Filip Zadina has been one of the biggest disappointments of this season for the Detroit Red Wings. Zadina was the 6th overall selection by Detroit in the 2018 draft. Zadina was drafted to score goals and be a top six player for the Red Wings. This season, he has been given plenty of time on the second power play unit. At the beginning of the season, Zadina was playing 15-16 minutes a night, with little success. Recently, Zadina continues to play with the man advantage, but regularly plays in the bottom six forwards, and in seven of his last nine games has received less than 13 minutes of ice time. In 45 games this season, Zadina has five goals, nine assists, 14 points, and a -23 rating.
Advantages: Zadina could be used with other prospects and draft picks to land a high caliber player that hopefully can help Detroit in the future. Zadina needs a change of scenery that can possibly catapult his career to where it was expected when he was drafted. Players mentioned as trade options include Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun and Boston forward Jake DeBrusk.
Disadvantages: The Detroit Red Wings will not get full value for a player who is currently having a down year. The biggest issue is that Zadina hasn’t had a good year yet and nobody knows what his potential in the NHL can be. Zadina is only 22 and his ceiling, as he continues to develop, could be sky high. Detroit have given Zadina opportunities to succeed over the last two years, with little success. In 131 career games, Zadina has only scored 20 goals.
What to expect: I would be surprised to see Zadina traded before the deadline. Zadina will likely remain with the Red Wings until the summer and may be traded in the off-season, prior to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in July.