Zadina finds the back of the net after an underwhelming training camp.

The timing could not have been better for young Filip Zadina.

On Saturday reports began to surface suggesting that Zadina was failing to stand out during Detroit Red Wings' training camp and, when you consider his draft pedigree as well as the expectations placed upon him, that was a very real cause for concern in Detroit. Zadina was selected 6th overall in the 2018 National Hockey League Entry Draft and although that is an incredible achievement on his part it was much less higher than he was initially projected to go, and likely not as high as he himself had expected to go. 

It is not entirely clear as to why so many teams decided to pass on Zadina in the draft but there were reports that Zadina had looked underwhelming during the National Hockey League's rookie combine and that may very well have played a significant factor. In the end he dropped all the way to 6 and the Detroit Red Wings and general manager Ken Holland snatched him up in spite of the fact that they really needed some help on the blue line, a gamble on the part of the veteran general manager to be sure. 

That gamble began to look questionable as reports surfaced regarding Zadina's lackluster performance in training camp and when combined with the fact that his performance at the NHL rookie combine was also poor it began to raise a lot of eyebrows around Zadina. There's no doubt that both of those on their own would be a red flag for the organization but when combined together it had many question whether or not Zadina was going to be the real deal for the Red Wings. 

The only reasonable answer of course is that it is still far too early to tell and it will likely be many years before we truly know whether or not the moved was a shrewd one from Ken Holland. On Saturday night however Zadina did his part to dispel some of the doubts surrounding him when he fired off a pair of rockets at the Bruins net, the second of which found the back of the net. 

It was Zadina's first goal as a Detroit Red Wing, although given that it is the preseason it technically does not count. Nonetheless it has to feel great for fans in Detroit who were beginning to grow concerned about their team's bold decision at the draft.

[pub]