Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
There was a point in the season when Buffalo Sabres rookie defenseman Nikita Zadorov was logging games of 20-plus minutes in a top-four role while playing alongside fellow youngin, Rasmus Ristolainen. The "Twin Towers" on defense gave fans a starry-eyed glimpse into the future as they were in lock-down mode much of the time while helping propel the team to their best stretch of the season.
It's easy to forget, however, that Zadorov is only 19 years old and plays a position that takes most players years to figure out. Rare is the teenager that can walk into the National Hockey League and have the physical and mental maturity to log 20-plus minutes effectively over the course of an 82-game season. A player with that type of game is usually found at or near the top of the draft like Drew Doughty in 2008 (LAK, 2nd-overall,) Victor Hedman (TBL, 2009, 2nd-overall) and Aaron Ekblad (FLA, 2014, 1st overall.)
Zadorov was drafted 16th-overall in 2013.
To say that Zadorov has had a choppy season would be an understatement. Woven into games where he looked to be in total control were a bevy of clunkers that would lead to a number healthy scratches. It's no big deal, really, just something that's a part of the learning process. But the whole idea is for the player to learn.
“He’s got to mature,” said a frustrated Sabres head coach Ted Nolan of Zadorov after last night's 3-0 loss at Nashville. “I don’t know how many times you have to be told to put your stick on the ice, how many times you have to stop, how many times to finish a hit and play with some energy. You keep doing it over and over again and maybe one day you’ll learn.”
What's driving Nolan to the precipice of madness with the talented young defensemen are Zadorov's extremities. One end of the spectrum is an upper-level skill-set bordering on elite while at the other end is his propensity for making glaring, Bantam-level mistakes.
In a "what was he thinking?" play last night, Zadorov joined the rush into the Preds offensive zone but broke his stick. Why he would throw his broken shaft into the corner with a number of players in harms way is one thing, but the utter confusion that engulfed Zadorov as he skated towards the bench for a new stick with a 3-on-1 heading the other way. By the time he got it, the puck was already in the Sabres' net.
It was something that had Nolan beside himself. "That's all we'll say about that," he said, still in disbelief. "He's been doing that for quite sometime and, you know, right now we...
"That's enough."
Whether Nolan has had "enough" to the point where Zadorov rides the pine the rest of the year is yet to be seen, but it doesn't look good for "Big-Z" right now.
No cause for panic, though. Zadorov simply needs to mature and let he head catch up to his body. The whole business of him skirting the CHL and maneuvering his way into the NHL this season should be a good lesson for him. He has the size, skating and skill-level to play in the NHL, but he needs to figure out that he has a long way to go mentally before he can be an effective player much less reach his full potential.
It's called seasoning and it's something they did with Ristolainen. Zadorov should take note that his fellow 2013 first-rounder (8th-overall) spent half of last season in Rochester honing his skills at the AHL-level. And not only that, Ristolainen showed professional maturity and unfettered desire by coming into last summer's training camp in the best shape of his career, daring the Sabres to send him down again.
That's how you stick with the big club, not through an agent and/or a tug-of-war between to continents.
Zadorov can also be able to learn a lesson or two about resiliency from fellow countryman, Mikhail Grigorenko, should he find himself sulking at any point in the developmental process.
No player in recent memory has gone through the ringer more than the Sabres 2012 12th-overall draft pick. Grigorenko's yo-yoing between three leagues since his draft year while playing for five different coaches has made for a difficult path to the NHL. And in a bold move by the Sabres, they refused to allow sentiment to get in the way of his journey to the NHL.
Nothing was given to Grigorenko over the course of the last two seasons save for a door to bust down and last night he may have greatly weakened those hinges.
From the second period onward Grigorenko was more engaged than he's ever been on NHL ice. The skill that had him labeled as a top-10 pick (some had him 3rd-overall) finally shone through. He was inches from smoking one of the best goalies in the game as his wicked wrister clanged of the inside of the post and he also sent linemate Jerry D'Amigo in on a breakaway after a beautiful stretch-pass.
Nolan has been especially tough on Grigorenko over the course of this season refusing to give the kid anything. Last night he acknowledged Grigorenko's play but also wouldn't go as far as to say "he's there."
"Grigorenko was good," said the coach. "He does have those skills that got him to be a [first-rounder], now he's gotta learn to play like that all of the time."
It was a breakthrough game for Grigorenko, but it was also just a step and he needs to look no further than how Nolan made forward Johan Larsson work his way up.
Larsson went through the same up and down process this season that Grigorenko's been going through. He found himself in the bottom-six every time he got called up and really did nothing to justify a move up and out of that spot. Eventually Larsson broke through with a couple of strong games earning himself a shot at the top line. He hasn't left that spot.
It's a very cool thing to be able to watch these players break through thresholds, and there's nothing I'd love to see more than Grigorenko put a couple of strong games together and unseat either Larsson or Phil Varone in the top-six.
The process Ristolainen, Larsson and Grigorenko have gone through is something Zadorov needs to take note of. He's getting a front row view of the Sabres developmental process going forward as they've adopted a philosophy that nothing will be given to players.
Much to the dismay of those who would eschew "tough-love," it seems to be working.
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