Filip Zadina may have reached the point where he would rather walk away from nearly $5 million than continue his career with the Detroit Red Wings.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Wednesday afternoon that there is word the Wings are considering placing Zadina on waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract. The report comes a day after Zadina cleared waivers, where he was placed Monday after the Wings were unable to accommodate Zadina’s request for a trade.
Zadina’s agent, Darren Ferris, did not respond to a request by the Free Press for comment.
More: Filip Zadina asked Detroit Red Wings to trade him. They couldn’t, but waived him instead
Zadina, the No. 6 pick in 2018, has 28 goals and 40 assists in 190 career games. The 23-year-old has been unable to show he belongs in the lineup, and has been a healthy scratch at times. A couple weeks ago he asked for a “fresh start,” and when the Wings found no trading partners, they made him available on waivers.
General manager Steve Yzerman addressed the Zadina situation Monday. “Am I thrilled? Am I happy to put him on waivers? No. I signed him to a three-year contract a year ago because I believed he was going to grow. And when he signed that contract, my expectation was that he wanted to grow with us.”
Zadina’s contract runs through 2024-25 and has $4.56 million left in salary. Putting a player on waivers for the purpose of terminating the contract is different than buying out a player: There would be no penalty to the Wings — and no payday from the Wings for Zadina.
Friedman wrote that “the belief is Zadina is prepared to walk away from the money and not contest the move.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.