The Nikita Zadorov sweepstakes are officially over for the Vancouver Canucks… for the time being.
The Canucks just cleared the requisite cap space to facilitate the big move they’ve been looking for, but the Calgary Flames are now the ones holding things up. Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal reported Wednesday that the team is still pushing for Zadorov, but the Flames are not yet willing to sell off him or Chris Tanev?
Why, you might ask? The answer is simple, yet complicated. Essentially, the Flames have been ‘winning’ as of late, though they are only 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.
Calgary is still going nowhere and fast, as they’re eight points behind the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. The Kings also have three games in hand. In short, it’s going to take a miracle for the Flames to end up where they think they are at right now.
As long as general manager Patrik Allvin and the Vancouver Canucks continue to push, the Flames will eventually have to fold. The reality is that Zadorov already had some outbursts to the media, and if the Flames decline even a bit, there’s a possibility it happens again. That kills the leverage Calgary might have in a trade, and widens the door for the Canucks to set the stage once again.
In addition, it doesn’t seem right that the Canucks would so quickly ship Anthony Beauvillier out the door if they didn’t have a move lined up. After all, it was Phillip Di Giuseppe who was expected to be a healthy scratch, succeeding Andrei Kuzmenko in that position.
Want your voice heard? Join the The Canuck Way team!
The Zadorov chatter has quieted down rather substantially through the month of November, though it remains to be seen if the Vancouver Canucks are going to force the issue. Time will reveal all.