Mike Chen's Hockey Blog
Entries with the tag: Nikolai+Zherdev
Zherdev: Tremendous Upside Or Waste Of Talent?
by Mike Chen on 08/04/09 at 01:43 PM ET
Comments (6)
At first glance, I have a hard time trying to figure out why an arbitrator awarded Nikolai Zherdev $3.9 million. That’s a pretty hefty price tag for such an enigmatic player, and it feels like it’s paying more for potential than anything else.
Here’s the thing. If I’m a GM, I’d have a difficult time taking Zherdev at even his qualifying number of $3.25 million. The guy can be Pavel Datsyuk-style brilliant with stickhandling on one shift, then be a useless pylon on the next. These days, the salary cap is too restrictive to give up significant space for an unknown quantity.
I think what is more telltale about Zherdev’s grit (or lack thereof) is his coaching history. I can understand if he went nowhere under Doug MacLean; as amusing as MacLean can be when he’s on sports radio, he’s always been a one-hit coaching wonder in my book. But when Ken Hitchcock took over the Blue Jackets, I figured it was make or break time with Zherdev. In Dallas, Hitchcock instilled defensive responsibility in Mike Modano and roped in Sergei Zubov’s freelancing tendencies, eventually transforming him into one the league’s best blueliners. In Columbus, part of his job would be to elevate Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev into complete players.
We can probably all agree that he was successful with Nash. Zherdev? Not so much; he had his spurts but ultimately it was an exercise in futility—despite his upside.
Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: John+Tortorella, Nikolai+Zherdev,
