Zadorov goes behind the scenes, gives details on “disrespectful” negotiations with Canucks

When the Vancouver Canucks acquiring hulking defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames he became an instant fan-favorite. The outspoken Russian won over fans both in the media and on the ice thanks to his laid back, cavalier personality.

Zadorov has always been one to speak his mind and has never lacked for soundbites, but today he has Canucks fans a bit perturbed.

You see, Zadorov ultimately chose not to re-sign with the Canucks and instead signed with the Boston Bruins as an unrestricted free agent. At the time there were reports that the Canucks and Zadorov were close on a contract extension, but it never materialized before the opening of free agency. Again, ultimately Zadorov chose to sign in Boston.

Today, Zadorov shed some light on his situation in Vancouver and revealed that the Canucks were "disrespectful" to him in contract negotiations.

Zadorov from the 'What Chaos' hockey podcast released earlier today:

“Right now, it’s probably a little bit disrespectful to talk about your exes,” Zadorov said with a laugh on a recent episode of the What Chaos! Podcast. “We wanted to stay at the start…We tried to sort it out but there’s a point in negotiations when you check boxes and then a couple things didn’t go the way we wanted to, and [it] kind of felt a little bit disrespectful, too.”

“We disagreed on the details before the playoffs and postponed the negotiations,” Zadorov said at the time. “After the playoffs, when I was in Vancouver, we tried to reach an agreement, but unfortunately, it didn’t work… Tocchet has a great system and is a great teacher who helps young players develop their skills. His analysis is excellent, and he understands how to prepare his players for each game.”

- Nikita Zadorov

Interestingly enough, the Bruins also signed fellow Canucks UFA Elias Lindholm, while the Canucks signed Bruins UFA Jake DeBrusk.

It's not clear what the Canucks' offer was to Zadorov, but you have to imagine that it fell short of the six year, $30 million deal he ultimately signed with the Bruins. It's up to interpretation what a 'disrespectful' deal would have looked like, but I'm willing to bet the Canucks weren't offering anything close to six years in term.