In a need to create cap space, the Detroit Red Wings placed winger Filip Zadina on waivers the other day. There were no claims given his back loaded contract with two years and $1.825 million cap hit, so now they will be placing Zadina on unconditional waivers to terminate the contract. Zadina will be forgoing $4.56 million to try to re-launch his career. The Rangers have a bit of a hole at RW, and Filip Zadina would represent a low risk, high reward flier should they go this route.
Signing Zadina would likely be cheap, perhaps a little more than the $825,000 max salary they gave out during free agency, but would still likely be under the $1 million and change that can be buried in the AHL without penalty. The former 6th overall pick is certainly high skill, but hasn’t put it all together at the NHL level yet.
The Rangers don’t really have a good track record with developing prospects, but they do have a surprisingly decent track record at reclamation projects. Matt Puempel had a pretty decent short stint with the Rangers. Jimmy Vesey had a great year last year and parlayed it into a two year deal with the Rangers. Guys like Benoit Pouliot also qualify here.
If the Rangers sign Filip Zadina, then the best case scenario would be a Vesey or Pouliot situation. The worst case is that it doesn’t work, and he gets waived and sent to the AHL. The only thing getting in Chris Drury’s way would be the number of contracts. The Rangers are likely going to be at 49 contracts once Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller sign, so Zadina would be their 50th and final contract. They’d have limited flexibility, but that shouldn’t stop them.
It’s unlikely the Rangers sign Filip Zadina, especially given the expectations from Lafreniere and the Blake Wheeler signing. But what do they have to lose?
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