The Red Wings and Filip Zadina situation could take another turn by noon tomorrow.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Detroit could end up placing the former No. 6 overall pick on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract.
Zadina is owed $4.56M in salary over the next two seasons. This is tricky to report, because agent Darren Ferris would not comment, but, as I write this, the belief is Zadina is prepared to walk away from the money and not contest the move. According to several sources, in recent conversations, the player made it very clear he would not report if sent to the AHL next season. (That would be a contract violation.)
If he clears waivers, he could sign anywhere he wishes.
Before this year’s draft, Zadina and his agent request a trade out of Detroit seeking a “fresh start” which is understandable considering the rough go-around the forward has had since landing with the Wings. Yzerman was unsuccessful in finding a trade partner and as a result, placed Zadina on waivers which he cleared earlier the week something the Detroit GM attributed to the 23-year-old’s current salary.
“Am I happy to put him on waivers? No. I signed him to a three-year contract a year ago because I believed that he was going to grow. The reality now is: you wanted that contract, that contract may prevent you from getting the opportunity you’re looking for in another organization.”
Yzerman has never been one to pull out the stops when dealing with players who can or have become malcontents. You don’t have to look any further than the Jonathan Drouin situation in Tampa Bay when Yzerman was still the general manager of the Lightning. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Yzerman does put Zadina on waivers. The biggest surprise out of all of this is Zadina seemingly betting on himself and walking away from two more guaranteed seasons of $1.825M per. Especially considering the guy has only managed 28 goals in 190 games.
Anyways, Yzerman and the Red Wings could end up placing him on waivers at Noon tomorrow.
