Avalanche re-sign Nikita Zadorov to one-year contract

Colorado Avalanche's Nikita Zadorov starts off by hitting Jack Eichel after an offside whistle. The Buffalo Sabres forward responds with an illegal check to the head on Carl Soderberg, then later bumps Mikko Rantanen's head into Rasmus Dahlin.

The Colorado Avalanche have been busy this week and the transactions continued Friday as the team re-signed restricted free agent defenceman Nikita Zadorov.

It’s a one-year contract worth $3.2 million.

“Z brings a tough, physical presence to our blue line,” Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a press release. “He is an important part of our back end and we are excited to have him under contract for next season.”

Zadorov, who will once again be an RFA next off-season, had seven goals, seven assists and 75 penalty minutes in 70 regular-season games this past season.

Never one to shy away from throwing his body around — his 228 hits in 2018-19 ranked sixth in the NHL among all defencemen — the 24-year-old Russian posted this photo of him crushing Sabres star Jack Eichel shortly after his agent announced the deal.

July 5, 2019

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Nikita Zadorov
SIGNED BY
Colorado Avalanche
LENGTH
1 yr
CONTRACT TYPE
Re-signing
SALARY CAP HIT
$3.2 million
TOTAL
$3.2 million

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