3 Potential Free-Agent Destinations for Filip Zadina

The San Jose Sharks have cut ties with Filip Zadina and now he's free to sign with any team. Unfortunately, after six days of free agency, there hasn't been much movement on a contract.

The 24-year-old Zadina appeared in 72 games for the Sharks last season, recording 13 goals, 23 points and was a whopping minus-44 rating. The former sixth-overall pick of the Detroit Red Wings back in 2018 is now looking for a new team and could wind up with one of these three:

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have some room up front to add and Zadina could be a good project with some serious upside for their bottom six. He's shown an ability to score he just hasn't been given consistent minutes 5v5. Zadina has recorded 91 points throughout his 262-game NHL career and he may have to settle on a league minimum deal if he wants to remain in the NHL next season.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken need more offense and they need deeper internal competition up front. The Kraken could see Zadina as a castoff they can provide a second chance too, much like they've done with Eeli Tolvanen from the Nashville Predators, who they picked up on waivers and the re-signed to a multi-year contract. Zadina still has a ton of upside and signing with the Kraken could be a new lease on life.

Minnesota Wild

No team has more dead cap space than the Wild and GM Bill Guerin will try to be creative this summer to upgrade his roster. Zadina could wind up in Minnesota and push for a top-nine role next season. The Wild have one spot remaining among their NHL contract slots and with just $981,000 in cap space, Zadina would have to settle for a league minimum deal to make it work.

My top 5 free agents remaining are all unqualified RFAs. There's no regular UFA worth going after any more for our remaining contract slots so I'd prefer to shift focus to a few decent upside gambles:

- Adam Boqvist
- Liam Foudy
- Alex Nylander
- Filip Zadina
- Calen Addison
— Greg (@GHod29) July 4, 2024