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Nikita Zadorov

#91 · Defence · Boston Bruins

Born Apr 16, 1995 in Moscow, RUS (age 31) · 6'7", 244 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 16th overall in 2013 by BUF (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Alex Vlasic CHI · 2 P in 5 GP Andrew Peeke UTA · 2 P in 5 GP Darren Raddysh TOR · 2 P in 5 GP Dmitri Simashev UTA · 2 P in 5 GP Jaccob Slavin CAR · 2 P in 5 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

051015202013-14: 1 points113-142014-15: 15 points1514-152015-16: 2 points215-162016-17: 10 points1016-172017-18: 20 points2017-182018-19: 14 points1418-192019-20: 13 points1319-202020-21: 8 points820-212021-22: 22 points2221-222022-23: 21 points2122-232023-24: 20 points2023-242024-25: 22 points2224-252025-26: 22 points2225-262026-27: 2 points226-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2013-14 BUF 7 1 0 1 -4 4 4 25 0.14 $925K
2014-15 BUF 60 3 12 15 -10 51 52 134 0.25 $894K
2015-16 COL 22 0 2 2 -5 12 18 53 0.09 $894K
2016-17 COL 56 0 10 10 -20 73 61 153 0.18 $894K
2017-18 COL 77 7 13 20 4 103 94 278 0.26 $2.15M
2018-19 COL 70 7 7 14 19 75 100 228 0.20 $2.15M
2019-20 COL 64 4 9 13 6 65 65 175 0.20 $3.2M
2020-21 CHI 55 1 7 8 1 36 52 190 0.15 $3.2M
2021-22 CGY 74 4 18 22 11 77 106 181 0.30 $3.75M
2022-23 CGY 82 14 7 21 10 80 130 174 0.26 $3.75M
2023-24 CGY 21 1 5 6 -6 23 29 53 0.29 $3.75M
2023-24 VAN 54 5 9 14 6 102 61 124 0.26
2024-25 BOS 81 4 18 22 25 145 105 219 0.27 $5M
2025-26 BOS 81 2 20 22 18 152 107 196 0.27 $5M
2026-27 BOS 5 0 2 2 0 14 5 20 0.40 $5M
14 seasons Career 809 53 139 192 55 1012 989 2203 0.24

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2017-18 COL 6 1 2 3 1 32 9 28 0.50
2018-19 COL 12 0 0 0 -5 24 11 59 0.00
2019-20 COL 12 3 2 5 6 16 14 43 0.42
2021-22 CGY 12 0 3 3 2 24 21 32 0.25
2023-24 VAN 13 4 4 8 3 26 21 45 0.62
2025-26 BOS 6 0 1 1 -1 37 6 19 0.17
6 seasons Playoffs 61 8 12 20 6 159 82 226 0.33

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
5 0 2 2 0 14 5 20 0.40 0.0 20:04

Contract

$5MCap hitends in 2030, then UFA
$2.5MCap dollars per point2 points in 5 games
-$124KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$5.1MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 648 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Boston Bruins on Jul 1, 2024, as a new contract: 6 years and $30M, beginning in 2024-25. It runs through 2029-30, with 3 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2024-25 $5M $2M $4M $6M NMC
2025-26 $5M $3.15M $2M $5.15M NTC
2026-27 $5M $4.5M $1M $5.5M M-NTC
2027-28 $5M $4M $1.5M $5.5M M-NTC
2028-29 $5M $3.25M $1M $4.25M M-NTC
2029-30 $5M $3.6M $0 $3.6M M-NTC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2024 Boston Bruins New contract 2024-25 to 2029-30 6 $30M $5M
Jul 13, 2022 Calgary Flames New contract 2022-23 to 2023-24 2 $7.5M $3.75M
Aug 20, 2021 Calgary Flames New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $3.75M $3.75M
Oct 10, 2020 Chicago Blackhawks New contract 2020-21 to 2020-21 1 $3.2M $3.2M
Jul 5, 2019 Colorado Avalanche New contract 2019-20 to 2019-20 1 $3.2M $3.2M
Sep 15, 2017 Colorado Avalanche New contract 2017-18 to 2018-19 2 $4.3M $2.15M
Sep 25, 2013 Buffalo Sabres Entry-level 2014-15 to 2016-17 signed for 2013-14, slid 3 $5.325M $894K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 5 games (+0.3 goals above replacement), plus the 77 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

-1.0Goals above replacement571st of 648 skaters, 184th of 225 defencemen
-0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-6.5Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 225 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-1.5 38th percentileEven-strength defence-0.4 44th percentilePower play-0.2 35th percentilePenalty kill-0.5 12th percentilePenalties-3.9 1st percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-4-202462013-142015-162017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

47.6Corsi for %68 attempts for, 75 against
-0.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
56.1Expected goals for %4.0 expected for, 3.1 against
+7.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.0Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
44.4Goals for %4 for, 5 against
100.2PDO12.1% shooting + 88.1% saves
12Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Connor Clifton · Nikita Zadorov575:4846.853.24-4
Nikita Zadorov · Mason Lohrei22:1080.098.90-0
Hampus Lindholm · Nikita Zadorov12:0450.063.30-1
Nikita Zadorov · Will Borgen21:3650.0100.00-0

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.4Expected goalsfrom 9 unblocked attempts
-0.4Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.23 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 4.4% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.4 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.4Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 8, 2026 vs UTA W 6-1 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 22:09
Oct 5, 2026 vs OTT L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 12 1 4 19:39
Oct 3, 2026 @ MIN L 1-4 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 15:45
Oct 2, 2026 @ WPG W 4-3 (OT) 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 20:54
Sep 29, 2026 vs NYR W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 21:54