When the Boston Bruins signed Nikita Zadorov to a contract a couple of summers ago, general manager Don Sweeney got what he had been looking for: a big, physical defenseman who fits the mold of how the Bruins play.
The last two seasons, he's been big for the Black and Gold on the backend, even when the Bruins struggled through a rough 2024-25 regular season. Some see him as a potential locker room leader. That might be the case, but he hasn't looked like it so far in 2026-27.
However, he has slowly been making very undisciplined decisions on the ice, and his penalty troubles continue on a nightly basis. After his performance on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks, second-year head coach Marco Sturm has had enough.
Bruins make defenseman Nikita Zadorov a healthy scratch against the Kings
If there is one thing that we learned about Marco Sturm in his first year as head coach, it's that he isn't afraid to sit a veteran to send a message. We saw it last season with Casey Mitttlestadt last year, also in October, and the results were much better after that. Sturm decided to sit Zadorov against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, and he didn't beat around the bush as to why.
“He’s a tremendous player and leader for our team. I think we’ve been mentioning it for a while, his discipline on the ice. I think that’s something, he just needs to be better. He was not happy. But, he’s a great human being and he’s a competitor. I do believe he gets stronger after this message,” Sturm said of Zadorov, per Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com. “This is coach’s decision, and I do believe there is another level in him. Now we’ve just got to try to find this level.”
Friday night at Anaheim was the last straw for Sturm. With the Bruins trailing 2-1 late in the second period, he picked up an elbowing minor against Frank Vatrano. Frustrated by the call, Zadorov picked up a second minor after the whistle for roughing Vatrano.
Zadorov's teammates killed both penalties, and that doesn't include a first-period penalty he also picked up in the 4-2 win. Look, does Zadorov get penalized sometimes because of his size and strength? Probably. However, in the end, he puts himself in some of these situations, and the end result most of the time is that he has nobody to blame but himself. We'll see how he responds on Tuesday in Dallas against the Stars.
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