Nikolai Zherdev

Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock and his 19-year-old rookie Nikita Filatov met for more than 10 minutes at center ice this morning as the players swirled around them. It was a fascinating scene as Hitchcock, at times tapping his stick on the ice, conveyed what’s expected of the talented Filatov. By all accounts, it was a healthy and constructive chat. The coach let Filatov know he would be a healthy scratch for tonight’s game. He also emphasized that Filatov needs to be more competitive on the puck. A smiling Filatov said Hitchcock told him he’s been getting “worse,’’ over the course of the four ... Read Full Story

Mike Chen's Hockey Blog Previous entry: You're Just Figuring This Out Now? by Mike Chen on 08/04/09 at 02:43 PM ET Comments (3) At first glance, I have a hard time trying to figure out why an arbitrator awarded Nikolai Zherdev $3.9 million. That’s a pretty hefty price tag for such an enigmatic player, and it feels like it’s paying more for potential than anything else. Here’s the thing. If I’m a GM, I’d have a difficult time taking Zherdev at even his qualifying number of $3.25 million. The guy can be Pavel Datsyuk-style brilliant with stickhandling on one shift, then be a useless ... Read Full Story

Goal Line Report Next entry: False Zherdev Rumor? Previous entry: Where is Zherdev Going? by Patrick Hoffman on 08/12/09 at 01:30 PM ET Comments (0) When I heard that Nikolai Zherdev was awarded close to $4 million in his salary arbitration hearing, I couldn’t believe it. Yes, he scored over 20 goals and had over 50 points but he was never good on a consistent basis and in the playoffs, he disappeared. In my books, that shouldn’t mean an increase in salary but I guess that’s just the way it goes sometimes, right? We’ll see what he does this upcoming season whether he’s in ... Read Full Story

Kukla's Korner Hockey Previous entry: Teppo Numminen Retiring by Paul on 08/04/09 at 12:24 PM ET Comments (2) New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has exercised its right to walk away from the arbitrator’s award to Nikolai Zherdev, thereby allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent. “With the additions we’ve been able to make this summer, we feel we’ve been able to add scoring and offense from the wing position,” stated Sather.  “Following the arbitration process and subsequent award given, we feel it is in our best interest to walk away and continue to explore ... Read Full Story

I watched in amusement today as the same Championat.ru story I translated this morning about Nikolai Zherdev potentially signing with KHL team Salavat Yulaev Ufa made its way from Russia through the North American press, racing from RDS to TSN like a bad game of telephone until blogs, message boards and Twitter accounts worldwide were chirping “TSN confirms Zherdev to the KHL!” Unfortunately for New York Rangers fans who were anxious to see the frustrating yet dangerous forward leave the NHL, it turns out that neither the original report from Championat.ru, nor anything written about his departure in the North American press today, is ... Read Full Story