Quoting: IDKtbh
Yo, I get Zadina still has potential but, respectfully, are you in some sort of denial about how his career has gone so far? He is a season away from solidifying himself as a surefire bust or maybe a decent top 9 forward. I think you can all but forget about the top line winger or bonafide top 6 winger at this point.
Zadina is really an oddity. First half of the season, he was doing everything right except fill the net with pucks. All his fancy stats told a story of a defensively sound, positive possession player ( a stat few Red Wings could boast) that had an expected goals per 60 that was literally like 8 more goals. He was gripping his stick a little too tight. So what does the coach do? Drop him down the lineup and stick him with grinders and 13th skaters. Zadina continued to create and play defensively decent, but he was way under utilized. So, after playing with Rasmussen and Erne (two offensive black holes), the coach decides to healthy scratch him.
After that, the opportunities were few and far between, and the confidence was shot. A new coach snd system would do wonders. Zadina and Vrana have some serious chemistry, but the coach didn't see fit to let that play out.
To an outsider, Zadina is a bust for sure. But there is a lot more to it. I think a worst case is Zadina ends up like Calle Jarnkrok. Best case is still top 6. In either case, you have an NHLer in Zadina. The maddening thing about him is that he came on board as an offensive player who needed to work on his two way game. He is very good defensively, and he got the hard part down for the players who are offensively gifted, but his offense came up missing.
Will Zadina be a Marian Hossa lite like he projected to be? Probably not. Could he be a 25 to 30 goal, 60 to 80 point two way player? Absolutely. It is all there, but for whatever reason, it hasn't come together. This is not your typical bust story. Riley Shehan was a bust. Nikita Filatov was a bust. Michael Dal Cole was a bust. Nolan Patrick is a bust. Zadina is not a bust; he might just not be as advertised.