Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov could enjoy more minutes in the upcoming 2019-20 season, which could increase his production.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov is entering an important year. He’s been in the NHL for five seasons, four of them with Colorado. He’s 24 years old, so entering his prime as a defenseman.
And he’s on a one-year show-me contract to prove to the Avs what that prime can look like.
What’s more, the landscape of the Avalanche’s defensive corps is changing, definitely trending younger. It’s also gotten a bit small lately — Zadorov definitely brings the size.
I think that, if Zadorov comes into the season in the right shape and the right frame of mind, he’ll get the chance to prove his mettle. Indeed, when composing my defensive pairings, I slotted Nikita in on the second pairing even though he spent a lot of time last season on the third.
So, as we’re getting ready to embark on a new season, let’s look at what Zadorov might be bringing to the table.
2018-19 Stats
Nikita Zadorov had a pretty decent year last season. He didn’t have a career year, but he made a good showing considering he wasn’t getting top minutes.
Zadorov played 70 games for Colorado. In that time, he recorded seven goals and seven assists for 14 points. Those seven goals match his career best from the previous season, when he played seven more games and earned six more assists.
Nikita averaged 17:12 of ice time, down two minutes from both his previous years when he was over 19 minutes in average. He still led the Avs with 228 hits while blocking the puck 67 times. His takeaway to giveaway ratio has improved — 21:32.
In the playoffs, his average time on ice bumped up to 18:49. However, he didn’t produce any points. He did produce 59 hits, which is kind of crazy in 12 games.
Projected 2019-20 Role
As I mentioned, I expect Nikita Zadorov to be a mainstay on the second defensive pairing. I firmly believe the top-four will be made up of some combination of Erik Johnson, Samuel Girard, and Cale Makar. I believe Zadorov will be the fourth man in that top-four.
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In fact, as I mentioned in that previous post, I’d like to see him paired with Cale Makar. I get that Makar is coming in as an ostensible stud. However, he’s a rookie with only 10 games of NHL experience, and I think it’s a lot to expect him to step into a top pairing role right away.
However, I think Zadorov would be a good mentor of sorts for the young Makar. He could also use his big body to create space for our new offensive defenseman to wreck some havoc.
More Season Outlooks:
Projected 2019-20 Stats
Nikita Zadorov is more of a two-way defenseman than an offensive defenseman. His job is to make opponents take a step back — and watch themselves when he takes to the ice. So, I don’t think he’s going to have big offensive numbers.
However, if he’s back to second-line minutes like he was in 2017-18, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him match or even exceed his 20 points from that year. He’s got a lot to prove, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him catch 10 goals in the upcoming season.
Or, if he’s paired with Makar, that could boost his assists totals.
To be honest, I think it largely depends on those two qualities I mentioned — fitness and mind space. That will determine how long his leash is this season.
The Colorado Avalanche are already skating in informal skates at South Suburban. Zadorov is among that group. The new season is nigh!