MONTREAL — Nikita Zadorov does not have to look up to speak to someone often. He is 6-foot-7.
But late last season, Zdeno Chara first started making the rounds of the Boston Bruins dressing room. He is 6-9.
The future hockey operations adviser and mentor pulled Zadorov aside. For once, Zadorov was Little Z.
Chara told Zadorov a story. Before practice, he would select an unlucky teammate. Sometimes it was Patrice Bergeron. Other times it was Brad Marchand. Whoever the target happened to be, Chara would rough him up.
“It makes him practice better,” Zadorov recalled Chara telling him. “And also lift the whole team in that competitive spirit level.”
Times have changed. Especially this season, because of the compressed schedule due to the Olympics, teams do not practice often. Players are encouraged to save their best stuff for games.
But Zadorov understood Chara’s point. The former Bruins captain was encouraging Zadorov to do the same thing to an opponent. There are not many players who can stand up to the 255-pound defenseman’s abuse.
“It’s not like you have to go try and hurt the guy,” Zadorov said. “But you play really hard against him. You do your job. You go out there, you play physical. You’re boxing him out. You play really hard on his pucks. Finish him any chance you get. It gets in the guy’s head, for sure.”
On Nov. 4, Zadorov took several shots at Matthew Schaefer, the New York Islanders prodigy. Two games later, he clobbered Scott Laughton. On Tuesday, in a rematch with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Zadorov decked Auston Matthews. He expected someone bigger than 5-foot-10 Max Domi, his former junior teammate, to knock on his door after the Toronto captain went to the dressing room.
“I saw him leaving the game, and I thought somebody would come out right away. And they didn’t,” Zadorov said. “So then, when Max was trying to get a spark or whatever, it was a 4-3 game. I knew it was better to draw the penalty than get into a fight or wrestling match. I thought I did my job well.
“I have respect for Matthews. He’s an unbelievable player in this league. But when I’m on the ice against him, I’m going to do my job.”
Nikita Zadorov laid out Scott Laughton last Saturday. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Zadorov is averaging a career-high 21:21 of ice time per game. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Bruins have allowed 24.14 shots per 60 minutes of five-on-five play with Zadorov on the ice. It is the lowest mark of any defenseman on the team — and down from Zadorov’s 27.76 per 60 last year. His expected goals against per 60 has also improved, from 2.52 to 2.35.
It is no coincidence that Zadorov’s defensive traction has aligned with Chara’s arrival.
“One hundred percent,” Zadorov said when asked if Chara had helped make him a better player. “One hundred percent.”
Zadorov has incorporated some of Chara’s intimidation, physicality and stickwork to become a dependable top-pair partner for Charlie McAvoy. But Zadorov pushes the gamesmanship envelope to a greater degree than the Hockey Hall of Famer used to do. He enjoys the game within the game: chirping, fighting, retaliation.
Zadorov was disappointed, for example, when Jordan Greenway turned down his invitation after the Buffalo Sabres forward injured Elias Lindholm during an unintentional collision. Zadorov was in his opponent’s ear multiple times after Greenway said no. When Islanders fans hounded him on Instagram for dumping Schaefer, Zadorov fired back by commenting on the quietness of UBS Arena.
All of this brings more bite to his game.
“I’m sleepy when I’m not interested or not physical,” Zadorov said. “It’s not my game, obviously.”
Nikita Zadorov and Bowen Byram bark at each other between benches. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
Not every Bruin is wired similarly. Hampus Lindholm and Mason Lohrei, Zadorov’s fellow left-side defensemen, do their jobs with minimal chirps. It is not in their DNA to throw punishing checks, let alone fight.
But part of the reason the Bruins enter Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with first place in the Atlantic Division on the line is because of pockets of in-your-face ruggedness within the roster. McAvoy is capable of ramping up the physicality when necessary. Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic and Jeffrey Viel are built to bully. Jeannot went toe-to-toe with Kurtis MacDermid in Thursday’s 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Zadorov approved. He was one of the first Bruins to peek his head into the penalty box and give Jeannot a post-scrap attaboy.
“A little unnecessary because it’s not a good trade-in for us,” said Zadorov, referring to Jeannot’s third-line status compared to MacDermid’s 4:25 of average ice time per game. “But he did his job. It was an unbelievable fight against one of the toughest guys in the league. We always appreciate it here.”
