The Detroit Free Press’s Helene St. James revealed on Twitter that Filip Zadina is out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season after coming down with appendicitis.
Jeff Blashill said Red Wings F Filip Zadina had appendicitis, stayed in Florida to have his appendix out, is out for remainder of season (one week).
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) April 23, 2022
Distress in Detroit Continues With Filip Zadina Out
The Red Wings recalled both Riley Barber and Taro Hirose from AHL affiliate Grand Rapids yesterday with no clarification on why. It only came out much later in the day that Zadina had not travelled with the rest of the team. He was instead being shut down to deal with his sudden illness. It’s another blow to a battered Wings team that needs all the offence it can get.
Zadina ends the year with 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points, with just 10 penalty minutes. He was averaging 14:11 in ice time with a 48.1% Corsi for and a 2.7 relative Corsi at 5v5. Detroit’s pick in the 2018 entry draft, Filip Zadina was originally presumed to go much higher than he did. He was famously quoted at the draft that he would fill the nets of the teams that passed over him with pucks.
What This Means for the Future
Unfortunately, the quote from Zadina hasn’t quite panned out. However, it largely doesn’t affect the Red Wings in terms of this season with only three games left. However, those last three games may be the difference in what sweater Zadina wears to start next year. His struggles to meet the expectations of a 6th overall pick have been evident over his four-year NHL career. There has been an outcry for management to look at moving him, but much like his fellow first-round wing Michael Rasmussen, he may just be a late bloomer. He has shown in parts of these last two seasons that he and Czechmate partner Jakub Vrana have chemistry together, improving his game noticeably. Filip Zadina is a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Main Photo:
