Nikita Zadorov on Bruins’ doubters: ‘We’re reading what you guys are writing’
"Being a team that nobody is putting anywhere even close to where we should be — it's kind of putting an extra chip on our shoulders, for sure.”
Nikita Zadorov has heard plenty of the commentary surrounding the Bruins entering the 2025-26 season.
Last year didn’t go according to plan for Zadorov and the rest of his teammates — with a team seemingly poised to punch their ticket to the playoffs for the ninth year in a row bottoming out with a 33-39-10 record.
The start of captains practice at Warrior Ice Arena represents a clean slate for the Bruins as the team tries to build itself back up as a sustainable contender for the long haul.
But after Don Sweeney and Boston’s top brass opted to uproot Boston’s roster and trade away key cogs in hopes of acquiring future assets, it remains to be seen if the Bruins can right the ship and re-establish themselves as a playoff club in the span of just one year.
As valid as those doubts might be regarding Boston’s ongoing retool, Zadorov believes that the Bruins are being overlooked entering the 2025-26 campaign.
“Obviously the main goal for us is to get back to the playoffs and show our fans, show the city what we can do,” Zadorov said Tuesday after Boston’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “We’re reading what you guys are writing, and it doesn’t get past this room. So I think obviously, being underdogs this year — being a team that nobody is putting anywhere even close to where we should be — it’s kind of putting an extra chip on our shoulders, for sure.”
The Bruins do have several question marks hovering over their reworked roster. The production generated by David Pastrnak and the return of injured blueliners in Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm should have Boston poised to improve off of last year’s debacle.
Still, the Bruins need a bounce-back showing in net from Jeremy Swayman (.892 save percentage over 58 games) moving forward — while Boston’s middle-six forward grouping remains in a state of flux.
“I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be hard, right? I mean, going back to what I just said, I wish we would have everything, but there is always a path to it,” new head coach Marco Sturm told Boston.com in July of Boston’s scoring concerns. “I believe you always have to build a foundation first, and you can’t look ahead.
“I know you like to. But I think we’re in a really good spot right now with our core guys. I think we have that foundation now. Now my job is to build that foundation into the way we want to play.”
As the Bruins try to regain their identity as a defensive-first club, all eyes will be on a first-year NHL head coach in Sturm and what he can do to build Boston back up as a hard out on the ice.
Sturm and his staff are still a few weeks away from implementing their vision for the 2025-26 Bruins.
But Zadorov believes that Sturm’s candid communication and emphasis on effort will resonate with him and the rest of a Bruins roster that has plenty to prove this winter.
“He had Darryl Sutter his first [three] years in the league, and Darryl Sutter was my favorite coach I ever had in my life,” Zadorov said of Sturm. “So I feel like we have a lot of mutual interest in that. I like old-school coaches. I like direct coaches. I like hard coaches, not afraid to take the heat from them when I deserve it, so long as you tell it to my face, so long as you are fair with me.”
Despite some early penalty woes in Boston, Zadorov served as one of the few bright spots down the stretch for a decimated Bruins roster.
The 6-foot-5 blueliner appeared in 81 games with Boston — scoring four goals and posting 22 points while averaging 20:37 of ice time per contest.
As Boston plummeted to the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference, Zadorov meshed well with a puck-moving D partner in Henri Jokiharju after the trade deadline. In the 273:39 of 5-on-5 ice time that Zadorov and Jokiharju logged together last season, Boston held a 12-5 edge on goals scored, per Natural Stat Trick.
With Jokiharju back in Boston on a three-year, $9 million contract, Zadorov should be poised to build off the promise that said duo showcased last year — with Zadorov set to ingratiate himself to Bruins fans given his bone-crunching hits, outspoken commentary, and willingness to deliver a few right hooks on the frozen sheet.
Despite his strong play down the stretch, Zadorov deflected questions about his own individual performance in a season with few positives to draw from.
“I never bring my personal thing over the team thing,” Zadorov said. “So it’s hard for me to say ‘Yes, I did [play better],’ because we didn’t make the playoffs. So obviously I could have done better to help my team make the playoffs.
“Could have scored 30 more goals, maybe that would have helped my team to go in the playoffs. So I think I don’t want to bring myself out of this. We didn’t make the playoffs, and we are a team, and it’s not individuals in here.”
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