Former Red Wing Filip Zadina confident betting on himself will pay off

Filip Zadina walked away from $4.56 million in guaranteed money from the Detroit Red Wings knowing there are no guarantees he will ever earn that much more in his career.

He feels comfortable betting on his abilities and untapped potential. He believes a fresh start in San Jose is exactly what he needs to jump-start what has been a disappointing NHL career to this point.

Zadina, 23, signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Sharks on Monday, three days the Red Wings terminated his contract, which had two years remaining, in a mutual decision.

He was slated to earn $1.83 million this season and $2.73 million in 2024-25 but realized he was slipping on the team’s depth chart. He might have been a frequent healthy scratch or even demoted to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Zadina, speaking this week on a conference call with San Jose media, said he and his agent had been discussing this move for some time because of his desire for a fresh start.

“Last couple of seasons in Detroit I’ve been hurt all the time,” Zadina said. “It was tough mentally seeing other players playing and I was in the gym and watching those games from the stands and not really being a part of the game. When I wasn’t playing, the other guys who were getting a chance to play, they played well and they earned that spot and it was tough for me to start from the bottom every season. I would rather go somewhere else to get the opportunity and prove myself that I’m still a good player as I used to be.”

The sixth overall pick in 2018 has just 28 goals and 40 assists in 190 games over parts of five seasons. He missed eight weeks last season due to a broken leg and finished with three goals and four assists in 30 games.

He cleared waivers twice because teams did not want to assume the full value of his contract. He admitted he was nervous about his decision.

“I was actually a little scared that the interest is not going to be that high as I wanted,” Zadina said. “But it turned out a lot of teams had big interest to have me on their team. A lot of teams were asking. That was making my decision even harder because there were good teams I could go to. I spoke to a bunch of GMs, a bunch of coaches, a bunch of players called me from different teams. It was really a hard time to decide but I believe I did the right decision going to San Jose.”

A conversation with Sharks coach David Quinn convinced Zadina he would get a good opportunity to prove himself with the team that finished with the fourth-worst record in the NHL.

“We were on the same (page), talking about how I can help the team and how the team can help improve my game and become a better player,” Zadina said.

“I learned a lot in Detroit, and I want to bring the two-way game and I want to bring scoring ability and playmaking ability.”

The Red Wings saved $1.825 million in cap space in each of the next two seasons following Zadina’s release.