29 PIM in 8 games benched Zadorov. His agent agreed with a fan about Toronto

By the Data Desk · Published 20 OCT 06:30 · Updated 21 OCT 05:35

First reported by The Boston Globe (Jim McBride) · 19 OCT 22:19

Nikita Zadorov has taken nine penalties in eight games, more than any player in the NHL, and on Saturday Marco Sturm sat him out of Boston's 4-1 win in Los Angeles. On Monday in Dallas the defenseman told The Boston Globe he felt "disappointed" and "disgusted", while his agent, Dan Milstein, had already answered a fan who said Zadorov "wouldn't be treated like this in Toronto" with four words: "No he would not…"

• Zadorov has 29 penalty minutes in 8 games, the most on a Bruins team that leads the NHL with 119. He led the league in penalty minutes in both of his first two Boston seasons: 145, then 152.
• The trigger was Friday in Anaheim: a four-minute double minor for elbowing and roughing at 19:00 of the second period, with Boston 2-1 down. The Bruins killed it and won 4-2.
• Boston (7-2-0) have won five in a row and play at Dallas tonight, 19:00 local, 00:00 UTC on Wednesday 21 October. Sturm has not said whether Zadorov plays.

Sturm explained the call before the game in Los Angeles. "Z's a tremendous player and leader for our team. I think we've been mentioning for a while his discipline on the ice," he said, as quoted by Boston.com. "That's something that just needs to be better." Until Saturday Zadorov had played 170 of Boston's 173 regular-season games since he signed in July 2024, NHL game logs show.

Zadorov did not hide how it felt. "Obviously, when you have 900 games in this league and 14 years, you don't want to be in this situation and you feel disappointed, you feel disgusted about it," he told the Globe after Monday's practice. In the end, he said, "it's a business, so you've just got to move on." He also defended his style: "We are Boston Bruins and we play that brand of hockey, and I'm fitting this brand really well."

Milstein's post came during the Los Angeles game, as a quote of a fan's reply. Boston Hockey Now notes that the Toronto link is mostly fan talk. Nobody has asked for a trade, and the same outlet recalls that in September Zadorov brushed off summer rumours: he is under contract and enjoys playing with his teammates.

What happens next: at Monday's practice he skated on a spare pair with Connor Clifton, and Sturm said "[Monday's] lines don't mean anything for [Tuesday]. We'll see." The Globe reads his return as probable. Pavel Zacha, who missed Saturday with an upper-body injury, is a game-time decision after the morning skate.