Zadina healthy, excited for fresh start with Sharks

STOCKHOLM -- Filip Zadina can't wait for his first training camp with the San Jose Sharks to get started.

"Right now, I just feel differently and I'm not even there yet," Zadina said at the NHL European Player Media Tour last week. "So we'll see. I just feel excited about that season coming up and the competition battling for a spot and stuff like that."

The 23-year-old forward signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with San Jose on July 10, one week after he was placed on waivers and subsequently had the final two seasons of his three-year, $5.475 million contract terminated by the Detroit Red Wings.

Prior to being waived, Zadina had requested a trade following five injury-plagued and unfulfilling seasons with Detroit, which selected him with the No. 6 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. He had 68 points (28 goals, 40 assists) in 190 games with the Red Wings, including seven points (three goals, four assists) in 30 games last season, when he missed significant time after fracturing his right fibula, which required two surgeries, against the New York Islanders on Nov. 5.

When the Red Wings couldn't find a team willing to trade for Zadina, each side decided it would be best to terminate the contract and go their separate ways.

"It just didn't go the way that I guess we both wanted," Zadina said. "Going as a kid into that rebuild situation didn't help much as well. It just didn't work out. I got hurt almost every single season. Not playing a full season and just being out of the lineup and trying to get back into the lineup after injuries, that's pretty hard, and it kept adding up each season, and last season was the worst one. I just said that I didn't know what's going to be the next season if I stay."

Zadina went from the Red Wings, who are nearing the end of their rebuild after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past seven seasons, to the Sharks, who are continuing their own rebuild and haven't qualified for the postseason since 2019.

But after talking to San Jose general manager Mike Grier and coach David Quinn, Zadina believes he's found the right place to start over.

"[Quinn] talked to me with a positive sense of talking, and he said a couple things that interested me that I could get a good, fresh start," Zadina said. "I said, 'I would do anything for a chance,' and he said if I work hard and deserve that spot, I will get the chance I never got. So, I'm really excited about that."

Zadina is also excited about being teammates, and potentially linemates, with Tomas Hertl, who is also from Czechia and was third on San Jose with 63 points (22 goals, 41 assists) in 79 games last season.

Hertl was one of the first Sharks players Zadina spoke with after he signed.

"I believe that I can be on the same level like Tomas," Zadina said. "Obviously, he's one of the best centers in the League, and he can help me with whatever ways he can help because he's been in the League for a long, long time."

Ultimately, Zadina knows how much he benefits from Hertl and the change of scenery will come down to one thing.

"I've just got to stay healthy," Zadina said. "Once I stay healthy the whole season, for the future it will come. I believe I'm a good player. I'm strong and fast. I can shoot the puck. I can pass the puck. I have the tools that I needed to have, and it's just about staying healthy and play hockey and have fun."