Report: Red Wings to finally get rid of Zadina

In case you missed it earlier this week, the Detroit Red Wings placed former 6th overall pick Filip Zadina on waivers. The 23 year old Czech sniper was made available to any NHL team for free on the waiver wire and... evidently no one was interested.

Zadina officially cleared waivers, with no claims coming from any of the NHL's other 31 teams.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports today though that Zadina is expected to hit waivers once again, this time for the purposes of a contract termination. Neither Zadina nor the Red Wings are interested in continuing the two year, $4.56 million contract and will effectively tear it up later today. Zadina will then become an unrestricted free agent free to sign anywhere in the NHL.

More from Friedman:

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.

Zadina asked for a trade before the draft, and the Red Wings placed him on regular waivers on Tuesday. Available to any team, everyone passed. Talking with local media, Yzerman made it clear salary was the problem.

“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.”

While Zadina hasn't developed the way anyone has expected, it was still a surprise to see him on the waiver wire yesterday, at least to me. Once seen as a potential 1st overall pick to rival Rasmus Dahlin back in 2018, Zadina fell in the draft rankings and dropped to pick #6 on Draft day. Since then his stock has continued to drop with his best season in the NHL coming in 2021-22 where he put up just 10 goals and 24 points in 74 games. At this point, his stock couldn't get much lower.

But you know what? Maybe we shouldn't be surprised with this news. 

Red Wings insider Ansar Khan reported earlier this week that GM Steve Yzerman himself admitted that Zadina and his agent requested a trade weeks ago. Yzerman attempted to find a trade partner, but couldn't find any interested parties. Because of that he waived him in order to give Zadina a fresh start elsewhere.

Check it out:

Yzerman said Zadina and his agent asked for a trade a few weeks ago. He tried to accommodate him. He wasn’t able to find a team that was interested. So he waived him. But he’s not writing off his career and believes he can still be an NHL player.

- Ansar Khan

Any way you break it down, it looks like this is the end for Zadina in Detroit... something the player has wanted for awhile.