Edited Sep. 3, 2023 at 4:36 p.m.
Quoting: Affectionate_Side_64
I'm not making the trade for Zadorov that is offered here, but I really have no clue where you get this stuff. Zadorov is good defensively, that has always been his strength. Care to elaborate, or provide a source? Genuinely curious.
---
Quoting: RipNasty
Zadorov got mainly offensive zone starts for Calgary and still gave up a high percentage of high danger goals against. He's really not great at defending
Quoting: RipNasty
Kind words. I am a man of science I don't accept anything without quantifiable evidence. Beyond just points and what the mob on here thinks.
Alright man of science here goes. Z was actually 6th in offensive zone starts as a percentage. He had 9.1% starts in the O-zone, 11% N-zone, 11.3% D-zone, and 68.6% on the fly. From the regulars, only Tanev had less offensive zone starts. If you look at On-Ice Expected Goals Against/60 5 on 5 Zadorov is actually 3rd on the team(2.42). He is behind Tanev(2.01) and Weegar(2.13), and ahead of Both Andersson(2.52) and Hanifin(2.52). I agree regarding the high danger shots against, they were definitely higher with Z on the ice, but I attribute some of it to Zadorov's fit in Sutter's system.
Z has some warts at defending, but he was quite good at denying entry, rubbing a player off the puck, or poke checking an opponent in transition. Because of his physical play opponents also dump the puck in his corner less often. When he was playing with Stone that was exploited, but worked great when he was paired with Weegar, or Gudbranson last year. Z isn't great at defending the cycle, but I think that the Flames system made him look worse at that than he really is. My biggest issue with him was him defending 2 on 1s, which was terrible IMO, and I don't love the way he ties up sticks of stronger players infront of the net.