The Puck Stops Here
Nikolai Zherdev - The Best Available Free Agent
by PuckStopsHere on 07/29/11 at 12:23 PM ET
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As July is pulling to a close, the unrestricted free agents remaining have few offers. A portion of those who remain will get some likely undervalued contract offers, but others will be forced into retirement or into other hockey leagues. Of those that remain, I think the best bet is clearly Nikolai Zherdev.
Zherdev played last season with the Philadelphia Flyers. In 56 games he scored 22 points. He wasn’t given much of an opportunity with the team but he did well in the time he was given. He only played 12:51 per game. He succeeded in that ice time. This is shown by his sixth best Corsi rate in the league.
Zherdev has a track record of bigger offensive success than he showed last year in his limited ice time. In 2008, he scored 61 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets and in 2009 he scored 58 points with the New York Rangers. That kind of player could help any team.
Zherdev is a young unrestricted free agent. He is only 26 years old and may still have his best years ahead of him. This is unusual for a UFA.
The problem with Zherdev is that he is Russian. He has never really fit in as an NHL player. He has always been an outsider. He had had several disagreements with his coaches. He has been hard to sign to an NHL contract because of large financial demands. As a result of this he spent the 2009/10 season in the KHL. He has a bad reputation but a lot of it comes from being raised in a different culture than most of his teammates.
How often can you get a former fourth overall draft pick who led his NHL team in scoring in his last NHL season where he had significant playing time (2008/09), who put up some of the best puck possession stats when looked at as rate stats last year as a cheap free agent this late in the signing period? It is entirely likely that his best is yet to come. If a team can sign him up relatively cheaply for a few years, it will likely be a very good signing. The rumor mill suggests the Winnipeg Jets may be the team to do that.
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Nik Zherdev possesses some of the best skating and stickhandling ability in the entire league. Unfortunately he’s a “floater” and a second-rate teammate. In Columbus he refused to learn English and was disruptive according to sources. He’s not a team guy and barely plays “D” which cuts his ice time and drives his coaches crazy. The rap on him is that due to his attitude he’ll never grow into his prodigious skills. What a shame.
Posted by Curley on 07/29/11 at 02:12 PM ET