Despite there just being a few days until free agency opens, the door isn’t fully closed on a new deal between the Vancouver Canucks and Nikita Zadorov.
The big defenceman’s agent Dan Milstein said the camp is “very open-minded and will not rule anything out,” per a social media post from CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal.
Canucks UFA defenseman Nikita Zadorov’s agent Dan Milstein on his future in Vancouver : I’m being very open minded and will not rule anything out till July 1st.#Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) June 26, 2024
One phone call can change everything at this time of year.
With just five days until the free agency market begins and Zadorov hits the open market, there is not much time left for the two sides to agree to a deal.
While it was previously reported that a contract was unlikely to materialize, later updates suggested that there is some mutual interest from both sides.
Zadorov thrived with the Canucks during the playoffs, finishing with eight points in 13 games. The increased scoring output was just one aspect he brought to the table as he also was one of the team’s most dangerous physical players.
Nikita Zadorov, what a shift. Vancouver’s on the board, 1-0 pic.twitter.com/2HO7fSYkDX
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 1, 2024
The 29-year-old is reportedly looking for a solid term on his next contract, meaning the Canucks will likely need to offer at least four or five years to get the deal done. It’s already been reported that Zadorov rejected a contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million.
The team seems to be trying to offload bloated contracts, namely Ilya Mikheyev, before they sign more deals. The issue is that the cost to offload such a significant salary is surely quite high and likely more than the Canucks are willing to pay. They may just need to accept that Mikheyev will be on the team next season and work around his salary.
There are only three pending unrestricted free agent defencemen taller than 6-foot-3 who scored at least 20 points last season. Zadorov is one of them and his rare combination of size, speed, and skill mean that he’ll have his fair share of suitors on July 1 if the Canucks cannot get a deal done.
The team recently signed Filip Hronek long-term, which gives them more stability on the blue line but there are still holes to be filled. If they can’t re-sign Zadorov, the Canucks will find it difficult to replace his size and talent in free agency.