy heaven.
Canucks grade: B-plus
Flames grade: C-minus
Goldman: Once the Canucks finally cleared some cap space out by moving a winger, management seemed bound to make another move. This team had a clear area of need in depth defense, further strained by the Soucy injury. So, addressing this sooner than later makes all the sense in the world.
Zadorov has a somewhat old-school playing style, so it makes sense why general managers would have interest in him and why he’d be a fit with Tocchet. He brings size and some bite, which most general managers look for, and that may help Vancouver stack up with teams like Vegas and Los Angeles in a competitive Pacific Division.
But, unlike with some depth moves of years past for the Canucks, that’s not all he brings. Zadorov is legitimately a solid defensive defenseman. He has an edge to his game, but is also a positive on his team’s shot- and scoring-chance limitation, which is exactly what Vancouver can use. And there’s potential for some high-event play in his minutes, especially if he’s matched up with Myers, and that always adds an element of fun and intrigue.
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There are two potential downfalls here: the fact that he’s a lefty, and his propensity to put his team on the penalty kill. Zadorov can serve as an immediate replacement for the injured Soucy, but once he returns, they’re going to have a few extra left-handed defenders. Zadorov has shown that he can play on the right side in the past, but he tends to be more of a mainstay on the left. So that’s a problem the coaches will have to figure out. If they can find a balance that gives them flexibility, the deal will look even better. But if this limits the team’s options, that could create unnecessary hurdles down the line — considering there were righties such as Sean Walker on the market, too.
Given the fact that the Canucks are a bottom-10 team in expected goals against on the penalty kill, discipline will be important, too. Zadorov is the kind of player who should help while short-handed, assuming he’s not the one in the box.
The price is fair enough for the defender, from the Canucks’ perspective. It’s even better that they’re getting the pending unrestricted free agent for three-quarters of the season instead of just down the stretch and potentially the playoffs, like they would have if they acquired him at the deadline. The fact that Vancouver didn’t have to pay for salary retention, or commit any money toward next year’s cap, is a bonus for this team — with key expiring contracts, management can’t afford to take away a cent from this season’s cap until those are settled.
For the Flames, a third-rounder seemed fair, with Luke Schenn in mind as the comparable. It probably would have helped to have a third-rounder sooner than in 2026 to push along what’s likely some sort of retool, but the team also didn’t have a ton of leverage here, considering the player’s trade request. It’s a fine return, but it’s definitely nothing special.
Canucks grade: B
Flames grade: C
(Photo of Nikita Zadorov: Chris Tanouye / Freestyle Photography / Getty Images)
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