Red Wings place former No. 6 overall pick on waivers

The Detroit Red Wings have placed Filip Zadina on waivers. 

The move is somewhat surprising as Zadina still has two years remaining on his contract paying him $1.825 million per season. The former No. 6 overall pick played 30 games for the Red Wings in 2022-23, scoring three goals an seven points along with a goal in two AHL games.

He is one year removed from a 10-goal, 24-point campaign. While those numbers certainly don’t scream “superstar,” he is still a young player with a lot of potential. Zadina won't turn 24 until November.

The decision to waive Zadina comes after the Red Wings made a flurry of moves in free agency. The Red Wings, under Steve Yzerman, signed J.T. Compher and Justin Holl to long-term deal as well as Daniel Sprong and Christian Fischer to short-term deals. Both Sprong and Fischer are bottom-six players and the team clearly prefers them over Zadina.

Each team will have a chance to claim Zadina on waivers in reverse standings order from the previous season. The Anaheim Ducks get first dibs, followed by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks, and so on.

It remains to be seen which, if any, team will pick him up. Zadina hasn’t been a consistent player and has only played one full season in the NHL since he was drafted. Additionally, in a flat-cap most teams probably wouldn’t want to risk a roster spot and $1.825 million in cap space on a player that has struggled to perform in the NHL.

So far in his NHL career, Zadina has scored 28 goals and 68 points in 190 games. That comes out to an 82-game pace of 11 goals and 29 points. If he can do that over a full NHL season next year then teams will be interested in his services.