Filip Zadina—whom the Detroit Red Wings drafted sixth overall in the 2018 Draft, earning him the dubious distinction of being Ken Holland’s final pick as Red Wings GM—has signed a contract to join HC Davos of the Swiss National League. Last week, it was reported that Zadina would sign a PTO with the Buffalo Sabres, before his agent Darren Ferris interjected to say that the report was false, but that Zadina would be signing soon. Now, that signing is official, and, at least for the time being, the Czech winger is putting his NHL dreams on pause to play in Switzerland.
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In Detroit, expectation and inconsistency dogged Zadina, who was never able to live up to the billing of his draft status and always seemed to pay a double price due to Red Wing fans general frustrations with Holland. Last summer, he asked out of his contract for a fresh start, which he found in San Jose. In 72 games as a Shark, he scored a career high 13 goals, along with 10 assists, but he didn’t do enough to persuade the organization that he was a piece worth retaining through the rebuild.
Now, it’s on to a fresh start in Switzerland. The Davos club he joins is the National League’s historic titan, setting the standard with 31 titles. However, they finished sixth last year in the regular season then lost to Lausanne in the first round of the postseason. The Zurich Lions (with whom Auston Matthews notably spent his draft year in 2015-16) won the regular season and postseason titles. In the coming season, Zadina will look to help Davos back to the top of the table.
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